2018/10/13 Aliso Loop and Oso Canyon

The Aliso Loop trail has been closed for some years, and now that it has been reopened we went to check it out, pre-riding for a group who will be camping in the area in 2 weeks. Visible on the map are the several false-trails we went up and then turned back, finally deciding to start our trail by going up Oso Canyon on the right, and then crossing over to come down the Aliso Loop ridge.
A journey of 2.5 hours and traveling 6 miles, gaining 800 feet in altitude, much of it on single-track trails that test the fortitude of both equine and rider.

We started in the parking lot at the end of Paradise Road at First Crossing.
I was remiss in thinking that it had an attendant at the kiosk, and so our rigs would be safer from vandalism. Nope. A $10 fee is required and our 3 rigs were the only vehicles present, on a beautiful sunny Saturday in the heart of nature.


Tobe was more snorty and anxious than I've seen him in ages.
He kept looking up at that escarpment and trying to let me know something was up there he did not approve of.

As much as we humans squinted we could see nothing.
We knew, of course, that we were going to be on that very ridge later on during our ride.

This is the Santa Ynez River, completely dry, choked with reeds and willows.  After trying to find a pathway along it to start our ride by going over to Sage Hill Campground and then UP the Aliso Loop ridge,  we turned to the old faithful trail and went up the Oso Canyon.

We opted to take the access road into the canyon instead of the usual trail, just because I hadn't done that before.





But of course that wasn't nearly as interesting as being on a trail.


It is a multi-use area but today we saw only two women on horses, four hikers and one guy walking a bicycle.










On wide open trails like this it is easy to share the trail, you can see them coming!

And Tobe Mule's ears hear them long before a human perceives any presence.

He also never forgets any trail detail, so if we come to a spot where we have previously seen a deer he looks over there intently, remembering it quite as much as I do.

The burned trees still stand testimony to recent fires, and the oaks lining the trail are not being trimmed for passage. So at times we bash our way through branches and in one spot must blaze a new trail around a fallen tree.

At Upper Oso Campground we obeyed the speed limit, and were pleased to see quite a few rigs parked throughout the camping spots.

At the top of the campground a sharp left turn puts us on the Aliso. Directly forward used to be the trail to 19 Oaks, still closed as too dangerous.

And looking up the Aliso it is a daunting height,

Which would be OK except for sections like this wash-out. The sketchy wooden bracing is tenuous at best, and in order to continue on the trail it is necessary to walk up onto the extremely steep hillside, using some young Yucca whipplei for support. Of course I am riding an all-terrain Mule, but even so we did it quickly lest it give way beneath us.

But it leads to views like this, where the dramatic play of light and shadow from clouds overhead make the landscape an ever-changing display of colors.

This panoramic was taken from the same spot as the previous photo.
Tobe mule was tired, he stood very still!

I decided it would be a good place to take souvenir portraits of my companions.

 Jamie Buse and Mosca the Thoroughbred horse fly

Paul Jacques and Pancho the Quarterhorse

And there's me on Tobe the Rocky Mountain Mule

And then it was back traveling up again.

If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes.

Simply amazing that this dramatic landscape is 45 minutes above Santa Barbara and unknown to most.


A typical example of government foresight.

This sign is supposed to mark the divergence of the trail, above is the Aliso Loop, to the right the Aliso Canyon. Since no one thought about how it would be mounted on a pipe, it now says ALISO OOP and ALISO YN.

Worse yet, there is no notice that the canyon has a long section of shale that is extremely difficult, dangerous, and is preceded on both ends by a single track trail no more than 3' wide, quite difficult to turn an equine around on should you see that shale ahead and wisely decide to retreat.

Finally we reached a point where we were at the top of the ridge, and could look down at the next stretch, the descent back to the river level.

One last look back through the chaparral bramble at the terrain we have covered, then it is time to start our descent.

Looking down we can see the rigs in the parking lot. Now WE are up where Tobe thought he saw something dangerous earlier in the day.

