2021/8/15 Los Flores Ranch Tensome

Looking West from the Solomon Hills toward the Pacific Ocean across Santa Maria and Orcutt.

The map gives a sense for the topography, dry grassland well suited to ambling cattle.

We had ten riders MeetUp to explore the trails on a hot sunny day. Ten humans, ten horses, and one mule.

The staging area is directly adjacent Highway 101, convenient for all. The ranch welcomes equestrians, hikers and bicycle riders, although this day we only saw a few hikers with whom we shared this lovely recreational open space.

Covering 1,778 acres (nearly 2.8 square miles), the property lies about eight miles south of Santa Maria in the Solomon Hills in Northern Santa Barbara County.

 

We had not planned to have a guide, only a whim to reverse the trail we took last time we rode here and see if we liked it better in that direction

But our pal Stormy who is a volunteer Trail Marshall at the Ranch turned up with her Arabian Pico, and so we knew we were in good hands.

Or hooves, as the case may be.

As soon as you turn away from the 101 the sense of time begins to shift. and this is, after all, a main goal of trail riding. To slip back into a time when travel was done at 2.2mph, not freeway hustle.

The entire property is crisscrossed with trails. Some may have been made by cattle, others are being laid out now to accommodate multi-use recreation.

We slowly wend our way along.

The line up shifts, the animal personalities find their own levels. And the humans can bask in the 3D landscape where light and shadows shift as we pass through.

I tend to walk with Tobe toward the back, letting anyone with a horse that wants to go fast be up front. I also want him to be far enough behind any other animal that he can clearly see the trail condition, and avoid any potential pitfalls. The trails are often undermined by ground squirrel holes.

My trusty mule can see and avoid most, but this week he stepped on a place that had a hole underneath the surface that collapsed, and he pitched forward onto his knees. It was on a single-track trail with a steep drop-off, and there we were, both of us praying. I was forward on his neck, and he gave a mighty shove and stood back up, putting me back into the vertical.

The POLEYS on the Australian saddle, the plates that lock my thigh in front and behind, KEPT ME SEATED. I won't speculate on the grim possibility that in my previous saddles I would not have fared so well. Hooray for the Aussie style, and for Colin Dangaard custom designed saddles!

Assuring the people behind us that we were just fine, Tobe and I sashayed our way to the top of the lookout hill. Lawnmower/trail whacker in the way? No problem. We stay ON the trail as we are asked to, except when an obstacle requires a diversion.

And what a view it was! So very much worth the climb up to see all the way out to the Pacific Ocean to the West, skimming over the Solomon Hills and over Orcutt, across Santa Maria to the sea. Pico and Tobe agree!

Of course it was just the right place to take a photo of the whole group. Now, if you were doing math, you see why there were ten riders, ten horses, and one mule. One cowboy ponied an older horse who has a medical condition and can't be ridden far but still wants to come along. Now, the question is: "If I'm on Tobe Mule taking this photo, how am I over there on the right?"    Magic!

Next we took a bee line down an old oil company access road to the East, and passed these power towers.

Traveling across that road gave us our first views of the Santa Maria valley below, looking out to the East and the mountains on the horizon.

From there we could see the trails and roads winding through the Eastern side of the property, dotted with oaks and much greener than the sun and wind seared side that faces the West.

I was pretty hot by now, even in my SPF sunscreen and protective clothing, so dipping down into the trees looked very attractive.

And soon there we were, wending our way through the oaks and intermittently seeing the agricultural fields stretching out beneath us.

A pleasure for human and beast alike to stand in cooling shade for brief respite before carrying on.

Then we turned a corner and there was Noe on Marcos, cool in the shade of a little half-built kiosk. And Woody trying to gt a little shade on the edge. There are plans to add kiosks like this throughout the property, with benches so hikers can take a load off.

Any exploring in the acreage is a combination of these old oil roads and trails. The roads gave been graveled to give better traction, but they get baking hot and are not as pleasant as the little pathways through the trees.

While watching out for squirrel holes in the trail there is still time for apophenia, a fine Greek word that means seeing patterns in random data. With fluffy clouds above and the steady clip-clop of hooves on dirt, nice to escape the politics of the day.

But all too soon our time out in the landscape was drawing to an end. Way off in the distance is the straight line of the 101, and the white roofs of the barn where all our rigs are parked.

Another pleasant day, and despite my thrilling moment that could have gone awry no one did fall off. Another Mule Trail walk in the Central California that evokes the past as present. A step outside of the indoor life to experience a different way of thinking.

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

#####  PAT FISH   #####

## FIN ##

2021/7/4 Independence Day MeetUp at Los Flores Ranch

 

Looking West from an observation point on Los Flores Ranch, to the seacoast under a marine layer of fog near Santa Maria.

Consisting of 1,778 acres (nearly 2.8 square miles), the Los Flores Ranch Park property lies about eight miles south of Santa Maria in the Solomon Hills. Directly adjacent Hwy 101, we started at a staging area just off the highway and did a long loop.

