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dates, weather, etc. (photo by David Muscroft)
101 to 154
154 to the crest of san marcos pass
at crest, turn right on east camino cielo
at painted cave road (which will be on the right), start paying attention--
Note that at the intersection of painted cave and camino cielo, camino cielo is flat, and there is a clear view both to the north and south ( to the back country and towards the ocean).
Press onwards on camino cielo...
Shortly after painted cave road, camino cielo goes up, and continues going up continuously, and the view to the back county is blocked by the the top of the mountain.
Just before the trail head to knapps, the road flattens out again and right at the trail head you can suddenly, briefly, see out to the back country to the north.
The trail head is a fire road with big metal gate.
Walk down 7 minutes to the fork.
At the fork, go right and up for three minutes. As you go through another gate keep an eye out for barbed wire.
One more minute, and you're there at the castle ruins!
(the view before is looking West. SB is off the photo to the L, knapps at the edge to the R.)
Supplemental firewood can be gathered on the way in by keeping a sharp eye out (with flashlight, if dark), on the sides of the trail on the way in (close to the castle it's pretty picked over).
There are many chaparral shrubs that look dead (lots of dead branches, others with few, small leaves). Green wood (it bends) is smoky and worse than useless. There are a few that are actually dead-the wood snaps. These are great. The entire plant, including the root crown, will often come out without too much trouble. This stuff burns nice and bright and makes a lively fire. Keep the pieces long and together for easy carrying. Put anything beyond what you can carry in the trail for others to bring in. Taking this wood out reduces the fuel load and is beneficial all the way around. A couple six-foot lengths of thin rope are handy for cinching together bundles of small stuff for easy carrying. You don't need any other tools, though gloves wouldn't hurt.
Note: on the firebreak running up the ridge to the south of the castle, there's a ton of wood cut during the Zaca fire which will be prime firewood until it rots in a few years. This is closer than any other firewood.
Directions for getting to Ellwood Beach, mostly plagiarized from Colin.
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There are a few other ways you can get there, but this is my usual route.
For parking and a photographic view of the best routes to the beach, check
this link http://oasisdesign.net/images/EllwoodDirections.jpg
For directions to the parking area in green, go to mapquest.com and
type in "7499 Phelps Road, Goleta, CA, 93117".
101 N
Off on Glen Annie Rd.
R. on Hollister
L. on Entrance Road
Immediate L on Ellwood Beach Dr.
Curve towards beach
Park at end
Take trail at the end of the road
through Euculyptus Trees
Down into draw, up onto and across mesa
Take old paved trail from blufftop down to beach
Along beach to the L
Continue on Sand a few hundred yards to the L
—OR—
From Hollister turn L on Canon Green
Park where Canon green curves L
Walk along Euc trees and across bluff
to paved trail to beach
From the parking area, it's about a 15-20
minute walk to the beach and then another 5 minutes to our spot on the sand.
When you leave the parking area, walk in the direction of the ocean,
slightly to the right, towards the line of trees in the distance with a break in
between them. Walk towards the break.
After a few minutes the path dips down before joining another path that
gently climbs up to the left through the trees, with most of the trees on your
left side when you walk among them. Just before the top of that hill there's
another small path forks off slightly to the right. Take that path towards the
beach.
Just before the final part of the path down to the beach (where our path and
the cliff walk path intersects) there's a brick pillar. If you see that
pillar, you're at the right spot. From there, continue the path down to the sand.
When you get down to the beach, walk to the right. We usually set ourselves
up about 300 yards along, about a half mile from the west end of the beach.
I would definitely suggest bringing a flashlight. The path is generally
good, but it's a bit uneven in places. Be extra careful on the last part of the
path down to the beach, as there is some erosion there and a couple of holes
in the path (not deep ones!). It's no problem with a little caution, but a
flashlight may be necessary if the moonlight alone isn't sufficient.
I've probably made it sound a bit more complicated than it really is,
although it is quite easy to take a wrong turn first time out there. Just keep
heading towards the ocean and you'll get there somehow! ... I'm sure there will
be plenty of people heading over, so if in doubt, just follow someone who
knows the way.
All the firewood for a hundred years of drum circles can be gathered from the row of eucalyptus indicated on the left side of the aerial below.
This is prime, cured hardwood—tons of it. It helps reduce fire hazard to gather it (this grove far from the butterfly roosting area). It isn't hard to distinguish the useless green wood (it bends, has leaves and bark on it) from the dead wood, which has no bark and snaps if small enough to break. In the summer, dead wood lying on ground is dry and burns well, if not so rotten that it falls to pieces.
