CITO, Hummingbird Style

CITO, in geocaching terms, means Cache In, Trash Out.  This morning, a CITO event was held in Simi Valley–Simi Valley Hummingbird Creek Trail CITO Number 2 –organized by Mike/lightningstar.

At 8:00 AM, we had a good-sized group gathered at the Hummingbird Trail trailhead.  The goal was to paint over graffiti and to pick up trash.  I asked Mike where he thought I ought to go and he directed me to the area where the stream enters a tunnel under the freeway.  I hit the mother lode of trash.  At least half of the larger bag of trash was made of spray paint cans.  I started counting the cans I was picking up, but stopped counting at 20.

I twisted my back a bit when I lost my balance on the rocks lining the stream and decided to quit before I did any more damage.  As it was, I made a pretty good haul.  I know that many of the others did too.  And I’m looking forward to seeing the before and after photos of the graffiti clean up.

It’s nice to associate with people that will take time out of their busy schedules to clean up messes left by inconsiderate, thoughtless ********.  You can fill in your favorite word for these vandals.

Thank you to the geocachers, the Simi Trailblazers, and the Alcoa employees that worked this morning on making  a big difference in this little corner of Simi Valley.

Getting Blown Away on Ball Bearings

About a month ago, the Earthcache–Ball Bearing Hill–was published by Mark/GoinHikin.  The cache is located on the Chumash Trail and not far from home.

The sign says “End,” but I was only beginning

I really enjoy EarthCaches and Mark did a particularly good job on this one.  I decided I wanted to do it right away.  Unfortunately, “right away” turned out to be a full month.  Strangely enough, I was still the second to find the cache behind Mike/lightningstar.

A nice view of Simi Valley and the trail head

Mark gives a very detailed description of the geology of the hills north of Simi Valley.  One interesting tidbit–the part of the Chumash Trail described in this Earthcache is more that 1800 feet above sea level, but was once more than 4000-5000 feet beneath the sea.

 One of the few blooms along the trail today

The trail head is only a mile from my home.  When I left home, there wasn’t even a breeze.  At the trail head, there was only a slight whisper of one.  On the trail, it was a different story.  The farther I went, the harder the wind blew.  It times it was difficult to walk without getting knocked around.

I had the trail almost to myself today.  I got nearly run over by a mountain biker going way too fast on a very narrow section of the trail.  And a solo woman hiker going uphill passed me while I was at the GZ.

Some of the rocks along the side of the trail on the way up the hill

If you haven’t done the Chumash Trail, or haven’t done it in a while, come on up.  There are now 20 active caches along the trail from the trail head to the intersection with Rocky Peak Road–about 3 miles.

Home to one of the caches near the trail

Thank you, Mark, for a very well-done and informative Earthcache.  I always enjoy knowing what I’m stepping on while I’m hiking.

Chivo Canyon

With several new caches in Chivo Canyon, I’ve had my eye on this hike for a while.  I enjoy this area.  The trailhead is only a few minutes from my house and in no time at all, I can be in the “wilderness.”

After parking around the corner and walking down the street from the trailhead, you decent stairs into a flood control basin.  This is what it looked like today.  If there is any rain, this entire area is very muddy.  Foos’ Foos Simi Beach View is just on the edge of the photo on the upper right.

There aren’t a lot of flowering plants left.  The few that are blooming are getting the full attention of the bees.

 The Simi Oil Seep is lightningstar‘s new Earthcache.  The first time I saw this oil seep, it was quite small. I thought some jerk had changed his oil in the dirt. On my next visit, it looked more like it does today. Lots of oil.   I started to submit an Earthcache here several years ago. Got hung up on the “Land Manager Permission” requirement. I couldn’t identify who to speak to. I’m glad that Mike got it published.  By the way, an oil seep is where oil comes out of the ground all on it’s own.

Sticky Monkey Flower

Woolly Paintbrush??

After hiking along the eastern ridge of the canyon, the trail descends to a spring that runs most of the year.  The narrow canyon is full of green at the spring.

I completely zoned out and didn’t take any photos of the areas near Wasnt Foo and Pass The Sulfur.  Wasnt Foo is located near a creek that smells like you could light it on fire.  Walked by this one on the way up because my attention was on the other side of the trail, but I got it on the way down. But not too easily. I started by first looking exactly where the cache is hidden. But that didn’t keep me from looking for another 10 minutes everywhere the cache wasn’t.  Pass The Sulfur is in a small oak grove.  All the grass in the grove is already crispy.  I’ve already decided that I’m coming back next winter when it’s green.

