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Hikes in August

***** Rain or extreme heat can­cels all hikes*****

Pacific Crest Trail to Martindale Ridge — Views of Sierra Pelona, Mojave etc.

Details

Hike part of the Pacif­ic Crest Trail (PCT) South to Mar­tin­dale Ridge and enjoy views of the Sier­ra Pelona/ Aqua Dulce/ Mojave/ Lan­cast­er etc.

DISTANCE: ~ 6.5 Miles, Round trip, Out and Back style

GAIN: 1300’ Approx.

DURATION OF HIKE: 3.0 hours includ­ing a 20 minute break

RATING: Mod­er­ate + , for gain

DESCRIPTION: This hike is anoth­er one of our local favorites, close to sub­ur­bia but feels miles away. The hike is entire­ly on the well main­tained Pacif­ic Crest Trail (PCT), that goes from Mex­i­co to Cana­da. We will start at 3320’ and enjoy main­ly a gen­tle gain that PCT is known for, climb­ing through lus­cious chap­ar­ral of man­zani­ta, moun­tain mahogany and oak. There will be a few short steep­er sections.
Along the way, we hope to enjoy views of the Bou­quet Reser­voir, and Jupiter and Grass Moun­tains. We will vis­it Bear Spring and even­tu­al­ly emerge on Mar­tin­dale Ridge at 4500’, after 3.2 miles. From here, if it is clear, we take in views in all direc­tions (i.e. Mojavi, Lan­cast­er and the Sier­ra Pelona area (Aqua Dulce/ Acton etc.) spread out below. After a quick snack, we head back down the PCT for a total of 6.5 miles.

MEET: At Trail­head at 7:30AM, to start head­ing up the trail at 7:45AM SHARP. See direc­tions below

DIRECTIONS to trail­head: Address = 37862 Bou­quet Canyon Road, San­ta Clari­ta, CA. (Google : 34.583655, ‑118.321585 is best)
About 35 min­utes up Bou­quet Canyon from San­ta Clarita.

From the I‑5 Free­way, head­ing North (toward Castaic):
Exit at Newhall Ranch Road (Route 126). After head­ing up the off ramp, turn East (right) along Newhall Ranch Road, toward Valen­cia. Go 4.4 miles on the Newhall Ranch to the inter­sec­tion with Bou­quet Canyon.

Turn left at the Bou­quet Cyn./ Newhall Ranch light and dri­ve 17 miles up Bou­quet Canyon until you see Bou­quet Reser­voir on the left, fol­lowed short­ly by Spunky Canyon Road on the left also. Stay on Bou­quet Canyon. Dri­ve anoth­er 2.2 miles and park at a large turnout on the right (with Pacif­ic Crest Trail mark­ers on either side of the road).

From Ante­lope Valley/ North of San­ta Clarita:
If you are dri­ving from Lan­cast­er, take Eliz­a­beth Lake Road to Bou­quet Canyon Road (just before Leona Val­ley). Turn left and dri­ve 4.3 miles on Bou­quet until you see a large turnout on the left (with Pacif­ic Crest Trail mark­ers on either side of the road).

BRING: Hik­ing Poles, lunch/snacks, at least 2L of water with 1L elec­trolytes, cam­era, hat and SUNSCREEN, hik­ing shoes/boots with good tread.

Adven­ture Pass / Bath­rooms: Pass is not required; no bath­rooms at Trail­head, plan accordingly.

Dogs: OK, on leash and if well behaved around peo­ple / oth­er dogs. If you bring a dog, please dri­ve yourself.

Leader: Paul

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Local Beginners/ Easy Hike — Whitney Canyon to the Cascades

Details

Local Begin­ner’s / Easy Hike!! Whit­ney Canyon to the cascades

Dis­tance: ~ 4.5 miles total, out and back.

Gain: Almost none

Rat­ed: Easy, suit­able for begin­ners and families.

Time: About 2.5 hours

Descrip­tion: (GPS Co-ords: 34.364404, ‑118.500829 )

A beau­ti­ful most­ly flat 4.5 mile hike, along a riv­er bed with shady oak trees along most of the route. This is such a pleas­ant and easy “out and back” hike that you do not have to leave the kids or dog at home either.

Your hike starts along a dirt road, but after about a half mile, becomes a sin­gle track — all the way to the “Cas­cades” — the site of a nice lit­tle water­fall (not flow­ing at this time of year). Expect to see squir­rels, deer, wood­peck­ers and oth­er birds that like this ripar­i­an habi­tat. We’ve also once seen a black bear!

Bring: This hike is short but you might like to bring a small snack to eat at the water­fall or along the way, water (~1 liter), sun protection/hat.

Dogs: Allowed, if on a leash and well-behaved around oth­er dogs and peo­ple. (The MRCA fine, if your dog is caught off-leash is $265.)

