Santa Paula Canyon Trail

Monday, December 15, 2014 
Not far from our campsite, there is a trailhead to a 6.5 mile hike through the canyon. To reach the trailhead, we walked by the campus of Thomas Aquinas College. Then we entered private land, a farm with avocado groves. We also walked by three groups of oil pumps.  Instead of turning right along the river, we veered left into the second avocado grove on a well-worn trail but not designed for us. We realized we were on private land and made a hasty retreat out of the grove and onto our original path.

                          Thomas Aquinas College http://www.thomasaquinas.edu

                                                               Rancho Recuerdo

The above photos are from groves that are on the path to the trailhead. The one below is from our misadventure through a private avocado grove.

                                                             Safely on the canyon trail!

We realized these are trail markers when we approached a second intersection and wondered "left or right turn?".

                                                     At the falls where the marked trail ends.

                                               

                                                            My return trip along the river

From the farm, we shared the trail with a local hiker. He noticed the bag of garbage I was carrying (mostly plastic & glass bottles). He asked if I carried that from the upper bowl (the falls). He took the bag from me and carried it the rest of the way to a garbage bin. He said kids (some from the college) go to the bowl to party.  I mentioned a paint can that I pulled from the water (I did not carry that out). He speculated that because it is illegal, the paint is tossed after the rocks are painted.  He has helped park staff carry in the sand they use to blast away the graffiti.  He spoke of how plentiful the trout and deer were before the oil pumps arrived.  He told us about two mountain lion footprints he saw on this trail. On another trail near Santa Monica, he saw a male and female lion with their cub. He also told us about the iron in the mountains causing compasses to spin out of control.

The frustration I felt with the trail litter was eased by my conversation with this nature lover, also concerned with the impact of our actions on the environment.