Santa Ynez HP and Divide Peak

David R · Post by **David R** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 3:29 pm

With the weather cooling, the Los Padres NF is back in play again and it was time to visit an area that I've only been to once, the Matilija Canyon area. The goal of the hike was to reach the ridge separating the coast from the inland areas. I have hiked the other side of this ridge from the Ventura River Preserve and along the old over grown Camino Cielo road. The grand plan is to eventually reopen this route across the old Ocean View trail which will be a substantial achievement especially due to sheer distances to work on the route. We shall see if this ever comes to fruition.

This hike starts from the place that time forgot in the canyon which looks like a period piece from the 60s. The beginning section is accessed along a paved drive through private property that has an easement to allow hikers through. There are numerous trails that can be accessed in the canyon to hike various branches of Matilija. After about a half mile you come to the first branch to the right. The option for this hike is to take the next fork and follow a footpath directly through Murrieta Canyon for 1.8 milles or alternatively go another 1/4 mile further to access the fireroad that takes you up to the Divide.

On the way up we took the footpath that fortunately had most of the poison oak without leaves otherwise this route would be challenging. About 3/4 mile up is an overnight camping spot. The canyon is delightful and the path while overgrown in spots is easy to follow. Too soon you access the fireroad and begin a 2.5 mile trek up to the divide. This route is popular for ambitious mountain bikers as it is well graded but quite steep.

Once you reach the divide, you can descend to Jamison Reservoir, make a right turn and go for Monte Arido and Old Man, or climb a berm and access the old trail that takes you up to the ridge. There is no obvious trail from the divide so you need to simply go for it and then it will readily appear. This old trail has been reworked especially toward the bottom to make it an easy passage. The top section has the most iffy part of trail where there has been some landslide and erosion of the trail but all easily passable. This section is steep but not overly so and within another 3/4 mile you reach the ridge.

The views are some of the best that I have seen of the ocean and Channel Islands in SoCal. Simply to get here for the views is worth it. From here we made a left to hit the HP, make a note of the access point to this trail as it is not evident on the way back. I had made a careful calculation of which gully I needed to ascend to avoid the brush to get to the Santa Ynez HP. Unfortunately I did not anticipate that the gully would split and ended up taking the left hand smaller gully versus continuing on the right. The climb up to the apex wasn't too bad but then continuing along it was pretty miserable. The north side has minimal growth but is pretty sheer with 3rd class rock that we used when necessary. We hit the highpoint but could not find the sign-in can which was weird. I had my son with me so sent him over to the next brushy bump to see if it was there after some thrashing and cursing he didn't see it there so we settled for what we thought was the highpoint and a success.

From there the way down was much easier as we stuck to the right gully all the way down. From there it is a simple affair to go back the way you came and pass the trail you came up and climb a steep break to the top of Divide Peak and the best views of the day. The benchmark is on the lower western peak oddly enough but may be due to the vantage point.

From there we zipped back down the steep use trail to the divide. My son's youth showed itself as he rocked down the 5 miles back to the TH at a furious pace from my POV. I still shuffled jogged most of the way down which made a long fire road hike back bearable. The hike is about 14 miles with 5.5 hours taken to complete it all. If you get the right route to the highpoint you could easily shave off an additional half hour.

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 6:36 pm

Your TR reminded me that I hadn't been up that canyon for years so today I followed in your footsteps--mostly--I skipped the Santa Ynez HP. Found the register on Divide but not the benchmark. I'll post some pics...sometime. As you mentioned, the views are quite good from Divide even though the summit itself is a bit underwhelming.

scottawr · Post by **scottawr** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:07 pm

my parents just moved up there recently. i'll have to check this area out when i go visit.

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 7:23 am

Here's some pics of my trip up to Divide Peak.

http://wildsouthland.blogspot.com/2015/ ... eyond.html

David R · Post by **David R** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 4:03 pm

Nice write-up I missed the register on Divide too, didn't even think there would be one up there. The benchmark is on the slightly lower peak near the water tank.

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 7:50 pm

The benchmark is on the slightly lower peak near the water tank.

Well that makes sense. LOL.

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 10:53 am

Oceanview trail is almost restored.....a heck of a lot of the real work deal done on this one. The crew should get a plaque (for all the backbreak)at 'White Ledge camp'....speaking of which theres starting to be a lack of LNT. I say if its going to be a full-on camp, then lets start thinking about water...and not be leaving toilet paper and plastic plates partially burned. Maybe develop it further with some bins to catch rainwater/snowmelt.

I used the 'from the west' Murietta Divide approach. It'll get you super-close to the White Ledge ridge departure as of now, which is on the east side of peak 4675. I had a little time left from lopping, so I attempted the peak 4675 from the west side, which is not reasonable.

My advice for this route from the west: MtWilson toll road-ish fireroad all the way baby to the Murietta Divide. I came down that long one in the night and it was smooth with just the moonlight.

Camp stove

Dont know what pine tree this is, but its pretty. 2 of em in the spot of the picture, so I was thinking non-native, but saw one more on the OceanView trail.

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Sat Jan 07, 2017 7:51 am

Very nice Canyon Man. So you went in and out the same way (from the west)? If you didn't spend the night at White Ledge, that's a long day.

I think bsmith and his boys know something about the restoration work on that trail thus far.

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:52 am

Uncle Rico wrote: ↑Very nice Canyon Man. So you went in and out the same way (from the west)? If you didn't spend the night at White Ledge, that's a long day.

I think bsmith and his boys know something about the restoration work on that trail thus far.

Yup...
https://www.facebook.com/El-Camino-Ciel ... 320134344/

I liked the view of the Channel Islands the best, but Im biased towards them hahaha.