Meet­ing place: Meet at the Whit­ney Canyon trail­head (by the gate, GPS Co-ords: 34.364404, ‑118.500829 ) at 7:15 AM for an 7:30AM SHARP depar­ture down the trail. We should be back by about 9:30AM before the day heats up.

Direc­tions: From Valen­cia, take the I‑5 Free­way south ; from San Fer­nan­do Val­ley, take 1–5 free­way North. Get on the SR-14 North and be ready to take the first Exit — Newhall Avenue. Take a right at the fork on the off-ramp. and when you reach the stop sign, turn right. This will lead you quick­ly into the Park and Ride that is adja­cent to SR-14. Park­ing is FREE. Park in the dirt lot to the left of the asphalt Park and Ride.

NOTE: Park in the dirt/gravel over­flow lot below to the left of the park and ride. Look for your leader by the gate in the gravel/dirt lot, bot­tom right side. This is the trail head for Whit­ney Canyon.

Leader: Dianne

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La Jolla Cyn Trailhead/ Ray Miller Backbone/ Overlook Trail to La Jolla Camp

Details

Please read the full Descrip­tion below CAREFULLY so you are aware of all meet­ing time/ location/ direc­tions, details etc. THX

Sat­ur­day August 27 — La Jol­la Cyn Trailhead/ Ray Miller Back­bone Trail / Over­look Trail to La Jol­la Val­ley Trail Camp

TIME(s): Meet at Trail­head (at the back of the park­ing lot) at 7:45 AM to start hik­ing at 8:00 AM sharp, details below. Note: Dri­ve time from SCV is ~1 hour 15mins.

DISTANCE: ~ 10.4 mile Round Trip total, out and back style

GAIN/ LOSS: ~ 1580’ total (1000’ in the first 2.7 miles)

RATING: Mod­er­ate ++ (NOTE: this is NOT a begin­ners hike, the rat­ing is due to longer dis­tance and 1000’ gain ear­ly in hike). You need to be hik­ing reg­u­lar­ly to enjoy this hike.

HIKE DURATION: ~ 4.5 hours hike + 0.5 hour snack time
Hike should end by ~ 1:00 PM, back in SCV 2:45PM

TRAIL HEAD: Meet your leader at the Ray Miller Trail­head (rear of park­ing lot) in La Jol­la Canyon Park­ing lot (Google coor­di­nates 34.0837567, ‑119.0358925). Entrance to Park­ing Lot is across from La Jol­la beach:

DESCRIPTION: We start at sea lev­el at the back of the La Jol­la Canyon Group Camp­ing Park­ing Area to head up the Ray Miller Back­bone Trail. The trail winds back and forth across the hill­side pro­vid­ing spec­tac­u­lar views of Pacif­ic Coast High­way and the Pacif­ic Ocean. We climb almost 1000’ in the first 2.7 miles then it lev­els off for 1.9 miles as we tra­verse the ridge, join­ing the Over­look trail, reveal­ing great views into Sycamore Canyon and the Boney Moun­tain range off to the South East. The final 0.7 miles is a grad­ual descent along the Loop trail into the val­ley below, turn­ing into the La Jol­la Val­ley walk-in camp­ground. Here we take a break and grab a snack before our return to the trail­head along the same route.

DIRECTIONS: from San­ta Clari­ta to the La Jol­la Canyon trailhead:
Take Newhall Ranch road West until you go over the 5 Free­way and becomes CA-126, head­ing West toward Ventura.
Fol­low CA-126 W, 34.4 miles, then use Exit 5 from CA-126 W to merge on to CA-118 East, toward Sati­coy. Con­tin­ue until the road T’s . Turn right on to San­ta Clara Ave, which becomes Rice Ave and even­tu­al­ly merges into Route 1 (PCH), turn­ing South along the coast.
Stay on PCH, pass­ing Point Mugu Naval base on the right, beside the ocean. After pass­ing the big Point Mugu Rock, La Jol­la Canyon park­ing entrance is 1.4 miles fur­ther, on the left. Be alert, 1/4 mile soon­er and watch traf­fic as you turn in.

PARKING: There are 2 options — park in the La Jol­la Canyon Park­ing lot and pay a $12/ day fee with a cred­it card to a machine in the lot. Alter­na­tive­ly, you may be able to find free park­ing out on the PCH, on either side of the entrance (!! obey signs and park behind arrows/ inside white­line, or risk a hefty ticket!!).

BRING: Hik­ing boots with good tread, Poles if you have them, lunch/ snacks, at least 2 — 3 liters of water plus some elec­trolytes, SUN SCREEN/ lip balm.

BATHROOMS/ ADVENTURE PASS: There are bath­rooms at the camp­ground / trail­head. Pass not required. PARKING OUTSIDE THE GATE IS FREE. PARKING INSIDE IS $12.

DOG(s): Sor­ry, dogs are not allowed on this trail (I don’t make up the rules).

Leader: Chris Stratford