Trail Tales,

Stories of the routefinding trips for the SLOCREST Trail. I have concentrated on the east half of the trail as it is not as developed as the west, and the country east of Agua Escondido to the Carrizo Plains was unknown to me.  It turns out to be beautiful country, oak meado

Tale #1. Agua Escondido East.

It was a hot August day, I felt the need for a walk in the woods so I loaded my back pack, and drove my jeep to the ridge line just north of Agua Escondido Campground 25 miles east of Arroyo Grande past Huasna. In the cool of the morning I walked southeast along a dirt way on what is called Long Ridge. Just past an ephemeral lake formed by an old bulldozed dam a side trail leaves this route dropping into the Alamo Creek drainage. The trail descends steeply but has been kept clear and travel able by dirt bikes and quads who's tracks were apparent.

At the bottom of the trail it crosses a small creek, dry in August, with a short steep narrow section sufficent to keep out the motor vehicles.  This section of the trail from the ridge above Agua Escondido can be used as is, with permission for right of way from the Huasna Ranch and from the Avenales Ranch for a small section along Alamo Creek, baring those permissions a mile or so of trail will need to be constructed.

I followed the trail along the flat as it joined Alamo Creek, the creek held water in August, but with all the cows will need to treated before use. Across the creek the trail ascended gently to a valley rising to the southeast. I felt the trail could use this route and go to Paradise Camp Site where there is a spring. The hike to Paradise Camp Site proved to be epic. The trail should leave the valley to the north east ridgeline.

That has yet to be scouted.

Tale #2

This was a fine fall day, Laurie and I took the Jeep out to Rockfront OHV area off Highway 166. This is an area of many motorcycle and jeep trails, some steep. We drove out past Paradise Campsite and north on a jeep trail to a gate and fenceline marking private land. The trail would come from the ridge on the west side of this property and can easily loop around to the south and back north to the ridge, where it could drop to Kennel Creek or remain on the ridge.

We retraced our route to 35 canyon then up it. The jeep trail goes down Kennel Creek to a gate, which is locked, but well within the National Forest boundary, this stuff annoys me. The gate itself is annoying enough, but to lock out the public from public land is not right. The trail could come up the road along the canyon, or it could drop off the ridge to the Jeep road. We retraced our route then took the northern most jeep trail eastward, some sections darned steep, to another junction, the north road to Branch Mountain is again gated on Forest Service property,. The trail could go north on FS land, then require some trail construction to connect with another forest road 2 miles eastward.

That would be closer to the spirit of the route, as close to the ridge line as possible while staying on public land.
 
Another potential route is to stay on this  eastward road to a junction with an abandoned road to the left, follow this road down, then half a mile of trail construction around a pocket of  gated and fenced private land.

We had a good day, a great picnic and saw some new ground, and worked out more of the route.

Tale #3

I took the Jeep back out, this time beyond big rock on a narrow ridge top trail to near where Laurie and I had been. I drove up a really narrow trail to another gate on Forest Service land. I parked there and walked a trail on the east side of the pocked of private land we came upon in the prior tale. The trail was high  on the ridge, coming out onto a beautiful high oak valley,. Cuyama Valley lay far off to the South East. I walked this trail several miles, sufficent to see that it was indeed a great route on beautiful land with fine views.


Tale  #4

Trail tales


Gifford.


I left the Gifford Trailhead on Robinson Jeffers in the early morning, a chill still in the air. To explore the Gifford lateral to the SLOCREST trail and to explore the SLOCREST trail eastward to the National Forest Boundary.


Jeffers was so frisky that getting him pointed up the narrow trail was a bit of a chore. This trail winds along a series of low ridges and narrow canyons for a mile or so, running just along the north property line of the Rancho Rinconada, a private ranch. The trail drops into Gypsum Canyon where the road access to the Gifford Ranch once ran from Hiway 166 to the Gifford Ranch, to my surprise, although there was a gate at the Rancho Rinconada boundary there was no road. It was abandoned long ago. I rode north up the canyon with sycamores and a dry streambed.


