Songs of the Wilderness

The Thomas Fire, which started near Santa Paula on Dec. 4 of last year, burned west through the mountains behind Ojai and Ventura. It then crossed State Route 33, and burned along both sides of the Santa Ynez Mountains.

On the coastal side of the Santa Ynez Mountains, the fire burned west until it reached the burn scars of the 2008 Tea Fire and 2009 Jesusita Fire, where it essentially stalled out and was contained.

As a result of the fire, all of the trails within the burn area were closed until further notice. On Jan. 9, winter rains brought debris flows and flooding, further damaging the trails.

The Forest Service lifted the closure on all trails within the National Forest affected by the fire on May 24. However, portions of trails on land owned and managed by both the City and County of Santa Barbara remained closed, including most of the lower trailheads. Since then, the City and County have reopened their sections as well, with the exception of the trails in Cold Spring Canyon, which remain closed, including West Fork Cold Spring Trail from Gibraltar Road.

Between Cold Spring and Romero Canyons is a network of trails, most of which have been reopened. These trails, combined with Edison access roads, provide a great way to craft a variety of loop hikes and explore the front country side of the Santa Ynez Mountains. All of the unpaved Edison access roads have been cleared and are in great shape, and many of the lower trails have also been cleared or worked on as well.

Trails for these different loop hikes can be accessed from Hot Springs, San Ysidro, and Buena Vista trailheads.

To reach Hot Springs trailhead from Santa Barbara, take Highway 101 south and exit at Hot Springs Road. Turn left, and continue though the roundabout and follow Hot Springs Road up to East Mountain Drive. Turn left onto East Mountain Drive, and continue towards the trailhead.

From the trailhead, Hot Springs Trail follows an easement through private property for the first half-mile, passing along the way an information kiosk splattered with mud from the debris flow, which provides a sense of how high the debris flow was.

Although Hot Springs Canyon is not as deeply scoured as San Ysidro or Romero Canyons, the damage from the debris flow is still evident. Further up the trail one can see where a private bridge across the creek was swept away. Please respect private property.

The trail follows the creek upstream, passing one last developed property before joining an unpaved access road and arriving at the first trail juncture, which is still signed. Straight ahead, is the trail that follows the creek up towards the site of the old Hot Springs Hotel. Across the creek, the trail branches. To the left is Hot Springs Trail and to the right is McMenemy Trail, which leads over to San Ysidro Canyon.

Hot Springs Trail follows an unpaved access road that traces the eastern edge of Hot Springs Canyon. The road roughly follows the original road built in 1862, to access the hot springs. From the road, it’s easy to see the burn damage in the canyon. Many of the oaks are scarred, but sprouting back. Covering the hills are morning glory, and growing back on the hillsides are chamise, ceanothus, and laurel sumac.

About a mile from the trailhead, Hot Springs Trail crosses the east-west running Edison access road. From here it’s a short way to the old Hot Springs Hotel site.

The first 3-story hotel was built here during the 1880s. In 1921, it burned to the ground during a forest fire and was rebuilt. In 1964, the Coyote Fire burned through the canyon, again destroying all the buildings, which this time were not rebuilt.

What remains is the stone foundation, including a set of stairs leading up from the trail to the top of the foundation. Past the hotel site, the trail continues up the canyon to where the hot springs flow out into the creek.

From the hotel site, a return hike can be made along the loop trail that leads back down the creek. The trails favors the west side of the creek and is relatively easy to follow.

An alternate return loop can be made along Saddle Rock Trail, which is reached from the hotel site, by continuing east along the Edison access road or catway.

Edison Catway connects from Hot Springs Canyon over to San Ysidro Canyon. About a half-mile from Hot Springs Trail, the road arrives at the first turnoff for the transmission towers and the unsigned top of Saddle Rock Trail. To the east, roughly a quarter of a mile, are the next towers over and the top of Girard Trail.

Saddle Rock Trail follows the ridgeline between Hot Springs and Oak Canyons. Coming down from Edison Catway, the trail quickly arrives at a flat mesa with a large sandstone outcrop and offers some great views out across Montecito and Santa Barbara.

The half-mile trail is at times rocky and steep, but easy to follow, as it threads along the ridge, passing through outcrops of coldwater sandstone. Growing back along the trail are chamise, manzanita, and laurel sumac. The trail then arrives at the unsigned intersection with McMenemy Trail, which is marked with a lone charred oak tree.

