The Blue Canyon “shuttle” hike offers a rigorous 6-mile day hike without a major automobile drive out of town — avoiding the 90-minute trip to the Nira Trailhead or the Piedra Blanca Trailhead (80 minutes). While I’ve managed this trek several times, it never fails to exhaust the body but sharply exhilarate the spirit!
The exuberance one derives from steady uphill hiking led me to press ahead of my three hiking friends in my ancient hubris, but sometime after the Cottam Potrero, I slipped back and back as the ascent steepened — finally enjoying my appropriate Methuselah position many yards behind Mr. C, wild Peter and cryin’ Ryan L.
As an oldster, I follow the literature on aging brains, and there’s no doubt that steady exercise and invigorating friendships can fend off impending dementia. In this vein, yeah, I do compete some and try to press forward aggressively while on these trails, and a hidden goal is to blast as much oxygenated blood as possible throughout my cranium.
Even in the past three weeks, I’ve made two of these Blue Canyon hikes, encircled Gaviota Peak, and made the long trek up the Potrero Canyon Trail to Negus Meadow and Hurricane Deck.
Jan. 2 dawned cold and bright as my three pals and I cruised along lofty East Camino Cielo en route to the barred end near Divide Peak (this is also the end of the paved portion). We admired smeary blue vistas out to sea with Santa Cruz Island looming large, and then over to our left (north) we look out to the Sierra Madre Range with the snow-clad summit of 5,700-foot McPherson Peak (see photographs in the slideshow above).
We need two vehicles to manage the 4-mile shuttle between the start and end points of our mostly uphill hike, although when solo I use a bike for the shuttle. On the drive in, we left one truck at the concrete water tower near Montecito Peak, and then with windows down and good masks on, we motored the last 4 paved miles and exited the second truck at the second water tower near Divide Peak.
After walking the dirt road, we dropped down into the lush canyon at the signed Northside Romero Trail and carefully negotiated the first very steep downhill mile. Sidestepping very slowly, I used both hiking poles and made sure to enjoy the leisurely pace while intently focusing on the terrain.
We crossed some rivulets because of recent rain, and at the bottom found the crucial iron sign reading Blue Canyon Trail, with just a half-mile to bewitching Blue Canyon Camp.
After a short water break at the Blue Canyon Camp table, we began the 5-mile ascent along the length of Blue Canyon, journeying through riparian foliage and masses of dry sycamore leaves.
One of the trail’s advantages is how the strong sun is nearly always at your back, and how few hikers use it despite the proximity to town. We found a wrecked honeycomb on the ground at the base of an oak tree and decided that either a bear or a raccoon had ripped the colony out of a hole at ground level.
Serene Cottam Camp in its own wide potrero (meadow) offered a second break spot, and the whole hike is worth this interlude. Albert Cottam built a cabin here in 1915 during World War I, and much later the Show family managed “Camp Ynez” here as a guest camp. Mild and beautiful, we can see how the potrero was once plowed.
We do feel very far from “town,” although the map informs us we’re less than 5 air miles from Montecito’s Upper Village.
At Cottam — where I overnighted in tough conditions in November 2017 just before the Thomas Fire — we encountered a young hunter decked out in full camo. We chatted with him a bit as backcountry folk are wont to do, and I learned he was hunting quail and rabbits (it’s not deer season). But when I spotted his .22-caliber rifle lying on the table, it seemed unlikely he’d down any quail (410 shotguns are the firearm for this). He claimed it was quail season, but I was unsure. It’s pretty rare to find hunters in this area so close to town.
Trudging along past Cottam, the steeper ascent commenced, and we pressed hard to clamber up to Forbush Flat Camp on the Forbush-Mono Trail. Exhausted, we had a lunch near shady Forbush and noticed there were overnight campers using the upper site (and table). While Gidney Creek was flowing, this water isn’t potable.
Jan. 2 marked the beginning of the New Year’s weekend, and it was gratifying to witness so many hikers, especially once we reached Forbush Flat Camp. It’s heavily used (no campfires allowed), and a number of Sunday hikers ambled through.
Just below Forbush Camp is the iron trail sign for “Mono,” but the “5 miles” on the sign is highly misleading since the trail to Mono and then the hot springs is miserable and extremely overgrown in the lower reaches.
We enjoyed the olive trees and cool breeze at shady Forbush Camp, and I reminded my friends that Fred Washington Forbush built his cabin there in 1910, and established an orchard with apples and grapes and olive trees (the olives you see are the remnants).
We hiked Blue again on Jan. 9 — what a relief after the political chaos in our nation’s capital. We have discussion rules during our hikes: no political discourse; we’re all too saddened.
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» Directions: Drive to Skofield Park and locate the beginning of Gibraltar Road. Drive carefully to the top, about 6½ miles, and at East Camino Cielo, turn right (east) toward Divide Peak (signed) and drive to the first concrete water tower near Montecito Peak. Park one vehicle on the dirt there. Drive in a second vehicle another few miles until the bar in the road. Park, then begin walking down the dirt road.
On both weekend days, we encountered several bikers. A few were wild mountain bikers criss-crossing the pavement and riding quite dangerously. Motorists, drive slowly!
» Map: Ray Ford’s helpful “A Hiker’s Guide to the Santa Barbara Frontcountry” is available at Chaucer’s Books, 3321 State St. in Santa Barbara (call the store first).
— 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 Los Padres National Forest. He welcomes reader ideas for future Noozhawk columns, and can be reached at cazmania3@gmail.com. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