Keep the pieces long for easy carrying; it's easier to put one or two twenty foot poles on your shoulder than carry the same wood broken up into pieces. Plus, any of this stuff over 3" is almost impossible to break; better to burn it in half. There's no point it going after stuff that is too big, there is so much ideally-sized wood, like, a tractor trailer load! A six-foot length of thin rope is handy for cinching together a bundle of small stuff for easy carrying (a common sight just about everywhere in the world but here!) You don't need any other tools, though gloves wouldn't hurt.
Sometimes there is driftwood on the beach. It is easier to go wrong with driftwood. Anything that has square surfaces is probably broken up pier, which is treated with creosote and gives off nasty, poisonous fumes when burned. If it smells nasty when you pick it up, toss it up the hill where no one else will pick it up and try to burn it. (If it starts to smell in the fire, knock it out with a stick and bury it to put it out, or toss it into the water).
There is also pressure-treated wood, which has a regular pattern of pricks over the surface where the chemicals where injected (it doesn't smell). This too should be hidden.
Anything with tar will also be smoky and smelly.
The stuff that looks like bamboo burns nice and bright and there's often a ton of it.
Damp pieces (basically all of it) can be dried out around the fire before burning to make less smoke.
Very sweet spot...way close to town.
Option 1: Ride your bike or walk.
Option 2: Park on Ninos drive...all night, free
Option 3: Park on Cabrillo between Milpas and Hot springs road, just before Cabrillo turns away from the ocean. Parking is enforced, ends at midnight. Walk is 0.4 miles, no rocks, minimal to zero tide issues.
Option 4: Parking lot on ocean side of Cabrillo beside East Beach Grill is okay until 2am (for a fee).
Walk green line in...about ten minutes, tides no problem.
Option 5: Get off 101 at Olive Mill Road, head to beach. Road turns into Channel drive. Park legally til 2 am with minimal enforcement just E of butterfly lane. (You can drive back to SB on Fairway Road, but it's one way).
Walk blue line in..about 0.6 miles, with wave doging, light wading, or rock-hopping in parts of middle section if tide is over 2 feet.
Take the main Atascadero bike path S.
Turn R on Patterson Ave.
Follow Patterson as it curves first left, then right and up a short steep hill.
Just before the top of the hill, take the dirt trail to the Left.
When you reach the end of the houses, follow the trail as it turns right.
When you reach the cliff, turn left and ride along the cliff (this is one of the most beautiful trails in the world)
Hide and lock your bike near the top of the stairs
At the bottom of the stairs turn R...we usually meet within a hundred or so yards of the stairs these days.
Take the main Atascadero bike path N.
Turn L on Puente Ave.
At the top of the short hill, turn L on Mockingbird lane
At the end of the road, take the dirt trail straight out to the stairs.
Hide and lock your bike near the top of the stairs
At the bottom of the stairs turn R...we usually meet within a hundred or so yards of the stairs these days.
Mapquest: "mockingbird lane"
From 101, take the Turnpike exit, turn towards the beach on turnpike.
Turn L on Hollister
Turn R on Puente (second right)
Park (see below) then walk to the end of mockingbird lane
At the end of mockingbird lane, take the trail straight out to the stairs
At the bottom of the stairs turn R...we usually meet within a hundred or so yards of the stairs
(Parking directions from Tom) To park for More Mesa, take Puente Dr towards the ocean and continue past the Stop sign at the bike path until you come up a hill and reach Mockingbird on the left. From there you have two options; there is parking on either side of Puente until 2am, or if you want to stay later you must turn around and go back down Puente about 50 yards past Mockingbird towards Hollister and look for the sign " no parking 2am--6am " and park past that sign on either side of Puente!
There is no parking on Mockingbird!.... But you can drive to the end of Mockingbird and drop off drums and friends and go back to Puente to park!.... It is a very flat hike, on an easy trail that ends at the Bluff where the well maintained trail of 100 steps takes you down to the beach, first timers pls bring a flashlight for the trail down! Then turn right at the Beach! Folks could bring a little firewood if motivated... there is driftwood further down the beach...Its a beautiful spot!!
Art additions: Check out the aerial below. Puente is the road that the top of the orange line runs along. There may be all night parking under the big oak tree off Puente to the Left at the top of the green line.
Orange trail: Paved, flat...ugly mc mansions.
Green trail: Very steep initially, pretty dirt trail.
More Mesa is a great place to spend the night.
There is TONS of perfectly cured Eucalyptus firewood about a hundred yards to the left at the top of the steps. When you reach the top of the steps, walk to the left until you come to a fallen tree; all around there are great pieces.
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