Unlike Spain and some European Union countries, we Californians have not yet been ordered to stay, literally, at home during the global coronavirus pandemic. In fact, there were more than 65 cars parked at Nira Camp on Saturday.
As the primary gateway into the splendid San Rafael Wilderness, Nira (and the parking area just a quarter of a mile away along Davy Brown Creek) seldom contains more than five or six vehicles. This means that there were well over 120 humans enjoying and roaming around the upper and lower Manzana Creek Trails — how wonderful!
In a fairly odd occurrence, the official U.S. Forest Service website concerning “alerts and notices” listed Nira Camp as “temporarily closed,” but it certainly isn’t — or wasn’t — on Saturday. The nearby Davy Brown and Figueroa Mountain camps definitely have been closed, with yellow tape prominently across the entrances, and no one was there or parking there (except outside).
The road into this spacious, exhilarating area — once called the San Rafael Primitive Zone — remains open, and many Santa Barbara County residents have intelligently flocked there. There were also several overnight campers at Nira with tents and small trailers (Nira has no piped water or other amenities; bring your own water and firewood.).
During my planned hike into the San Rafael to Lost Valley Camp, and then up the stunning Lost Valley Trail toward Twin Oaks Camp and the Hurricane Deck, all of the hikers kept more than appropriate distances. Hikers we saw were all on the Manzana Trail section, with one group exception.
Most of these backpackers and day hikers were already well within the wilderness area, and I’m guessing the Forest Service really couldn’t close Nira with packers likely days-deep into the wild.
For me, it was equally heartening to see the numbers of children whom parents had taken out for an intoxicating day hike into the local forest. Let’s count the ways that “wilderness bathing” and just relaxing in the outdoors soothe jangled nerves, abate urban virus fears and simply allow deep time to develop around us. Adults need this, and children even more so.
For the first mile of this Upper Manzana Trail, we enjoyed the creeks’ acoustic melodies and gushing flow as well as fellow hikers. At Lost Valley Camp, where backpackers were overnighting, we turned north up toward the looming Hurricane Deck formation and Twin Oaks Camp.
On our hike to Twin Oaks Camp, we noted that the wildflower burst had begun, with small areas of California golden poppies and bounteous bush poppies with their yellow blossoms. There were even a few bunches of the magenta-blossomed prickly phlox flowers.
We met only one group heading to the Deck on the Lost Valley Trail — three women and a man, with two sturdy goats, each goat bearing a load of about 30 pounds. The woman leading said the goats were “in training” for longer trips, and that they would trudge beyond desolate Twin Forks Camp to rough it at fabled “Cowboy Camp.”
I admired them. They kept their social distance, in part by choosing a different path from the relative hordes spreading up or down the luscious Manzana.
We should learn from all the Santa Barbara residents who have roamed out into the wilderness. We have not been asked to quarantine in our homes and never leave them. Unlike residents of Los Angeles and San Diego counties, we can still go out on the trails into wilder nature.
Don’t shackle your mind or spirit unnecessarily. It’s fantastic that Nira Camp remains open, and if we keep going out on the backcountry trails, as long as the government doesn’t prohibit it, we can actually keep Nira open as it was on Saturday.
Ladies and gentlemen, moms and dads, fire up those cars and drive the 90 minutes to Nira Camp with your kids. Hike all day! If you bring camping gear, enjoy the austere amenities at Nira Camp, and hike again the next day, away from the crowds. One can easily maintain “social distance” out on the trail as noted in my previous two columns.
If you have questions about trail etiquette in the time of the coronavirus/COVID-19, check out this article about ForestWatch's seven thoughtful guidelines while out on paths in the San Rafael. (No. 3 is impossible at Nira, however.)
4-1-1
» Directions to Nira: Take Highway 154 past Lake Cachuma to Armour Ranch Road. Turn right, drive a mile, turn right on Happy Canyon Road and drive to the end, which is at Nira Camp.
— Dan McCaslin is the author of Stone Anchors in Antiquity and has written extensively about the local backcountry. His latest book, Autobiography in the Anthropocene, 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.