This next section of the narrow trail was steep switchbacks, with a vertical drop-off on the side. NOT a place I was going to take many photos.  And while I know that holding my breath doesn't help at all it is very hard not to. It is a bit like the ride into the Grand Canyon, you just gotta trust the mule.

And finally we were down to the place where the canyon and loop trails diverge at the bottom. Once again, no warning posted, even though the locals know not to ride it. Riders we met said they'd gone up as far as the shale and turned back.
The pucker factor on a trail that narrow with a drop off is memorable.

Then it was time to turn left at the bridge to nowhere and head over to where the rigs were parked. Since nothing else exists of this monumental cement structure except for this one support, and no credible legend explains it, we might as well consider it Modern Art.

And here we are, Pat Fish modern Artist, and Tobe Mule, modern Mule, caught while in the midst of recording in photographs via iPhone these FrontCountry Adventures.

"Don't listen to anyone else

Focus on your passion

Burn it with your glance

Become the Dinosaur."

-  Ray Bradbury 

#####FIN#####PATFISH########

Sage Hill to 19 Oaks 6-9-11

A ride from the Sage Hill campground on Paradise Road on the Santa Ynez river, behind Santa Barbara, Southern California. Up and across the spine of the Aliso Loop, then going above the Upper Oso camp to the Santa Cruz Trail, back to the 19 Oaks campground, then circling back down through Upper and Lower Oso to Sage Hill.
Length: 9.5 miles 
Duration: 4.25 hours
Difficulty: 
Moderate from Sage Hill to Upper Oso. Some areas single file, rocky track, overgrown brush, moderate climbs.
Strenuous on the Santa Cruz trail. Single file, loose shale, narrow tread with drop-offs, steep climbs.
Altitude gain: 1410 ft 
Grade: II




View Sage Hill to 19 Oaks in a larger map

Our starting point is the corrals at Sage Hill campground. They are only rented by the Forest Service to large groups, for a set fee for all the paddocks and spaces.

Heading up the hill begins with an easy slope and rise, coming up from the Santa Ynez River and heading into the front country mountains.

The goal rises above, and we are ready to conquer the climb.

The spring flowers, sage and wooly blue curls, scent the air as we rise into a misty day.

The tops of the mountains are obscured in clouds while the trail is a bright summer afternoon.

Hillsides facing away from the sea are grasslands.

Looking down from the ridge crest at the Santa Ynez River and Rancho Oso below.

Looking further downriver, and the Snyder Trail up to Knapp's Castle is clearly visible on the right, winding up to Camino Cielo at the top.

Looking inland the uninhabited part of California comes into focus. Miles and miles of backcountry mountains.

But our adventure today is frontcountry, where the chaparral smells heavenly and the trail leads ever upward.

From a resting point on the ridge crest we survey the wisps of clouds that indicate the marine layer over the coast.

The trail cuts through the low sage scrub, snaking along the spine of the land.

Dramatic geological formations rise on the edge of the next canyon.

The idea of taking that canyon up is proposed, and accepted. A complete change of scenery and topography.

We opt to take the Santa Cruz trail up to the turn-off to 19 Oaks campground.

The rock formations immediately become more dramatic, and strata in the rock tell of volcanic upheavals in forgotten times.

Clusters of yuccas dot the hillsides with their light lancing leaves.

We discover that the death of this patriarch will require the renaming of the camp to "18 Oaks." It almost looked like it had been struck by lightning, but probably just succumbed to age and split in half.

Whoever built this single bucket outhouse on the edge of the campground was concerned only about privacy from one side.

Descending once again into the canyon, with rushing waters in the creek below.

This is a road used by vehicles and bicycles but currently the road is closed off way below, so we were able to travel with no concern.

Once again out of the canyon and into the coastal sage scrubland and floral display.

Back down to the creekbed feeding down into the river.

Water crossings everywhere, a gift to the thirsty mule.

Back to the sandy trails along the river, all showing much evidence of raging waters this last winter, scouring the area clear of debris, leaving only rocks and sand and the persistent hardy plants.

And the last mystery of the day, a monolithic structure seemingly with no purpose. There is nothing similar nearby to suggest this might have once supported a massive bridge across the river, so we will just call it art.