McMenemy Trail connects from Hot Springs Canyon over towards San Ysidro Canyon, and essentially parallels Edison Catway, traversing the lower portions of the Santa Ynez Mountains east to west. McMenemy Trail is in great shape having been recently been worked by volunteers, along with Saddle Rock, Girard, and Old Pueblo Trails.

McMenemy Trail is an enjoyable hike, in spite of the burn damage, as it winds its way across the front of the mountains, crossing Oak Creek before arriving at the intersection with Girard Trail. Near the intersection is a commemorative bench, honoring Colonel Logan T. McMenemy, who deeded the trail to the community in 1962.

Girard Trail is a half-mile connector trail that leads up to Edison Catway. The trail traces the western side of San Ysidro Canyon and offers great views out across the canyon. Halfway up the trail is a short side trail leading down to an overlook. At the overlook is a commemorative plaque honoring Edward “Bud” Girard and his work to help preserve our local trails. Girard was also instrumental, along with other community members, in helping to reopen Franklin Trail behind Carpinteria.

From the intersection with Girard Trail, McMenemy Trail continues east, descending down into San Ysidro Canyon, where it meets San Ysidro Trail. From here, it’s a roughly a half-mile up the canyon to Edison Catway for other loop options.

A short way down San Ysidro Trail is the beginning of Old Pueblo Trail, which leads over towards Buena Vista Canyon.

Buena Vista Canyon can be visited as part of a separate 3.5-mile loop hike that connects with San Ysidro Canyon.

To reach Buena Vista trailhead from Santa Barbara, take Highway 101 south, and exit at San Ysidro Road. Continue north to East Valley Road and turn right, following East Valley Road to Park Lane. Turn left onto Park Lane and continue to the intersection with East Mountain Drive. To the left, East Mountain Drive continues past Wiman trailhead and ends at San Ysidro trailhead. To the right, Park Lane continues to Buena Vista Trailhead.

Buena Vista Trail leads up Buena Vista Canyon, quickly climbing away from the creek and offering views out across the canyon. The canyon was also damaged during the debris flow and flooding, similar to Hot Springs Canyon. The trail is in fair condition and drops back down into the creek. Here, mud splattered on one of the distinctive boulders along the trail gives a sense of how high the debris flow was.

About a half-mile from the trailhead, Buena Vista trail branches. To the right, a connector trail climbs east out of the canyon where it meets the Edison access road coming up from Romero Canyon. To the left, another connector trail climbs west out of the canyon where it meets the Edison access road coming up from San Ysidro Canyon; the trail is overgrown with wild mustard.

From San Ysidro Canyon, continue down San Ysidro Trail to the beginning of Old Pueblo Trail for the loop hike back to Buena Vista Canyon.

Old Pueblo Trail is in good shape. The mile long trail follows an easement above the more developed properties bordering the mountains. Please stay on the trail. The trail meets Wiman Trail before joining Park Lane for the last leg back to Buena Vista trailhead.

Wiman Trail is a short quarter of a mile connector trail from East Mountain Drive that follows a small, shaded side creek up towards Old Pueblo Trail.

Regardless of how far you hike, each of these different trails and connectors provide a way to explore our local mountains.

This article originally appeared in section A of the August 20th, 2018 edition of Santa Barbara News-Press

Buena Vista Canyon is seen from the trail

Familiar rock feature shows the height of the debris flow

Hot Springs Canyon is seen from the trail

The Santa Ynez Mountains frame a view along McMenemy Trail

Saddle Rock Trail

The Thomas Fire started on December 4, 2017, and burned more than 280,000 acres, roughly 440 square miles, before it was contained. And while we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the fire was stopped behind Montecito, it proved to be just the opening salvo in a two-part disaster.

On January 9, the first winter storm hit, three days before the fire was officially contained. The unusually intense rain triggered a debris flow that devastated Montecito, claiming the lives of 23 people and damaging or destroying more than 450 structures.

Driving to the trailhead for San Ysidro Trail, the damage wrought by the debris flow is inescapable. Where East Valley Road crosses San Ysidro Creek, houses can be seen that have been partially destroyed, while others have been completely removed. Still visible on the buildings and trees is dried mud showing the height of the debris flow; and covering the ground is a layer of mud showing how far out the debris flow spread.

The trails within the burn area were also damaged. While most of the trails have been reopened, many are in need of repair and not necessarily hikeable. Substandard trail conditions and unstable ground require caution in hiking and in some cases are not safe to traverse. For example, there is a washed out section along upper San Ysidro Trail that is not safe to cross.

Cold Springs Canyon remains closed, although the uppermost portion of Cold Spring Trail can be accessed from East Camino Cielo Road.

