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| Hiking | 14.72 Miles |
3,412 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.72 Miles | 5 Hrs 48 Mns | | 2.65 mph |
| 3,412 ft AEG | 15 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I wanted something close to the resort in Ojai, but with decent mileage. After some looking around online, this seemed to fit the bill. After less than a 10 minute drive, I got to the trailhead a little before 0700. Cool, and a little foggy to start. The trail begins heading uphill immediately, and never lets up until reaching the summit--never steep, just a steady uphill, kind of like Mt Ord. The first half mile had some rocky sections, but nothing bad. After that, I walked through some avocado orchards for a while, while navigating the maze of roads on the hillside. It's mostly signed, and common sense keeps you going uphill on the most well traveled road.
After leaving the orchards behind, the trail continued up Gridley Canyon, turning to the northwest after a while. The hillsides were pretty dry with lots of tall dead grass and a lot of wildflowers mixed in. Very green around Gridley Spring, which was flowing well. I guess there's a place to camp around the spring, but I didn't readily notice it, maybe because I wasn't looking. There was a place to tie horses, so I suppose the campsite was nearby. After the spring, the trail started switchbacking up the ridge. Lots of switchbacks. A lot of burnt trees too, but the manzanita is growing in quickly.
Once reaching the road at the top, I turned left to head to the summit. I think the road was actually steeper than the trail, or maybe it was just hot by then so it felt that way. Good views from the summit. I took some pictures all around, had a snack break, then headed back down. Easy hike back down, a little warm due to no real shade. Saw one hiker near the spring. I had budgeted 8 hours for this hike, but finished in less than 6, so that was a nice surprise. Not the most exciting hike, but nice scenery and an easy way to get some good mileage in, and the solitude was nice too. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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| Stop crying and just go do the hike. |
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