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To beat the heat (and to console myself for not being able to go on the Rubicon with Rat Patrol...), Sharon & I headed to Oceano Dunes near Pismo to camp with some friends for the weekend.
Saturday morning, before the fog had burned off, I took Mr. Green out into the dunes:
I was impressed with the performance. I played on the dunes for a while before heading back to fix an upper radiator hose leak. While waiting for the engine to cool, we went for a run on ATVs.
After fixing the hose, Sharon and I headed inland to explore some trails near Pozo, CA. Out of Arroyo Grande, we took Hi Mountain Road to Pozo. Hi Mountain Road leads into the Los Padres NF and is a high clearance 2WD road. There are LOTS of dry wash crossings that are subject to flash flood. In the wet season, you should check with the rangers before heading out or you may find this gate closed:
There was no danger of that for us this time of year. The fire danger level in this area is 'Extreme' right now, so please be careful.
Before reaching Pozo, we passed the entrance to Garcia Ridge Trail. This used to be marked as a Moderate trail, but the USFS has "upgraded" to Black Diamond:
Just before town, we crossed the wet-year-round Salinas River:
The Pozo Saloon was built in 1858 and was originally a stage stop:
While in town, we came across three Jeeps airing up. They said that they had just ran Garcia Ridge. I told them that we were headed to the 'stairsteps' on Pine Mountain. They told me not to go down them. The last 'step' has become extremely rough and steep. They blamed 'buggies' for this change in the trail.
From there, we climbed to Pozo Summit on easy East Pozo Road. We found the exit to the Pine Mtn trail (30S14), so we decided to go to the bottom of the infamous "stairsteps" instead of going around the mountain to the top:
The trail was very steep in places and required 4WLow, but the road was graded and even, so other than the climbs/descents, it was not too difficult. That is until we reached THIS! The bottom of the "Stairsteps":
Let's put this in perspective... This is Sharon at the top of the first group of 'Steps':
Being alone, and considering that the sides of the steps were steep slopes into canyons on both sides, we chose to climb the 'Stairsteps' on foot. As we went up, we captured the steps as we went. This is the second group of 'steps':
The climb continued steeply for a quite a way after that, but with nothing else so extreme. More photos are in the Photobucket site, linked at the bottom of the post. We were winded and hot by the time we reached the top:
Mr. Green is NOT ready for this (yet!), so we headed back down to Garcia Ridge (30S18):
The trail is toughest in the first mile or so as it climbs to the top of the ridge. The views are excellent and we could even see the fog rolling in at the ocean:
The toughest obstacle on the trail can be bypassed:
But of course we didn't by-pass it: we chose to climb the falls on the way back out:
On the way back, there was a great 'poser' rock on the Hi Mtn Road, so I couldn't resist:
It was a great day and we still made it back to the camp on the beach before sun set:
All the photos can be seen here:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...14-07/?start=0
Saturday morning, before the fog had burned off, I took Mr. Green out into the dunes:
I was impressed with the performance. I played on the dunes for a while before heading back to fix an upper radiator hose leak. While waiting for the engine to cool, we went for a run on ATVs.
After fixing the hose, Sharon and I headed inland to explore some trails near Pozo, CA. Out of Arroyo Grande, we took Hi Mountain Road to Pozo. Hi Mountain Road leads into the Los Padres NF and is a high clearance 2WD road. There are LOTS of dry wash crossings that are subject to flash flood. In the wet season, you should check with the rangers before heading out or you may find this gate closed:
There was no danger of that for us this time of year. The fire danger level in this area is 'Extreme' right now, so please be careful.
Before reaching Pozo, we passed the entrance to Garcia Ridge Trail. This used to be marked as a Moderate trail, but the USFS has "upgraded" to Black Diamond:
Just before town, we crossed the wet-year-round Salinas River:
The Pozo Saloon was built in 1858 and was originally a stage stop:
While in town, we came across three Jeeps airing up. They said that they had just ran Garcia Ridge. I told them that we were headed to the 'stairsteps' on Pine Mountain. They told me not to go down them. The last 'step' has become extremely rough and steep. They blamed 'buggies' for this change in the trail.
From there, we climbed to Pozo Summit on easy East Pozo Road. We found the exit to the Pine Mtn trail (30S14), so we decided to go to the bottom of the infamous "stairsteps" instead of going around the mountain to the top:
The trail was very steep in places and required 4WLow, but the road was graded and even, so other than the climbs/descents, it was not too difficult. That is until we reached THIS! The bottom of the "Stairsteps":
Let's put this in perspective... This is Sharon at the top of the first group of 'Steps':
Being alone, and considering that the sides of the steps were steep slopes into canyons on both sides, we chose to climb the 'Stairsteps' on foot. As we went up, we captured the steps as we went. This is the second group of 'steps':
The climb continued steeply for a quite a way after that, but with nothing else so extreme. More photos are in the Photobucket site, linked at the bottom of the post. We were winded and hot by the time we reached the top:
Mr. Green is NOT ready for this (yet!), so we headed back down to Garcia Ridge (30S18):
The trail is toughest in the first mile or so as it climbs to the top of the ridge. The views are excellent and we could even see the fog rolling in at the ocean:
The toughest obstacle on the trail can be bypassed:
But of course we didn't by-pass it: we chose to climb the falls on the way back out:
On the way back, there was a great 'poser' rock on the Hi Mtn Road, so I couldn't resist:
It was a great day and we still made it back to the camp on the beach before sun set:
All the photos can be seen here:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...14-07/?start=0
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