Serious backcountry campers often become befuddled by the outdoor public’s inability to enjoy the Reyes Peak and Pine Mountain alpine campgrounds, particularly in summer’s punishing heat and aridity.
Planning a hike on the shadier north side of Reyes Peak in late July’s inferno made sense to my hiking colleagues when I stressed that trekking above 7,000 feet guaranteed some cool, and we would need to set off before 7 a.m.
Following the two-hour drive past Ojai and up the sinuous Highway 33 (4.1.1.), we threw tents down at 7,000-foot Reyes Peak Campground, where all the sites were empty, drove on another mile to the end, and quickly hiked to the peak’s actual summit (7,500 feet).
Despite the high desert climate, Pine Mountain and Reyes Peak boast magnificent stands of old-growth pines that demand public attention and require protection.
While there is only about 500 feet of gain on the less-than-a-mile footpath to the official summit, and despite the early morning cool, the ascending trail had me breathing hard and savoring the piney fragrance and exotic vistas. From the conifer-dotted mountainside, we could look north into the dusty Cuyama Valley and south to the Conejo Mountains and Point Mugu. The fabulous morning temperature at 58 degrees Fahrenheit enhanced astounding landscapes and chittering bird cries amid complete solitude. Taoists might claim we were in the yang phase “on the sunny side of the mountain,” but we merely chuckled with glee.
After clambering on the peak and checking the sign-in box, we walked back down the mountainside and made a hard right turn (north) to slip onto the Reyes Peak Trail (23W04). This well-marked backpacking trail led us east into the Sespe Wilderness and slants six miles along the ridge of Haddock Peak down the shaded side of Pine Mountain. The signpost (lead photo) has “To Haddock Peak,” but you are actually on the Reyes Peak Trail (returning “back” as it were down to Piedra Blanca Creek).
When you finally drop into Piedra Blanca Creek at rugged Haddock Camp (6,100 feet), you join the historic Gene Marshall-Piedra Blanca Trail and eventually mosey down to Sespe Creek beyond Twin Forks Camp.
We enjoyed the shaded side of the Haddock Ridge — yin relief — and the weather-beaten sign for Sespe Wilderness. This is the “other end” of the 240,000-acre Sespe Wilderness, and most people think of Sespe Hot Springs and the river itself, but plenty of the Sespe Wilderness is at higher elevation.
We chose not to make this second trek an 11-mile epic and simply wandered about the thickly forested northside of Pine Mountain and nearby Haddock Peak. These glorious old-growth sugar pines, ponderosa and Jeffreys remain on the federal government’s logging schedule despite the “new” Biden administration and many protests against this shortsighted logging.
The ubiquitous Jeffrey pines now endure an explosion of the parasitic dwarf mistletoe pathogen, often resulting in a “witches’ broom” deformity on the tree limbs and eventual death of the pine. These “bunches” were all over, and much more severe than noted in earlier visits — certainly the drought and global warming have weakened the Jeffrey and ponderosa pines here.
Noon temperatures reached 80 degrees, but we were nestled beneath the giant trees and carrying plenty of water. Wild Pete and I laughed at the boiling sands and scorching heat of our early July foray along Upper Manzana Creek. Unlike these periods in the eastern high Sierra Nevada, there were few bugs and not as much danger of sunburn.
Animal activity usually feels limited up in these elevations, but we noted many deer, even on the road, and squirrels racing everywhere. I spied a jackrabbit with long ears and had never seen one up here over decades of trips to the area.
I admit to some befuddlement at so few overnight campers at Reyes Peak Campground as well as at nearby Pine Mountain Campground. While neither site has available water, it’s relatively cool and quite shady at these 7,000-foot sites, with few bugs, and they offer several inviting and easy day hikes. In earlier times, I would note children biking around on the well-paved road, which sees few adventurers daring to drive up.
The Parks Management Co. online fee is $30 per night, but only $20 if you pick one of the first come, first serve sites. We took favored site No. 3 at Reyes Peak Camp for the night of July 21, although the “Reserved” sign on the site had to be in error (see final photo). We could discern that no one had camped at No. 3 on July 20, or the 22nd, and we were there the 21st — but the Parks Management reserving website had indicated the site was free the entire week. What gives? Campers come up hoping for an overnight and when they encounter these “Reserved” signs with dates, it fends off the public! Parks Management had no one checking any of these sites on July 21, so they clearly do not care.
I wonder who in the U.S. Forest Service hierarchy checks on Parks Management’s practices? As noted in several earlier columns, they illegally charge $10 for parking at Nira Camp Trailhead, when these users are day hikers or backpackers who do not utilize the campground amenities. Now at Reyes Peak Campground, Parks Management has misleading “Reservation” dates, contradictory website information and they’re not around anyway. Privatization is not working well in this forest.
Parents and adventurous adults should avail themselves of overnights with their children at either Pine Mountain or Reyes Peak campgrounds.
4-1-1
» Information: Bring plenty of water on this overnight trek; no open fires are allowed.
» Directions: Take Highway 101 south to Highway 33 in Ventura. After passing through Ojai, continue on through Sespe Gorge using the Maricopa Highway (33) to Pine Mountain Road. Turn right, and it’s seven miles to the Reyes Peak Campground. Drive another 1.5 miles on the dirt road. Begin hiking there (signs available). Map: Sespe Wilderness Trail Map (Tom Harrison Maps). Click here to reserve one of the six overnight sites, but as noted, Parks Management can’t be relied upon.
— 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.
