“If you have a week off from work or school next spring, don’t waste it lollygagging around the city. Come to the land of booming creeks, deep swimming holes, high mountain pine forests, crystal clear air. Come experience the backcountry in the southern corner of the San Rafael Wilderness.” – Dennis Gagnon, Exploring the Santa Barbara Backcountry, 1981.
Most of us don’t have the luxury of a week off from work in the spring; but with a long weekend we can still sample the highlights of the San Rafael, a wilderness that feels hauntingly remote even though it’s an easy drive from LA. The San Rafael in the spring is a fantasyland of rushing rivers and green meadows full of wildflowers. This long weekend backpack will take us deep into seldom-hiked terrain where we’ll follow ancient Indian trails, visit abandoned pioneer homesteads, climb a mountain beloved of condors, and camp in subalpine meadows studded with ponderosa pines.
This will be a very strenuous backpack, with long days on the trail from morning to dusk, covering nearly 60 miles in four days at an aggressive pace over challenging terrain, so this trip is suitable only for experienced backpackers in excellent physical condition. We’ll cheerfully face the possibility of bushwhacking, several shin- to thigh-deep stream crossings, ticks, black bears and rattlesnakes fresh from hibernation, poison oak and stinging nettles.
Please sign up only if you are serious about attending. Your signup represents a social commitment to others, who may have to take time off from work to attend this trip. In the interest of group safety, the leader reserves the right to qualify participants. Per-person cost of $27 (covering carpool gas, mileage and parking permits) must be pre-paid and will be refunded only if the leader cancels or if a replacement signup is found. This is a consciously low-impact outing, so carpool participation is required. (Well-behaved, well-conditioned dogs are welcome).
This trip is strictly dependent upon a favorable weather forecast. A National Weather Service forecast of rain within 72 hours of our start will cancel or re-route this trip at the sole discretion of the leader, as will fewer than four confirmed signups as of 8:00pm, Monday, April 7. This trip will be by individual commissary, and we’re not planning any shared meals, so please plan to provide your own four-day supply of food.
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