Santa Ynez HP and Divide Peak
Posted: 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.
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.
, I pushed around for a little bit on peak 4675.