This column’s main premise is that we’ve been steadily losing our essential evolutionary contact with wild nature, and the human cost, especially for children, has become very high. Just consider the epidemic rate of childhood obesity in the United States today, or the rampant fear of nature growing in urban centers. Nature-deficit syndrome is no longer simply a metaphor invented by Richard Louv: It describes an actual condition afflicting many Americans today.
However, for those of us fortunate to dwell in the Santa Barbara-Goleta area, we can easily find ways to take our kids and flee into the hills and gain a few hours with our children roaming Los Padres National Forest. (Locally, both the Jesusita, Tunnel and Rattlesnake Canyon frontcountry trails escaped the Thomas Fire’s horrendous destruction; see below.)
Who could have imagined on Dec. 9 that the Thomas Fire still would be burning at Christmas and not be projected to be fully contained until Jan. 7 or so? Although mostly contained on the western front above Montecito and Santa Barbara, the eastern edge of this “double” fire in Rose Valley still rages. (I wrote about Rose Valley Falls Camp in mid-November.)
My only effort to get out and hike while Thomas burned took place on Dec. 9 when, desperate and foolish, I drove the 62-mile-longer Highway 101 route to check out the air quality and views at the Pino Alto summit of Figueroa Mountain. (See 4.1.1. for directions.)
After turning left onto Figueroa Mountain Road from Highway 154 at Los Olivos (coming from the Highway 101 side), and driving past picturesque Midland School, I ascended to the junction with Catway Road. Surprisingly, it was unbarred on Dec. 9, and there were some hobo campers toughing it out in a truck older than my ’00 Ranger. (Driving or hiking along the Catway, you end up eight miles later around Zaca Peak.)
The air quality had been poor all the way up Highway 101, through the Gaviota tunnel, and even when I turned off onto Highway 154. It continued to be poor right to the base of Pino Alto Road, hundreds of yards past the Catway turnoff (I turned back after driving it a few hundred yards; four-wheel-drive is a good idea).
While rumbling along Figueroa Mountain Road, I passed two groups of hardy — foolish? — mountain bikers, and one guy pedaled on through the smoky air as I parked at the wide space where the Pino Alto begins. The “Pino Alto” sign is prominent, and unlike the Catway, this broad fire road was completely barred. It’s a two-mile steep ascent, hiking up past a little campground and then to the official lookout at the peak of Figueroa Mountain. I admit that the slightly smoky air concerned me, but I had my mask available and planned to stop if it felt too polluted.
Partway up Pino Alto Road, I took a photograph out toward the Santa Ynez Valley (south), and the smoke and ash made the valley almost impossible to see. The road basically circles the symmetrical peak a number of times, and as I hiked on, spectacular views appeared north toward the fabled Hurricane Deck formation in the San Rafael Wilderness.
The Cumbre picnic area is a rest stop en route to the top (the lookout), and there are tables and firepits at this spot (no fires allowed). Clearly, it could be great fun to hike with some children to Cumbre and overnight there, as if you were in the genuine backcountry. Because we’re in the Figueroa Mountain Recreation Area, you can be assured there is no hunting or firing of weapons.
Arriving at the flat summit, from this 4,500-foot vantage the hiker enjoys enchanting landscape views for about 300 degrees, and most importantly, she or he could draw clean air on Dec. 9 despite the Thomas Fire. One has finally ascended above the ugly smoke and ash cursing the Santa Ynez Valley. Northward, there are many views of the San Rafael Wilderness, the Deck and the Sierra Madre transverse range in the distance.
After clearing the lungs for a few hours trudging up and down Figueroa Mountain, I descended to my parked truck on Figueroa Mountain Road and slowly drove back home to Santa Barbara’s Westside, and immersion in the Thomas smoke and ash for weeks. I am grateful to all the firefighters who worked on the fire, and grateful that the Westside and Santa Barbara escaped the worst.
Rattlesnake Canyon frontside: I also hiked up Rattlesnake Canyon here in town on Dec. 23. There is considerable white ash on the ground and polluting the flowing creek in the upper reaches before “tin shack meadow” (aka The Meadow). It seemed ashy, and I would not recommend it right now for dogs, young children and the elderly because of breathing restrictions.
4.1.1.
» Take Highway 101 north to Gaviota, go on and get off at the Highway 154 sign (near Zaca Station Road) and double back three miles to Los Olivos. At Los Olivos, turn left onto Figueroa Mountain Road and drive past Midland School, the ranger station, to the base of Figueroa Mountain, and stop at the sign “Pino Alto.” Park, and hike to the top, to the Figueroa Mountain lookout, and back. Four miles with fantastic views north and south.
— Dan McCaslin is the author of Stone Anchors in Antiquity, and has written extensively about the local backcountry. 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.