The trailhead for San Ysidro Trail is reached from Santa Barbara by taking Highway 101 south. Exit at San Ysidro Road and continue north to East Valley Road. Turn right onto East Valley Road and continue to Park Lane. Turn left onto Park Land and follow it to East Mountain Drive, which ends at the trailhead.

The trail follows an easement through private property and where it joins a private access road, the house that was immediately on the left is now completely gone. The parcel of land it stood on also appears partially swept away and is now fenced off. Please respect private property.

The easement continues just west of the access road and rejoins the road past a gate, near the beginning of Old Pueblo Trail, which is also open. Here, the trail follows an unpaved Edison access road up the canyon. All of the Edison access roads in the burn area have been cleared and are in excellent condition.

Continuing up the canyon, the damage from the fire and debris flow is evident. The understory and chaparral have been burned away. The creek channel is much deeper and the floodplain has been largely cleared of plants and trees.

Nonetheless plants are growing back and much of the canopy is still intact. Along the road, large-flowered phacelia, canyon sunflower, and nightshade are in bloom.

The road passes the beginning of McMenemy Trail, marked now with just cairns, as the sign has been washed away. Further up the canyon, the Edison access road branches. The road to the right leads towards Buena Vista Canyon, while the main road continues up the canyon.

The access road then arrives at the beginning of the single-track trail, before crossing the creek and continuing east towards Hot Springs Canyon.

Hiking up the single-track trail, I can see where the debris flow spilled out of the creek, flowing across parts of the trail, and depositing trees and brush, some of which have been cut out and cleared by volunteers.

The canyon then starts to narrow and it’s easy to imagine the debris flow being channeled through here before starting to spread out near the mouth of the canyon. Much of Montecito is built on historic alluvial fans created by similar debris flows thousands of years ago.

Scanning the creek, many of the scenic cascades along the trail are either gone or have become unrecognizable. The familiar pool where the water flowed between two large outcrops of sandstone is gone. Over time, I imagine, new cascades will take shape and the canyon will once again become more picturesque.

The trail then climbs above the creek, returning back down just before it crosses San Ysidro Creek. Here, the trail follows a side creek towards San Ysidro Falls, before making its way to the top of the mountains.

The day is already hotter than I’d like. Recalling from previous hikes that the balance of the trail is uphill and unshaded, I decide to follow San Ysidro Creek and explore off-trail.

I hike upstream to where two side creeks join the main creek. Normally, to travel further would require bushwhacking and weaving through downed trees, but the mixed blessing of the debris flow is that it has cleared the way up each of the creeks.

In one canyon, I find fresh bear tracks and a large patch of Humboldt lilies in bloom that are being visited by swallowtail butterflies. In another canyon, I find a pair of garter snakes and stumble across a Humboldt lily with an impressive 28 flowers.

Before leaving, I pay a quick visit to the falls. The creek below them has also been carved out, but the falls appear largely as before, with the same trickle of water one would expect this time of year.

On my second hike, getting an earlier start, I quickly make my way to the falls. From here, the trail starts its climb up the mountain, making its way up a hillside of loose Cozy Dell shale. The trail is washed out, but passable with care.

As I continue, the task becomes more grueling; loose shale covers large parts of the trail requiring extra care to traverse. Even with trekking poles, the effort is like walking uphill in dry sand.

Further up, trail conditions start to improve as the trail joins the ridge separating the side canyon with San Ysidro Falls and the main canyon of San Ysidro Creek. Here, the devastation wrought by the fire can be seen over a wide area. It’s also easy to see where much of the material from the debris flow originated over the years.

Even with their chaparral covering, these mountains represent an almost endless supply of dirt and rock. Over thousands of years boulders and other loose material has worked its way down into the creek corridors.

During a forest fire, the protective chemicals that plants like chaparral produce to cover their leaves to mitigate water loss is released into the air and settles on the soil forming a water resistant coating. This hydrophobic layer, either at or just below the surface, prevents rainwater from being easily absorbed by the soil, dramatically increasing runoff during a storm. Depending on the intensity of the fire and amount of leaf litter burned, the layer can persist for several years.

Whereas most forest fires occur earlier in the year, allowing the often lighter rains of November and December to help soften the impact, the first storm after this fire was in January.

The storm brought with it several short bursts of high intensity rain, including one that dumped a half-inch of rain in five minutes; an event with a likelihood of happening only once every 200 years.

The intense burst of rain, combined with the effects of the fire on the landscape, triggered a debris flow of loose rocks, downed trees, and other material that was able to reach speeds of around 25 mph.