My pal had given me a list of trails to take for a nice ride, but we opted to ramble,  knowing whichever way we went we could easily navigate back to the starting point.

Leaving the staging area we began by tracking South along Hwy 101. Tobe Mule started the day by being cranky, it has been 3 weeks since our last ride as we avoided the heat wave and he was not happy about being asked to get back to work. And Marcos was his bad role model and was quite feisty, rearing up on his hind legs to indicate his displeasure, so we had an adventurous beginning to what would end up being a calm day. Never can tell with critters.

Basically the ranch is uncultivated grassland, and here it is in the summer burnt dry season. 

We were very fortunate that we had it all to ourselves, with the exception of a handful of bicycle riders. 

The plan was to avoid the July 4th crush in the city, and we succeeded.

As you head up the canyons, areas of green trees and chaparral growth appear, hugging the parts where the water flows down.

We didn't see a single cow, although a few dung patties here and there testified to their presence.

This is certainly cow country.

Tobe and I were slow, so this is the usual view. When most people post trail photos the butts of their companions' horses fill every shot. You will notice I try to avoid that repetitive view, although it IS my trail experience.

Looking to the distance are the Solomon Hills, and the higher you climb on the trails the more it is obvious that this property has never been civilized for anything except running cattle.

On the ridge crest there is a service road, but most of the rest are skinny trails often with drop offs to canyons far below.

Today the riding crew was Kim on Miss Kitty, Noe on Marcos, Jamie on Mosca, and Tobe Mule and I. A small group and we were glad of it, relaxing and easy to track our way.

And which path will we chose? The trail, or the road?

I wanted to turn inland, for the views of the Santa Maria Mountains to the East. 

That also meant a chance for riding through old oak trees instead of the endless grass.

I have ridden here twice before, but I definitely do not know the trails. So we did end up at one dead end and had to turn around. No bother, it was just a way to spend a fine day in nature.

Some of the oaks overhanging the trails require a bit of hunkering down to pass through, but the chance to stop for a break in the shade is welcome.

THIS is the California I love to ride through, the old growth oaks and the scent of the sage. 

And once they settled into their jobs the animals enjoyed their time too, out in nature instead of waiting around the ranch for something to do.

As always when riding these coastal valleys, the slopes facing the sea get the burden of the salt in the mist and are more likely to be mostly grasses. Once on the lee side the oaks grow.

And for the hundreds of years it takes these slow growing ancestors to establish and thrive, they have seen drought conditions come and go.

But oh, the mortality! The remnant pelvic girdle of some unfortunate bovine on the side of the trail.

We most definitely were not following a map, but I thought I'd document the trail signs I did see.

Poor Tobe, when he slows down to snatch grass snacks on the trail, much to my annoyance, the trail companions get far ahead.

And if there is one thing a herd animal does NOT like is to see his pals disappear around a bend up ahead.

Noe and Marcos are residents where Tobe Mule and his girlfriend Ruth Mule live, so whenever we ride with them Tobe is quite at ease, like he is with family.

Even though Marcos is a hot-blooded 3/4 Andalusian stallion, and probably doesn't have much to say to a Rocky gelding mule.

Jamie and Mosca are our most regular riding companions.

Mosca is a racing thoroughbred, and she does tell us she would rather cover these trails at top speed and always be in front, if you please, winning the race.  

Tobe is quite happy to let her be the winner.

Kim and Miss Kitty usually ride in arenas at a boarding facility. We are quite happy to have them join us for rides and Kitty is learning that there is a fascinating world to be explored outside the arena fences.

And Tobe and I couldn't do it without our compadres, who make it all such a pleasure.

It is especially nice to ride with people who don't particularly care which trail we take.

We just want to be out there in nature for a while.

There is no way to photograph how the trails there feel. How what looks like a gentle grassy slope in a photo is really a steep drop off down to a canyon far below.

And having had some "adventures" in the past that led to injuries, some parts of this seemingly innocuous trail gave me some inner turmoil.

But this is Independence Day. A day to be brave.

So I concentrate on the 3D view, watching the light and shadows play across the grass. 

The sameness surrenders to an eye for detail.

At the northern end of our route we looked down on an irrigated vineyard, so tidy it almost looked like a golf course.

And then we were back at the level of the 101, and headed back toward the starting point.

At the lower elevations the grass and plants are greener, and the animals pick up the pace as they know we are almost done.

This scrap metal always looks to me like space debris fallen to Earth. It might have once been a trough for the animals, but now it is "art."

One last trail, tracking a creek bed along the 101.

A creek that has been here eons before the highway, and laid the trail it follows.

And finally we see our rigs parked by the hay shelter, where shade and a picnic table at which to eat our lunch at await us.

Every ride where no one gets hurt is a victory,  and for Independence Day we exercised our liberty and our eccentricity and went exploring in good company on good steeds.

“People have only as much liberty 

as they have the intelligence to want 

and the courage to take.”
― Emma Goldman

##### PAT FISH #####

### FIN ###