The cleansing roar of Nature and her manifold beauties surrounds us and blends the individual spirit with the cosmic unity.

After our sensational winter rains, many now enjoy this glorious spring bursting forth on all sides — from Rattlesnake Canyon in the local front country on out to magnificent color displays on Figueroa and Grass mountains in the Santa Ynez Valley.

“Superbloom” is not an official designation, and has become an over-utilized concept; in a sense, it happens almost every spring.

But there certainly are splendid floral extravaganzas wherever we look this particular spring — and I forgo my usual longer trips to the Carrizo Plain or Death Valley, Mount Pinos.

The aesthetics of local color inspire wanderlust and high excitement; we can experience the thrill right here. Immersions in green nature re-enliven the spirit and the body, and we revel in the sudden exuberance. Romantic poet William Blake wrote, “Exuberance is Beauty.”

I’ve recently managed to partake in the Santa Barbara lifestyle by including a morning at the seaside on Saturday, a solo stroll a short way up Rattlesnake Canyon Trail on Sunday, and easy hiking on upper Figueroa Mountain Road savoring the floral bounty on Monday (April 15-17).

Ocean, riparian coastal canyon and low local mountains with spectacular views in all directions!

Most of us enjoy the fulfilling emotions of gratitude that well up when we find ourselves surrounded by such brilliant eco-zones — the salt smell of the sea at Hendry’s Beach, a lilac scent from showers of white ceanothus blossoms in the foothills, and topping it off with the tart terpene fragrance from the tall conifers on Figueroa Mountain. 

Driving in the Santa Ynez Valley toward Figueroa on Monday, my friend and I thought we might avoid some of the weekend’s heavy tourist traffic, but fellow sightseers and hikers were out in force on that Monday as well as the preceding Sunday.

We delighted in the cries of fowl and visions of many-hued flowers etched against the holy mountain, termed Soxtonocmu by local Indigenous human groups. The purple lupine and the California golden poppies’ extreme orange hue reigned over the brown earth and against white sedimentary rocks.

For the first time in many years, the final two-mile (drivable) dirt road to the Pino Alto at Figueroa was also open, and I saw hikers, cars and mountain bikers pushing up to the spectacular 4,500-foot summit.

Hikers will appreciate the compelling landscapes looking back down into the Santa Ynez Valley, overlooking the Sedgewick Preserve and out toward the northern Channel Islands.

Even the drive in from Highway 154 past Midland School offered stunning vistas, including the cows munching fresh spring grass on a ridgeline above the steep mountain road.

Leaving the truck at the unbarred gate to “Pino Alto,” my colleague and I slowly road-hiked over to Figueroa Mountain Camp (open; see 4.1.1.) and continued to where we could see the top of Davy Brown Trail (in Fir Canyon).

This trail leads ever downward to Davy Brown Camp on the eponymous creek, which is currently open along with Nira Camp (4.1.1.). From the top of the signed Davy Brown Trail, you could hike all the way to the camp below, but the return hike would be arduous and ascends at least 1,700 feet.

Hiking up Rattlesnake Canyon on Sunday, I made a late start and began walking at 8:15 a.m. I saw many other energetic Californians and tourists trudging determinedly uphill.

The water in the creek gushes along and creates a merry sound, caressing the ears like wind passing through high trees.

When I paused and looked back toward town and then the wine-dark sea beyond, suddenly the nearby hillock with St. Mary’s Seminary loomed large with winter grass below and the tan religious buildings amid darker trees.

A nature philosopher would be foolish to compare the beauty at the seaside or in the canyons or up on a sacred mountaintop — yet we know Plato’s aesthetics include the phrase indicating “the contemplation of beauty causes the soul to grow wings.”

In his theory of Forms, Plato contended there is another, deeper reality — another world superior to ours — and visions like a seascape or flower-bedecked mountain should inspire us to visualize this higher reality.

Yes, there is linkage between the three charming ecozones I visited on a Saturday, Sunday and Monday from a base in Santa Barbara town. Another odd linkage is in the specific problem of land use and over-crowded parking areas in all three locations.

At the most picturesque, flower-strewn side of Figueroa Mountain, there were well more than 75 cars, some film crews, along with a whole gaggle of excited and happy tourists and nature-lovers.

Smiles were everywhere as we all inhaled the fragrance of the eternal as manifested in the linear-time now beside the road. Sometimes this is termed the polarity of being/becoming; eternity and time; and so forth.

Over-Parking at Rattlesnake Canyon Trailhead

I suggest a solution, however, to another over-parking problem on Las Canoas Road on both sides of the Stanwood Bridge, where the Rattlesnake Canyon Trail starts.

On Sunday, just the east side of the hoary stone bridge alone had more than 25 cars packed in, and I’m sure the other side had at least as many vehicles — this was about 9:30 a.m. 

Getting through safely was difficult for cyclists, the many road-hikers walking on the edge of the asphalt, and cars moving through trying to cross the one-lane bridge. There were also children and dogs present; I felt it was somewhat unsafe for all the stakeholders.

Santa Barbara includes the entire 400 acres of the Rattlesnake Canyon Wilderness, but the city also controls the adjacent Skofield Park, just east of the Stanwood Bridge. There is a berm along the road next to Skofield that comfortably holds eight cars well off the road. I usually park there.

But the small 10-car paved parking lot down in Skofield Park (well-marked) was also full. Thus, I’m asking Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation to unchain the grassy meadow just above its 10 paved open spots and make this area available for overflow parking for Rattlesnake Canyon Wilderness hikers.

I was befuddled on that Sunday to see a chain across this grassy meadow that has been used historically as a parking lot and could hold upward of 40 cars.

4.1.1.

William Blake’s beauty quote comes from his “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” The U.S. Forest Service camps at Figueroa Mountain, Davy Brown and Nira are all now open; make reservations with Parks Management Co. by clicking here; some of its header information is incorrect (e.g. stating the cost at some sites is $20 per night (30 to reserve) when at the actual site charge is $32 per night (and $40 if you reserve through the Parks Management creaky online system). None of these sites have piped water, but generally you do not need to bother to pay since Parks Management personnel do not check at all (they do at Figueroa Mountain Camp). There was a single overnight camper at Figueroa Mountain Camp on April 17.