I combined the McMenemy, Saddle Rock, Girard, and Hot Springs trails for a hike on Monday. The weather was nice with lots of interesting cloud formations and a constant marine layer hovering above the Pacific helping provide a cool breeze on the south side of the mountains.

It has been a few years since I hiked much of this area, I almost forgot what a pleasant perch Saddle Rock provides with its unobstructed views of the coast.

I noticed the acorns are starting to become abundant as well as many sweet fennel plants with their licorice

like aroma.

Wispy looking clouds greet the days hike above Hot Springs Canyon.

The view southeast from on the Girard Trail.

The View northwest from Saddle Rock.

Looking down at Saddle Rock from further up on the Saddle Rock Trail.

A vista on the Girard Trail with a memorial and a bench. This is just above the junction with the McMenemy Trail.

View south from the McMenemy Trail of the marine layer hovering above the Pacific Ocean.

The Channel Islands can be seen here peeking out of the mist. Photo taken from the McMenemy Trail.

I Had the chance to hike with my friend Chris Darby on Sunday that I hadn’t seen since 2007 on the Appalachian Trail. My hiking friends might know him as “Lifesaver”. He is in Santa Barbara visiting family who happen to live right down the street.

Chris at the Tunnel Trail Junction.

We hiked up Rattlesnake Canyon and over the Connector Trail to the Tunnel Trail Junction. While resting and having lunch in the shade of some oak trees, a road runner came sprinting up the trail. It hung around for a minute before continuing into the chaparral. We missed a photo on account of not wanting to scare the creature off to quickly.

This is the first time we had seen each other since we were hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2007. The last I had seen “Lifesaver” he was hiking big miles with his father’s old Kelty backpack and charging toward the northern end of the trail in Maine.

Tin Can Flats in Rattlesnake Canyon.

This days hike was much more relaxed as we spent the afternoon discussing long distance hiking and another favorite subject of ours, music. Chris has spent many years the Chicago band “Them Damned Kids” as well as doing solo tours across the country.

You can check out some of his music here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/chrisdarby

Chris (Lifesaver) and John (Calmwater)

I hiked up the west fork of the cold spring trail today. It was another short hike but wasn’t short on scenery. I have been taking it easy on my foot the past few weeks, it has been a little sore but is healing. There was no morning fog today, just intense sun from the get go. It was refreshing being under the tree canopy with the huge boulders and gurgling creek. I heard a warbler singing in the trees, not sure what kind.

Coastal oaks in Cold Spring Canyon.

Once out of the canopy and on the ridge the sun was very strong. I stopped and rested under a stray oak and made sure I stayed hydrated.

Tangerine Falls.

View toward the mountain crest from near the top of Tangerine Falls.

Once reaching the top of the ridge, there is a side trail leading to a rock crag above cold spring creek. It had great views of the ocean and when under the trees was several degrees cooler than in the sun. Luckily, the black flies which had been out in force all day, were fewer here.

Some rock faces just above the falls.

The native Panther lily- Lilium pardalinum

View south of Cold Spring Canyon from above Tangerine Falls.

I then proceeded down another less traveled trail to cold springs creek, just above Tangerine Falls. It is very lush by the creek and has the feel of a large forest, even though it is a canyon with some steep wall sections. I heard some ravens calling near the top and heard what might have been a raptor, though I didn’t hear it clear enough to be certain. I saw some folks climbing by the falls up to the top, that would be a lot of fun I would imagine.

Rocky crags above the falls. These are fun to explore.

It was a good morning to do some hiking. The cool ocean mist kept the temperature comfortable for exertion and there was not much need for sunscreen (yet).

The marine layer still hovers above the trail.

Once again there were wildflowers blooming everywhere and the bees seemingly welcomed the workload. They buzzed about busily and they seemed to be everywhere. Once I hit the exposed ridge out from the cover of the canyon, the sun was there to greet me. I was glad there was a cool breeze to keep things comfortable.

The marine layer begins to burn off as I near the upper section of canyon.

I saw three other hikers and a few mountain bikers after passing the cold spring tunnel. Not many good lunch spots after the trail leaves the canyon, I just chose a flat rock on the side of Gibraltar Road.

The sun out in full force.

Interestingly, when I reached Gibraltar Road there was an old vehicle down the side of the hill. It looked as though it had been there for a hundred years. Not much more than a mangled heap of rust and metal now, but I wonder why it is still there.

Old vehicle by Gibraltar Road.

It seemed like a good day to take a hike up the Tunnel Trail along the side of Mission Canyon. One of the first things that I noticed was the abundance of blooming wildflowers everywhere.

A honey bee crawling around on some morning glory.

The plan was to hike up Tunnel Trail and connect with an unmaintained trail that follows the spine of the ridge in an area called Mission Crags. After breaking away from the gated road that allows access to the different trails in the area and heading up the actual Tunnel Trail the crowds dissapeared completely. During the days hike, once on Tunnel Trail I only saw four other hikers and a group of mountain bikers.

Ceanothus glowing in the sunlight.

Gaining elevation toward the ridge.

Canyon sunflowers and ceanothus along the side of the trail. Both are common chaparral plants.

The day was a little hazy  by the ocean, so the views toward the Pacific were not as clear as they could be. Sometimes the ocean is visible in many areas of this hike, but not today. No worries though, the many colored and varied wildflowers made up for the lack of clear coastal views.

Caterpillar Phacelia – a drought tolerant native annual which blooms March through June.

Arlington and LaCumbre peaks.

Once I reached the junction to turn off of the main trail, I proceeded through a bunch of thigh high flower bushes buzzing with armies of honey bees. The tiny overgrown path soon became a trail across a small knife edge ridge with plenty of 360 views. Continuing along the trail soon became so overgrown that the areas buzzing with bees were more frequent and were soon going to be chest high. I decided that this was my cue to turn back and return here when there are less flowers and the honey bees are not out in full force.

Speckled Clarkia

On the way down the mountain I noticed that the hazy marine layer toward the ocean had shrunk down a little and was now just covering the ocean like a snug blanket.

The trail heading back, there is a light layer of clouds above the ocean. Downtown Santa Barbara is at the middle of the picture.

More photos from this hike here:

http://www.hikerweb.net/blog/photogallery/california/tunnel-trail-52012/

My first post is of a few photos I took while going for a quick afternoon hike in San Roque Canyon near Santa Barbara, CA.

Coastal Oaks in San Roque Canyon

Beautiful coastal oak trees provide shade along part of the trail in San Roque Canyon. Not far from this spot are mortars ground into the boulders by the native Chumash Indians. The bowl shaped mortars provided the Chumash with a means to grind acorns, taken from the oak trees.

Cathedral and Arlington peaks in the distance

Field of poison hemlock

As I started hiking, I couldn’t help but notice being surrounded at times by the highly toxic plant poison hemlock (Conium maculatum). A “Tea”  made from this plant was used in ancient Greece as a form of execution, it is reportedly the method which killed famed philosopher Socrates. Not surprisingly a very small amount of this plant, if ingested, can be fatal. It is a good idea to learn to identify it just for this reason. Poison hemlock is not a native to North America, but was introduced from Europe and is now considered an invasive species.  It is similar in appearance to the even more lethal native water hemlock (Cicuta spp.). Neither poison hemlock or water hemlock are related to the evergreen hemlock tree (Tsuga spp.) which does actually make a pleasant tea.

Close up of poison hemlock "umbrella"

Trail heading down San Roque Canyon