Because the density of the debris flow is close to the density of the boulders that have been washed down, the debris flow is able to essentially lift the boulders and carry them downstream at the front of the flow, like a floating wall of bulldozers scouring the canyon until it opens enough for the flow to fan out and the material to start to be deposited.

Slowly growing back on the scorched hills in the canyon are chamise, ceanothus, toyon, holly-leaf cherry, laurel sumac, and other chaparral plants, which anchor loose dirt in place and can help break up hydrophobic soils.

Continuing up the trail, roughly four miles from the trailhead, the trail arrives at a steep slide area that will need to bve repaired before it can safely be crossed. Unfortunately, it may be a year or more before it’s fixed. Trail crews will likely wait and see if subsequent rains undermine the trail further before investing resources in repairing it and instead focus on clearing and maintaining the lower trails that see more traffic.

From East Camino Cielo Road, the uppermost portion of San Ysidro Trail can be accessed and is in fair condition down to the slide area.

These mountains now present a challenging contrast between their beauty and the incredible amount of devastation and destruction the fire and subsequent debris flow have wrought on our community.

This article originally appeared in section A of the August 6th, 2018 edition of Santa Barbara News-Press

San Ysidro Canyon looking downstream

Humboldt lily with 28 flowers

Swallowtail on Humboldt lily

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Off-trail San Ysidro Creek

With most of the trails now open within the Thomas Fire burn area and volunteer groups actively organizing and leading restoration projects, many of the front country trails devastated by the fire and subsequent flooding are starting to return to life.

Currently only Cold Spring Canyon, including East and West Cold Spring Trails, remains closed to the public. The uppermost portion of East Cold Spring Trail, however, is accessible from East Camino Cielo Road.

In Romero Canyon, both Romero Trail and Old Romero Road have been largely restored. The lower portion of Romero Trail along with all of Old Romero Road have been cleared. The upper portion of Romero Trail still requires some work but can be hiked with caution due to substandard trail conditions.

The hike along Romero Trail to the top of the mountains is seven miles round trip. An extended loop hike of 11.5 miles can be made by returning along Old Romero Road. Both routes provide opportunities to explore the canyon and assess the burn damage and impact of the subsequent flooding and debris flow.

To get to the trailhead from Santa Barbara, take Highway 101 south and exit at Sheffield Drive. Turn right onto Jameson Lane and follow it as it curves north becoming Sheffield Drive. From Sheffield Drive, turn left onto East Valley Road and follow it briefly to the beginning of Romero Canyon Road. Continue on Romero Canyon Road to the end where it meets Bella Vista Drive. Turn right onto Bella Vista Drive and continue to where it crosses Romero Creek and arrives at the trailhead.

At the trailhead, damage from the flooding and debris flow is immediately evident. The flood plain has been cleared of plants and is noticeably wider. The creek channel is much deeper and where the creek crosses the road a new culvert has been installed and the road repaired.

Romero Trail follows an unpaved Edison access road up the canyon for the first half-mile. All of the Edison roads within in the burn area have been cleared and are in good condition.

The access road now crosses through the creek, just downstream from where the bridge was. In one of the more striking examples of how strong the flooding and debris flow were, the bridge is just gone. All that remains are its stone foundations and twisted rebar.

As I take in the scene, the fog and overcast sky adds to the sense of loss and disorientation. The basic topography of the canyon remains, but with the altered creek course and floodplain it’s hard to recall exactly what the canyon used to look like in its finer details. Equally hard to imagine is how it will eventually appear in five to ten years from now.

Past the first creek crossing, the road branches. The road to the left leads over towards Buena Vista Canyon. Staying to the right, Romero Trail continues along the road to the next creek crossing and the beginning of the single-track trail.

The trail sign is gone, likely burned in the fire. From here, the single-track trail follows the east side of the creek upstream, while Old Romero Road continues its long, circuitous journey to the top of the mountains.

The creek is flowing and the canopy of oaks is largely intact. I hear two stellar jays making a lot of noise even for stellar jays and veer off trail to investigate. They are scolding a Cooper’s hawk that’s sitting in one of the trees. My arrival breaks up the party and the birds disperse. Further up the canyon I hear flickers, towhees, and canyon wrens. The level of bird activity is encouraging.

Continuing up the trail, I can see that most of the understory has been burned and the trunks of many of oaks are charred. Growing back beneath the oaks are ferns, canyon sunflower, giant rye grass, and poison oak. As the canyon starts to narrow, Humboldt lilies appear in bloom along the trail and California bay laurel can also be seen growing back.