I came to the Gifford Ranch site, long abandoned to the elements. The property is now owned by California Fish and Game. The ranchhouse was gone and a tree nearly 12 inches in diameter grew within the foundation, so the house has been gone a long time. There are abandoned farm implements scattered about, an old tractor, a manure spreader and a springtooth harrow among them.


There is a trough and water tank, the trough is half filled with mud. There was a steady drip of water into the trough, so there is water, marginal, but there. Cattle use the trough.


There are two ways out of the canyon climbing to the ridgeline 1600 feet above, a left route and a right route. I ascended the left route, and descended the right route the following day. I recommend the left route, it is a steady climb whereas the right route has a series of ups and downs, and some very steep sections.


The left route climbs steadily upwards gaining great views down the Cuyama Valley as it ascends. It is an old jeep road, it needs brushing and fairly near the top there is a large oak that has fallen across the road requiring a detour on a steep cut bank around it. I need to get in there with a chainsaw and remove it.


At the top of the ridge there is a fenceline and a locked gate with a sign for the Buckhorn Ranch. My topo maps show the land as public land, but it is hard to argue with a fence and locked gate.


The road on the map that I intend to use as the trail is a seldom used ridgeline road that climbs a few humps at about 34-3500 feet elevation. I could see to the far off north and north east the Carrizo Plains, to the eastward the highest point in San Luis Obispo County, Caliente Peak was clearly visible. To the south and southeastward the Cuyama Valley lay far below looking like a toy landscape. Beyond the Valley rose the massive bulk of 8,000 foot plus Cerro Norreste, and closer the long high ridge of the Sierra Madre.


To my surprise I could hear a motor climbing the hill before me, a quad soon appeared, the rancher riding it stopped shut the motor off. I climbed down off Jeffers and we talked. He was looking for his cattle which I had seen earlier down near the Gifford Ranch. He leases the 30,000 acre Chimineas Ranch from its owner, California Department of Fish and Game, it is managed as both a cattle ranch and as the Chimineas Ecological Preserve, a prime elk habitat.


He told me that my original route from Deadman Flat across to the Goodwin visitor center was not doable as the northern part of the ranch was closed to access and used as the “nursery” for the elk herd. He was able to show me a good route that would end up at the Shelby Campground on the Carrizo National Monument, which will make a great staging area and trailhead.


We parted, he off to find his cows and Jeffers and myself to wander along. The trail is stunning, winding along through the classic California oak studded hills. We descended to Gillam Spring where I intended to make camp as I was reasonably sure of water.


The spring at Gillam comes out of a small cave and has plenty of water. A fence around the spring area prevents cattle from fouling the spring, so the water should be reasonably good. There is also a brand new trough and piping bringing water from another spring to the trough. There is a slow drip into the trough, but plenty of water for the cattle in the area and for horses, I used the water from the pipe, treated it. Camp is in the grass, just about anywhere you can find that is free of cow pies.


This trip in October after the first rain presented a grass problem. There was very little mature grass, and the new grass that came up after the rain was only about an inch tall. There was not enough grass for the horse.


I offloaded the saddlebags from Jeffers, we ate, took a nap, then I rode on down the trail to the forest boundary, a pleasant trail along a dry streambed with sycamores and oaks. Near the forest boundary was another spring in another cave, this one could use a new spring box, a pipe should run to a tank with a trough, the trough was empty.


Back at Gillam Spring I made a pleasant camp, and hobbled Jeffers, he was annoyed at the lack of grass and began to head back to the truck, 7 miles away, he can hop at a pretty good rate, I had to catch him and highline him. In order not to destroy the tender new grass, I highlined him across the road, there was reasonable old grass there, and he could not plow up the new growth. The road surface was pretty firm.


The next day we ambled out, I took it slowly as I knew Jeffers was hungry, it was a day like the first day of the world, bright, warm and not a cloud in the sky.






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