Sespe River Hike

Archived TRs for the Los Padres National Forest.
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cougarmagic
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Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 5:21 pm

Post by cougarmagic »

It's so darn hot, I wanted to hike near water. But I also wanted to not see throngs of people. So I hiked with a friend from Fillmore, up the Sespe to 'Devil's Gate', and a bit beyond.

We planned to hike farther, but past the Gate there is no trail anymore. (Apparently there was one, or some semblance of one, as recently as a year ago.) The still-flowing river is getting choked with algae, and the banks are full of dense new willows.

It was a nice day - with a breeze, not too hot at all. I like 'new' (to me) hikes and also creek walking, and that's what it was!

The bears like it there too.

Edit - oh geez, I forgot the interesting part: tar! Still weird to me to see it just oozing out of the ground.

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bouldering:

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Trail: :roll:

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MattCav
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Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2010 4:13 am

Post by MattCav »

love it. there's so much tar out here in ventura/sb. we live near carpinteria beach and when i go in the water, it just sticks to me. crazy.

love the bear track. thanks for sharing.
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Sitting Bull
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Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:12 pm

Post by Sitting Bull »

Interesting that you say there's no trail past Devil's Gate. I have always wanted to do the Sespe as a one way car shuttle hike from end to end.
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Uncle Rico
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Post by Uncle Rico »

Wow, can't believe it wasn't totally roasting back in that drainage CM. Them is some hot parts.
I have always wanted to do the Sespe as a one way car shuttle hike from end to end.
David Stillman and Jack Elliot made the trek last fall. Stillman has a pretty good write up with photos of the section from Piedra Blanca to Fillmore here:

http://davidstillman.blogspot.com/2012/ ... lanca.html
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Sitting Bull
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Post by Sitting Bull »

Those guys are my heroes!
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