The trail is good shape thanks to the work of volunteers, as well as the amount of foot and bike traffic the trail is experiencing. The creek crossings are steeper than before but well-marked with cairns. The picturesque pools once seen from the trail are gone, but much of the overall character of the canyon remains or will return.

The trail then heads up a side canyon before following a set of switchbacks up to the intersection with Old Romero Road. Here, Romero Trail continues another mile towards the top of the mountains, while Old Romero Road winds its way there more slowly. From this four-way intersection a shorter return loop of 6.5 miles can made along the road.

As Romero Trail continues it becomes less shaded and the burn damage more evident. Where there was once dense chaparral holding the hillsides in place, loose dirt and ravel have slid across the trail, which volunteers have since cleared.

In some ways, many of our hillsides and mountains are mostly loose dirt and boulders and what helps keep them in place is plants. Growing back from their root burls are toyon, holly-leaf cherry, and ceanothus. On the exposed hillsides are wild cucumber, as well as other plants all taking advantage of the reduced competition, available sunlight, and ash-enriched soil.

Trail conditions in this upper section are currently a mixed bag, with some areas having been worked by volunteers and others in need of repair and requiring care to traverse. There are also sections that are unburned and only partially burned.

Nearing the top of mountains, white sage can be seen sprouting back and yucca is in bloom with its creamy white flowers. Adding to the color are patches of pale orange from bush monkey flower and red from honeysuckle penstemon and crimson larkspur.

The trail then arrives at the signed juncture with Ocean View Trail, the return point for the shorter hike to the top of the mountains.

For the extended loop hike continue north along Romero Trail. The northern section of the trail is unburned and where it passes through a stand of California bay laurel seems almost forested. The trail is overgrown, which in the context of having hiked through the burn area is somehow reassuringly familiar.

The trail then rounds a corner and the views extend out across Blue Canyon and the Santa Barbara backcountry. To the east, I can see the blue waters of Jameson Lake surrounded by the charred mountain landscape that was burned in the Thomas Fire. Scanning west, I can make out where the Thomas Fire meets the burn scar from the 2016 Rey Fire, which also burned a wide swath across the backcountry.

The trail then meets Romero-Camuesa Road. Just down the road, North Romero Trail continues into Blue Canyon.

For the loop hike back, from this juncture, turn left and head west up Romero-Camuesa Road to Romero Saddle. Here, the road arrives at a locked Forest Service gate and meets East Camino Cielo Road. Romero-Camuesa Road is currently closed to vehicles due to winter storm damage, but is open to hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians.

Continue along East Camino Cielo Road a short way past the cement water tower to the top of Old Romero Road.

Old Romero Road is currently in excellent shape. Over the years, brush and rock debris have effectively narrowed the route down to a single-track trail. However, recent trail work has cleared the trail to almost twice its original width.

The road makes a wide loop passing through the upper reaches of San Ysidro Canyon before returning to Romero Canyon and winding its way down into the canyon.

Lining much of the upper road is large-flowered phacelia with its oversized purple-blue flowers. Where there is pronounced southern exposure the plant can be seen dominating the hillsides. A fire-follower, the seeds of large-flowered phacelia can lie dormant for many years until chemical cues created by fire, followed by rain, cause them to sprout. The plant can also be seen in the lower canyon along the trail.

The last fire to burn through this area was the 1971 Romero Canyon Fire, which burned 15,650 acres before it was contained. In comparison the Thomas Fire burned 281,893 acres.

At about the 7.5-mile mark into the loop, Old Romero Road meets Romero Trail, which can provide a quicker return route.

The road eventually meets the Edison access road and then makes a wide loop around the front of the mountains before returning back into Romero Canyon. Through this section the views extend out along the coast from Carpinteria Salt Marsh to Santa Barbara Harbor.

The road then meets the beginning of the single-track trail to complete the loop.

Both trails have been largely restored. The lower portion of Romero Trail along with all of Old Romero Road have been cleared. The upper portion of Romero Trail still requires some work but can be hiked with caution due to substandard trail conditions.

All of the front country trails have been reopened except for East and West Cold Spring Trails. However, the uppermost portion of East Cold Spring Trail is accessible from East Camino Cielo Road.

This article originally appeared in section A of July 9th, 2018 edition of Santa Barbara News-Press.

Romero Creek

Fire follower, large-flowered phacelia can be seen along the trail

The bridge across Romero Creek is no more.

Skipper

Fading fire poppy