After Pass The Sulfur, I turned and backtrack to the trail junction that leads up the hill to Forgetful Blue and to CITO out the old and bring in a new cache.  The CITO cache is located near the two bushes on the ridge at the top left of the photo.  You can also look down into the canyon from this spot to see the elevation changes that this hike requires.

Pass The Sulfur

This is the way to the top of the ridge.  After that, it’s kind of a roller coaster trail–steep ups and downs all the way to the road.  There are a bunch more caches on this loop, but I already had the others.  Today was just a clean up adventure.

5.8 miles, with about 1500 feet of elevation change.

It’s a very nice hike.  However, I recommend doing it when the hills are green and the grasses are still soft.

The canyon is quite dry.  I have an entry for a Chivo Canyon hike in June 2009.  It’s here: 
http://geocraig.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/chivo-canyon/ 

I think today was drier than mid-June 2009.

Overlooking the Fog at Point Mugu State

I had a great day hiking in Pt. Mugu State Park today.  I hiked the Overlook and Fireline Trails.  This was my first time on these trail and I enjoyed the hike.

The title of the post is a bit misleading.  It is a play on the name of the trail.  It was impossible to overlook the fog.  I was hiking in it most of the day.  Also, the Overlook Trail didn’t overlook much either.  Again, too much fog.  In spite of the fog, it was an interesting hike.  And hiking in the fog was a change–often hiking in the hills of Pt Mugu State Park can be quite warm.  No problems with that today.

The hike didn’t start out exactly has I had planned.  The free parking that I’ve used before along PCH is now signed No Parking and is barricaded.  Unless you want to park all the way down by the sand dune, you need to cough up the State Park Day Use fee.  Fortunately, I had some California State Park Foundation passes in the car and was able to use one instead of paying.

The next thing was starting the hike with a DNF.  Happy 29th Birthday Delo?? was the first cache I tried and I DNFed it.  However, it didn’t’ jinx the hike: it was the only DNF of the day.

One of the reasons that I choose this area for today’s hike was the chance to find The Great Sand Dune.  Even with the fog, the views up and down the coast were nice.  I was a little concerned about finding the cache.  The first place I looked is where the cache was located, but I had to also look in, on, and around 10 other bushes before returning to make the find.

After making the find, I returned to the main road and climbed up the hill and into the fog.  And stayed there, until descending into Sycamore Canyon at No Bikes Allowed.  I had a chuckle at some of the names of the caches:  Overlooking OFR and Thanks For The Show.  I can only assume that the views are nice–just not today.

Fortunately, the views along the trail, especially the Fireline Trail, were good for wildflowers.

The orange reds of the paintbrush were particularly nice.

While the entire hike was a nice one, I preferred hiking on the Fireline Trail.  It’s a single track trail, without any of the ever-present mountain bikes that you see on the Pt Mugu State Park trails.

I finished the hike with 19 finds on the trails and 2 more on PCH on the way home.  7.1 miles, with 1450 ft of elevation change.

A Couple Quick Caches and One Not So Quick

Tuesday morning, after taking care of some business in West Los Angeles, I decided to go after Swingin’ Sullivan.  I had tried to do this cache in November, but the access was closed because of  a construction project in the canyon.  Tuesday, no construction and no problem.  No problem except for the parking situation.  Most of the streets near the trail head are posted “No Parking 7 AM to 7 PM.”  The few areas that aren’t posted had cars parked there.  So I had to park a ways away.  But, yea, I’m hiking, right?

Swingin’ Sullivan is a multi-cache.  The first waypoint was an easy find–it directed me more than 3000 feet farther up the canyon.  This was my first time in Sullivan Canyon.  While I spent much of my youth one canyon west in Rustic Canyon’s Camp Josepho, this was my first visit here.  I enjoyed the large oaks along the trail.

Swingin’ Sullivan’s final wasn’t too hard to find.  I walked by it on the first pass, but the hint helped my get to the correct spot.  Once that far up the canyon, I decided to go for the next 2 closest caches–curiously strong and Here, Ducky!

