We finally achieved a long-standing project after some coincidences made it all come together at the right moment. I have been obsessed by the Rock Gardens on the Santa Ynez Mountains above Arroyo Hondo ever since George casually mentioned them to me a year or so ago for climbing potential. It’s a long hike in the Los Padres National Forest along Camino Cielo, scenic in its own right, and our first visit January 31 quickly dispelled any notions of climbing the rock is so soft.
However the area is a fascinating jumble of curious formations weathered every which way by strong winds and embedded in a daunting manzanita maze. There’s more scrub than rock on an area basis so you can’t simply wander about easily like in the better-known and explored Playground above Goleta.
Our first probe off trail went up to the crest of the eastern Rock Garden February 28 where there’s a fascinating rock formation I’ve published extensively about. Chel calls it the spark plug but I prefer to think of it in more mystical terms as some sacred Indian place, even though there are no signs of Native visitation about.
This probe revealed a swath cleared along the northern rock rim some time ago. Hundreds of huge manzanitas had been sawn down and heaped up over the edge or around clearings making a traverse along this most scenic rim feasible and pleasant. I surveyed the area more closely and noted several more fascinating rock formations that fired up my sense of adventure.
First we went along the western side searching for climbers bolts above a promontory we called Alisal Overlook. This adventure on August first is also reported along with the discovery of a Chouinard angle piton, but no bolts. Now I wanted to complete the traverse of the rock rim eastward to several landmark outcrops I surveyed by telescope from Alisal Road.
The next attempt by a more direct approach on August 8 was foiled by dense fog and injury as reported in this blog. This approach was not the best anyway as the nice open rock highway that seduced me north ran out halfway in a mess of scrub around large mesas of stone. One feature here is a perfect pillar noted on EdHat and it loomed tantalizingly close when the fog parted briefly.
So this introduction to the area prepared me for a final attempt heading in our original way then sticking to the cleared area along the rim. No more short cuts through no-man’s land! I was all fired up for the big attempt when Chel injured her leg on the Trespass Trail hike last Sunday. We needed to be in top form for the 15-mile hike and scramble and this injury was a serious setback.
Well, the first coincidence was the rear tire blowing out on my trusty old Nishiki road bike compelling me to visit Dr.J’s bike shop in Solvang, a place I normally avoid in tourist season, especially since it was the Danish Days weekend. Chel browsed about idly while I purchased a new 27” rear tire with tube and she noticed SportLegs supplement to ease the pain of lactic acid buildup and got a free sample. Well, the tablets seemed to work wonders as next day she was bouncing about ready for the worst I could throw at her.
Next coincidence was a weather change to a northeasterly that kept the awful marine layer at bay and provided ideal cool, clear and windy conditions. Tick season was over and it was cool enough for the rattlers to be sleeping. We started hiking at 7:00 am to allow plenty of time for exploring new terrain.
At first it was brilliantly clear then an ominous fog tentacle probed over the ridge from the Santa Ynez side. Soon we were in whiteout again and our spirits sank. One can never be sure about the fickle ridge weather given the opposing microclimates either side. The final coincidence was the appearance of a glory against the swirling fog as a good omen the sun was breaking through.
So we pressed on as I assured Chel it was all about the journey anyway and we reached the Rock Garden in perfect time and condition. The light for pictures couldn’t have been better. Now a word about the trail – there isn’t any as you first leave the ridge road. During our first visit I gave up looking for some obvious way and Chel quipped why not here, it’s as good as any. And so it turned out, as the key staging area is an open platform of rock in a Cirque of Pinnacles we were immediately below.
A little thrashing and bashing, but NO clipping mind you, placed us in the Cirque with an interesting walled cave one side and the Haunted Castle rock the other. Some eccentric or recluse may have built the cave wall and I have seen similar in the Santa Monica Mountains. Or maybe it was a rudimentary shelter for the CCC fire crews. In any case, we had no time now for the side trip over and stayed the course due north. If we go back perhaps I'll look more closely.
The ancient trail or clearing started the other side of the open platform where odd branches had been neatly sawn. This is not your regular foot trail easily followed along some manicured path so favored in the Santa Barbara front country for poodle walking but a real bushman’s track working with the landscape through complex terrain.
First I’d look for the most natural way forward, sometimes sideways, then check to confirm the presence of saw cuts. At times the cuts vanished when we followed deep-water grooves eroded in the bedrock but reappeared in the logical place the other side. Our route bobbed up, over or around nice rocks with interesting weathered shapes till we reached the rim just east of the mystical rock or spark plug, if you must.
This started the new section for us and I was relieved to see a way was cleared through a choked valley over to the next outcrop. A curious large circular clearing had been made long ago and I would judge the saw cuts to be all the same vintage. It must have been a massive undertaking at the time with no maintenance over the many decades since. The only explanation I could find was the 1955 Refugio Fire when the Civilian Conservation Corps cut many fire breaks here in the Santa Ynez Mountains.
The top of the next outcrop provided splendid views of the mystical rock and Santa Ynez Valley below. Chel alarmed me by balancing close to the edge of the escarpment being buffeted by strong wind gusts but I guess her magic supplement restored her super powers. On we tromped and the only sign of prior visitation was the rampant chainsaw carnage that thankfully provided this most agreeable highway. Well, not really a highway but compared to the alternative either side it seemed that way.
Our next summit was heavily stained as a favorite raptor roosting spot where we reviewed the final outcrop on a conical hill in the distance. It bore a striking resemblance to a chicken's head with beak projecting over the valley. The topo map puts this around 2,600 feet. A nice exposed ridge led over and it was an easy if alarming scramble to the top. Alarming because the winds had hollowed out the formation in a delicate honeycomb that could break if treated carelessly.
This was the final landmark summit from my telescope survey yet the swath of sawn brush still continued on below. We could see the ridge road and wondered if there was a simple connection but decided it was best to stick to our known way back as we had enough brush wrangling and pain during the ill-fated fog expedition.
Besides, it was really enjoyable to review this magnificent landscape once again and confirm the route should we ever chance this way again. For now my obsession with the Rock Garden is over, but I often find something new after examining the pictures in more detail. Chel was in superpower mode on the way back on left me in her dust for the first time. She cruelly forbade me to take any of her magic supplements! Oh, and did I mention pictures? Share the journey here.
P.S. By amazing coincidence I met David September 26 at Los Alamos Old Days who is a Valley local and expert on the Rock Garden after having spent many years hiking and exploring there. He knows the curved rock formation as Lizard's Mouth (yes, another one) and related some fascinating history. Topics we covered included the hermit, fences and grazing, lost cattle running wild in the rocks, the fire break cleared along the rim, cached then forgotten Indian artifacts, a Solstice site nearby, ranchers ATV access, the rock pond, madrones and Refugio manzanitas and much more. He knew fire fighting techniques and explained why the fire break was made along the rim and thought it was made later than the Refugio fire. I wish I had more time and could share my pictures. Perhaps I will have the good fortune run into him again.
