When local hikers think of “the Sespe,” it’s usually the Sespe Creek and the nourishing hot springs, or they envision Sespe Gorge on Highway 33 inland from Ojai. (See 4-1-1)
When my two colleagues and I made a mid-August six-mile, round-trip hike into the Sespe, we quickly crossed the dwindling little creek (the diminished summer Sespe) and pushed inland (north). After about a mile, we entered the official Sespe Wilderness.
Created in 1992, the 220,000-acre Sespe Wilderness features a lot more variety and landscapes than simply heading down-river to the hot springs every time (it’s 15 miles to the Sespe Hot Springs). Embedded within Los Padres National Forest and created along with the neighboring Chumash and Matilija zones, the Sespe federal wilderness has special protections and allure.
Our mid-August destination was the U.S. Forest Service campsite called Piedra Blanca — about two more miles past the official wooden Sespe Wilderness sign.
We ascended up Piedra Blanca Canyon out into the open sun for most of this trek on the Gene Marshall-Piedra Blanca National Recreation Trail. The simple trip is ideal for young campers, or beginners trying out an easy backpack.
Wild Peter pointed out that after entering the Sespe Wilderness at a high point near Reyes Peak, we were slogging into its blazing cauldron starting down low. This desolation of the Piedra Blanca Creek drainage sits at the “bottom” of the Sespe Wilderness parcel when you study the Tom Harrison map (4-1-1). The Reyes Peak Trail is the high point of the Sespe Wilderness, and the Sespe River is the lowest point.
Although the Sespe Wilderness is one of the driest federal wildernesses in California, it encompasses an interesting array of different landscapes to explore. We have found perennial and seasonal creeks, various hot springs, conifer-clad mountaintops, waterfalls, exotic rock formations and designated campsites. Visitors enjoy chaparral, white sandstone ledges, and riparian and oak woodland.
The contorted rock shapes of the famous 600-acre Piedra Blanca ridge grip the onlooker. Poring over the lead photograph, you can grasp how the smoothly rounded, exotic white sandstone formations have eroded into the weird and crazed designs that have attracted ancient and modern humans equally. This bleak but enchanting section has resulted from violent geological upthrusts, leaving the few pine trees sticking out at crazy angles.
After clambering about on the pleasantly curved white sandstone formations — with good boots the footing is excellent, and I used two hiking poles — we followed the trail through an obvious “pass” or gorge to cut through the white sandstone zone, then broke into the lower, dry, brown chaparral-clad slopes.
We crossed through on a clearly marked trail, then kept hiking over the next low ridge into Piedra Blanca Canyon itself. Next, we headed up toward Pine Mountain Lodge, Pine Mountain itself and Reyes Peak. It’s a tough 18 miles all the way to Reyes Peak, and on a summer’s day that trek is impossible.
After 10 minutes hiking up this canyon, we heard the melodious, gushing water of Piedra Blanca Creek off to our right (east). After such a glorious winter, the small creek flows beautifully even in August.
The exciting Wassermusik stimulated a drift into John Ruskin’s “deep time,” while we energetically pressed forward in the mounting heat. Although we began the hike at 8 a.m., we had scrambled around on the crazy white sandstone shapes for an hour, thus spent even more time out in the open. The flora contained very few tall trees, mainly chamise and acres of turning-russet buckwheat.
We reached Piedra Blanca Camp — with three large sites — by midmorning. No campers were there, and we did not see anyone until we had almost returned to the trailhead. I strongly recommend filtering any water from this creek.
On our return, we often hiked apart in order to maintain some semblance of silence and for a bit of solitude that affords significant relaxation and spiritual restoration. All the while, you gain wonderful southern views of the backside of the white ledge formation. With these vistas pulling you back into a deep-time state, you find yourself cruising along the trail, alert but relaxed.
American landscape artists such as F.E. Church and Albert Bierstadt would paint giant canvases emphasizing humans’ puniness and insignificance compared to nature’s immense glories.
Our own Santa Barbara Museum of Art has two paintings by Bierstadt, and his 1864 “Mirror Lake, Yosemite Valley” with the tiny canoe exemplifies this trend.
Therefore, a demanding half-day hike in a hot hell like Piedra Blanca Canyon can hurl the observer into this deep time awareness and leads to reflection, relief from urban anxieties and political care, as you focus on the now.
Wallowing in deep time also requires one to be simultaneously alert to the threatening now. We had seen plenty of lizards, bluebellies and alligator specimens when lead walker Chris jumped back with a yelp as a coiled black snake suddenly began rattling angrily. (It’s another reason not to hike too closely behind the lead hiker.)
None of my photographs turned out, so tightly woven was the reptile around the base of a sturdy chamise bush. We warily circled, admiring its vigor, humming vitality and dusky beauty.
For safety’s sake but also to enjoy deep time reflection, I suggest you put your iPhone and watch inside your daypack and don’t consult them for the entire five-hour excursion to Piedra Blanca Camp. Even better, leave the phone in your car.
Crossing the Sespe River itself, near the Piedra Blanca Trailhead, had been easy, and it was simple on the return portion. Be aware that during the winter or after heavy rainfall, the Sespe morphs into a raging river and becomes impassable. Hikers have perished along the Sespe River, including 10 people in high flooding in January 1969.
On our way out, the drive through Rose Valley also gave terrific vistas in every direction. We admired Rose Valley Lake along with the American coots (Fulica americana) paddling about.
I knew this trek would be quite warm based on Noozhawk weather reporting, but the heat became extraordinary, so I leaned on my preparations and experience: toted four liters of water, a wide-brim hat, a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, heavy boots, hiking poles and lots of sunscreen.
Getting out was still quite demanding in August heat. I qualify my above statement about this six-miler being ideal for young children and beginners: It’s true except in midsummer or after heavy rainfall.
4-1-1
» Tom Harrison’s “Sespe Wilderness Trail Map” covers this hike. Drive Highway 101 south to Ventura, take Highway 33 to Ojai, continue along the Maricopa Highway (Highway 33 continued) to the Rose Valley turnoff and drive to the end, where it meets the Piedra Blanca Trailhead parking lot.
— Dan McCaslin is the author of Stone Anchors in Antiquity and has written extensively about the local backcountry. His latest book, Eternal Backcountry Return, has been published by Sisquoc River Press and is available at Lulu.com. He serves as an archaeological site steward for the U.S. Forest Service in the Los Padres National Forest. He welcomes reader ideas for future Noozhawk columns, and can be reached at cazmania3@gmail.com. Click here to read additional columns. The opinions expressed are his own.