The only problem with that is that they are both UP the side of the canyon.  By UP, I mean that the “trail” they are on was put in before switchbacks were invented.  UP was about 800 ft of UP.  However, the views of Santa Monica Bay and of Catalina were very nice.  The photo above doesn’t do justice to the view.  The “bump” at sea is the full length of Catalina.

The photo below is the trail of Tuesday hike.  When I titled this entry “A Couple Quick Caches and One Not So Quick,” this is the cache that wasn’t so quick.  However, it was a very nice hike.  There is another cache is this area, but from the logs, it’s clear that the trail is steeper than the one I went up.  I decided to return via the street streets in lieu of going down a dangerous trail alone.

April 10, 2013

April 5, 2011

Wednesday’s hike was a quick 1.9 mile out-and-back on a trail off of  Tapo Canyon to find The Song Remains The Same.  There are plenty of caches along this route, but The Song Remains The Same is the only one that I needed.  I forget how nice it is to just hike–hike without stopping every 500 to 600 feet to look for a cache.

I’ve hiked this trail several times.  I was struck by how dry the fields and hills are this early in April.  The 2 photos above were taken 2 years apart.  Dry now versus green then.

Below is Wednesday’s hike’s track.

Today’s hike was in Sage Ranch to collect  Holey Sandstone, Batman!    I enjoy Sage Ranch.  It’s the home of my first geocache find and is only a quick drive from home.  In fact, when hiking the Sage Ranch Loop, I can see my house.

There still are some wildflowers blooming at Sage Ranch.  Here’s a sample of Bush Sunflower.

Casting a Giant Shadow

Holey Sandstone, Batman! is a nicely placed cache that is easier than I was planning on.  The view above is from the cache’s GZ.  Sometimes when a cache is hidden in the rocks, I can spend way too much time trying to find it.  This morning, I walked right to it.

 

Vetch

Parking on Black Canyon Road is free.  Parking at the top of the hill is $5.oo.  Keep Abraham Lincoln in your pocket and walk up the hill.  It’s not that bad of an incline and it will help you get warmed up for the rest of the hike.  Sage Ranch Loop is the home of 14 caches and 2 more, including today’s Holey Sandstone are in the interior of the loop.  If you haven’t been to Sage Ranch, come on up for a nice adventure.  If you have been there, you know what a nice gem we have in the Simi Hills.  Come on back.

Happy Birthday Caching

Today, to celebrate my 60th birthday, Wendy and I went for a geocaching adventure with the goal of finding 60 caches.  We found the 60, plus 1 more for good luck.

Broom

We drove from Simi Valley to Santa Paula, then up the 150 toward Ojai.  We picked up 7 caches along the 150 before our lunch stop at the Ojai Cafe Emporium.

After lunch, we decided to cache our way north on Highway 33.  It took about 4 hours to find the next 54 caches.

Lupines

Guarding Tule Creek–The final cache for today

The weather was perfect for our adventure today.  We were concerned that it might be too windy, but everything was just right for the birthday celebration.

Postscript–Sunday, 4/7/13–Happy Birthday GeoCraig 2013 was placed by shirconn for my birthday.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t published until after I went to sleep last night.  I did see the notification this morning and went out to get it right away.  I never rush out for FTFs and rarely geocache on Sundays, but I figured I had better jump fast to find this special cache.  Thanks, Shirley, for remembering.

Supergraphics at Santa Susana Pass State Historical Park

Just a quick post regarding today’s foray into SSPSHP to get Don_J‘s Supergraphics.

I’m not a big fan of puzzles.  Don isn’t a big fan of puzzles.  So I was a bit puzzled when I saw that he had posted a nearby puzzle cache.  The puzzle was partly solved when I realized that the cache puzzle was a quickie.  I solved it last night and decided I needed a quick walk and going for the final would take care of that.

Southern Pacific Rattlesnake

I had barely begun when I was met on the trail by my first rattlesnake of the season.  I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to get a good photo.  But here it is for your viewing pleasure.

The walk to the cache is only 1.5 miles, roundtrip.  I won’t post the track for this one like I often do so the puzzle won’t be given away.

My Friend–Poison Oak

There was a nice group of wildflower blooms within a few feet of the cache.  Here are a couple.

Solve Supergraphics and get up here before all the flowers are only memories.  You probably won’t have to rush for the rattlesnakes.  They will be here all summer.

And Thank You, Don for the easy puzzle and nice excuse for a walk today.