After our early July hike downstream along the green lower Manzana Creek in the San Rafael Wilderness, Crazy Peter and I chose a more challenging five-mile jaunt upstream this time, along the same meandering watercourse nearly three weeks later.
While the upper Manzana path feels drier, and large swathes of the creek are completely dry, there are a few sections with some flow. Although the river trail heads up higher on some northern slopes, these steep switchbacks after Lost Valley Camp don’t stray too far, and the hiker always ends up back down at the critical resource: water.
Picturesque Lost Valley Camp, only one mile upstream, still has flowing water, and it might last until late August. After filtering the water, campers could easily camp overnight there despite the heat (it’s ideal for small children).
Another two miles along, noting some Andy Goldsworthy-type “rock stacks” that hikers have created, Peter and I entered Fish Camp. This campsite with its two tables is absolutely sun-blasted, and there is no water in the Manzana near here, nor in Fish Creek itself.
Since we began hiking at 6:30 a.m. from Nira Camp, the extraordinary heat didn’t pick up until after 8 a.m., so we continued on with the steady but slight ascent to “Ray’s Camp” — five miles up from Nira.
In one of the several dry creek crossings, we spotted a hoary old sycamore right in the middle with a wonderfully gnarly and swirled trunk. Lizards scampered about, and as the heat rose so did the flying insect population. It wasn’t bad while still walking, but they zero in after you rest five minutes at a table or on shaded boulders.
At one time, Ray’s Camp was nameless or casually termed “First Water” because good water is almost always available at this spot nearing the gorge. Indeed, we found sufficient good water here, and other campers had laboriously moved the table away from the fire ring to a spot under some nearby oak trees. We enjoyed a good lunch at the shaded table: peanut butter and jelly, almonds, cheese, bread and copious draughts of water from the Manzana (filter first).
Peter has never been to Manzana Camp or Manzana Narrows, and he wanted to press on, earning his erstwhile “crazy” Peter monicker. This would’ve meant 2 more miles in and up, and therefore a 12-mile round-trip instead of our planned 10.
Given the rapidly ascending heat, our complete isolation (we saw no one else the entire day in the field!), and my ancient legs, we reluctantly bagged the extension. I really enjoyed the slow trudge back to Nira, and the heat felt incandescent over the final three miles from Fish to Nira.
The keys to withstanding the challenge are: hydration, a long-sleeved shirt and a wide-brim hat, plenty of sunscreen, and a wide-angled appreciation of the green and brown chaos happening all around.
I lost a few pounds, and must admit this is not the best introduction to the San Rafael Wilderness — and definitely not a hike to drag unwilling children along.
• • •
We were able to begin hiking fairly early at 6:30 a.m. from Nira Camp by car-camping overnight at nearby Davy Brown Camp — beloved “Davy” has a great stream running free (filter the water), two “drop” toilets and a trash bin. Of the 13 sites, only one was occupied.
I’ve been camping at Davy since the early 1970s, often bringing school groups and family teams here. I didn’t complain (much) when the U.S. Forest Service “privatized” the running of the camp to a commercial concessionaire company, the mysterious Parks Management Co., and have cheerfully paid my $20-a-night fee in the recent past.
But on this trip, PMC had added a new twist: reservations. My preferred table site closest to Davy Brown Creek was pre-reserved from July 20-22 and again July 25-29.
Although I’ve visited the website visible on the reservation slip in my photograph, it was tough to get through, and I waited 20 minutes on the listed 877 phone number, too.
Readers can decide about the wisdom of long-distance reservations at such remote sites like Davy Brown. This system was not in place in September 2017 when I stayed at Davy, and I did not see any reservation notices at that time.
The “new” white numbers painted on the archaic tables were definitely not there last September (compare now, site 7: photo below). The toilets have always been there, the trash bin is always crammed full (and bear locks not locked), there is no potable water, and in interviews with some of the PMC staff checking the site, they confirmed that reservations often are not utilized.
You pay an extra $10 for online reservation, moving your overnight cost to $30. I can imagine someone outside Santa Barbara County reserving a Davy Brown site on a maybe, then not showing up, while a cool local family might get there and find every one of the 13 sites pre-reserved.
Whimsical camping with families is damaged this way. A PMC employee assured me that some of the 13 campsites are on a first-come, first-served basis, but that is not correct, according to the reservations website.
Further, the website’s information about Davy Brown Camp is rife with additional mistakes: The road in camp is barely paved and full of many deep potholes; there are absolutely no hookups; announcing that “25-foot RVs” can come in easily is not really true; and it’s not “35 minutes” back to Los Olivos and so-called civilization.
When deer hunting season opens in mid-August, there will be guns and alcohol in the camp, and it’s not quite the family-fun package that PMC carelessly advertises. For your $20 — or $30 — you can have a rustic camp without hookups, a useful trash bin or potable water. No fishing. This is not glamping. If someone manages to pull a 25-foot RV into Davy, there will be generator noise at night (no time given for generator shutdown).
Does the U.S. Forest Service know what is going on with PMC-managed Davy Brown Campground, and the false advertising and relatively new site “reservation” system PMC has initiated? Paying $20 seems fair enough, even though the trash bin is always full (and attracts bears when unlocked), but driving all the way in and finding out some sites are “reserved” but unused is wrong.
4-1-1
» 47 miles to Nira Camp behind the Santa Ynez Valley: motoring up Highway 154 past Lake Cachuma, turn right on Armour Ranch Road just after crossing over the concrete Santa Ynez River bridge. After about a mile, turn right again on signed Happy Canyon Road, and drive to the end (= Nira Camp). Park at the edge of Nira and avoid the $10 parking fee (no Adventure Pass). Davy Brown Camp is 1.5 miles before Nira, and the sign is clear.
» Conant’s San Rafael Wilderness trail map guide is terrific, and all the camps mentions are shown.
— 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.