David R · Post by **David R** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 4:28 pm

I have two peaks in SoCal that I dream of incessantly about being on top of and one of them is White Ledge. The question of the hour, is it doable yet based on how far in they've gotten?

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 5:58 pm

David R wrote: ↑I have two peaks in SoCal that I dream of incessantly about being on top of and one of them is White Ledge. The question of the hour, is it doable yet based on how far in they've gotten?

From the west, you'll have trail until the turnoff for White Ledge. After that its unknown....was there ever a trail to White Ledge? Anyways I marked the end of Oceanview at the time with red on this picture...its going to be straight forward to leave the trail as you can see the dirt terrain all the way to a ridge of pk 4675...4675 aint gonna happen....and it needs a new trail out there that is easiest to maintain. Bring tall loopers.

Heres the attempt I propose. Lose 300ft and then trailblaze back up to the ridge to White Ledge

I wouldnt wait for a trail out to the peak....they have to finish the eastern side(they are kind of close), and then maintain the long trail plus they plan on extending the western edge to Santa Barbara. Oceanview is a developer minded trail and is under constant threat from overgrowth. The dedication to get anyone this far is a high level of volunteer commitment.
As far as the question if its doable, it certainly is and I would expect it to fall within 2 years max.

Post by **dima** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:15 pm

The big challenge is the brush? If somebody wants to team up on this one, PM me.

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:34 pm

As far as the question if its doable, it certainly is and I would expect it to fall within 2 years max.

It's been done. Not from the Murietta Divide side mind you, but Stillman and Jack Elliot climbed White Ledge on New Years Day 2013. Nobody has probably been up there since.

http://davidstillman.blogspot.com/2013/ ... gully.html

Girl Hiker · Post by **Girl Hiker** » Wed Aug 23, 2017 7:19 pm

iI want to bag Divide Peak!

Girl Hiker · Post by **Girl Hiker** » Sun Sep 03, 2017 9:17 am

Hi David,
I've been wanting to bag Divide Peak. Do you have any pictures? I would love to see them.
Thanks

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Tue Nov 28, 2017 3:45 pm

"As far as the question if its doable, it certainly is and I would expect it to fall within 2 years max."

Hmm..now Im not sure it will be done lol. Returning to the scene sans loppers

, I pushed around for a little bit on peak 4675.
So I learned that bright green on the satellite is manzanita, which is travel-able with kevlar for sure. But the majority of coverage on the ridge towards White Ledge is dead super thick sage brush about 10ft high min and so a person cant see at all in the place and its easy to get lost. The 'trail' itself, which is below the red dot, hit a steep slope of loose soil, and that is going to be frustrating for them to build through.

The trail conditions was that the vegetation is closing in/closed in on the beginning work part of the trail after a wet year. Including our enemy Ceanothus. There also some pesky flies out and about...probably from the limited number of animals using the trail.

I used the extra time to see Divide peak, which I didnt take any pictures of it either. Most of what people like about that area is actually the SY's high point western ridge area....boulders and manzanita.The north side of Divide peak is not tall and non-descript. I have seen it from the east on pk4610 and its just in the way

This day had a short marine layer, but the channel islands rose above

Post by **dima** » Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:31 pm

Oh hey, I was JUST in that area: biked Matilija to Murietta divide to Juncal to Camino Cielo. What struck me is how everything over there is a brushy mess. Looking around, it's just a thick cover of manzanita and live oaks, if you're lucky. You're a brave man going cross-country over there

David R · Post by **David R** » Wed Dec 13, 2017 4:41 pm

My wife thinks I'm evil but one of my first comments after I heard about the Thomas fire approaching Carpinteria is that if there is a sliver lining, I should have an open ridge to White Ledge Peak now. Hope they don't close things up for years to come.

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:33 pm

David R wrote: My wife thinks I'm evil but one of my first comments after I heard about the Thomas fire approaching Carpinteria is that if there is a sliver lining, I should have an open ridge to White Ledge Peak now. Hope they don't close things up for years to come.

I dont think its evil. The current quacks running the show are whats borderline evil imo.
And part of their permanent 'forest' plan is the rise of invasive vegetation, so we only get a short time period to see it before its all buckthorn and the rest.

Post by **HikeUp** » Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:50 pm

The station fire opened up a bunch of cross-country routes (at least for a while).

Post by **Sean** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 9:43 am

David R wrote: My wife thinks I'm evil...

That's called being a normal dude.

When I saw the Montecito mudslides, I thought, "Wow, that's cool!" Then there was a body count and destroyed houses.

I feel bad for the victims, but, man, mudslides are still cool.

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Mon Nov 26, 2018 9:53 am

No trail uncovered by the fire to the peak. From the ocean view trail, downhill less than 50 yards contouring to a saddle by crossing a drainage. Cell phone reception near White Ledge due to new transmitter. No pen at register.

David R · Post by **David R** » Mon Nov 26, 2018 4:17 pm

I was thinking of this for the spring. How long did it take, is all the brush burnt, making this a relatively easy hike?

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Mon Nov 26, 2018 7:56 pm

David R wrote: I was thinking of this for the spring. How long did it take, is all the brush burnt, making this a relatively easy hike?

Ive had the same times for all 3 trips pretty much. Left first lightish and returned in the dark. The first 2 times I watched the sunset before leaving the Divide.

The brush coverage is mixed. At the divide its not burnt at all, so that part is still cool. Most if not all trees are alive. Past that its mostly burnt but therein is the challenge, so a map would have helped me. It starts unsigned shortly uphill of where the OHV road turns south. There is a burnt plastic chest that contains emergency/trail work water not far along the trail. The trail is covered over or obscured a lot, especially on the north side. On the south side you have new growth on the trail itself.
I figure no matter what the trail will always be war....its a pretty amazing dedication to keep it feasible.