Backbone Festival Hikes celebrate trail crossing Santa Monica Mountains
By Alex Wilson 11/05/2009
People who love hiking the Santa Monica Mountains have long dreamed of an unbroken 70-mile “Backbone Trail” extending east from Point Mugu State Park, and an annual series of hikes celebrates the great progress that’s been made toward that goal.
The Backbone Festival Hikes are scheduled on weekends between Nov. 7 and Dec. 6, and vary in length and difficulty. They offer hikers a unique opportunity to visit much of the mountain range bridging Ventura and Los Angeles counties, and the annual event organized by the Sierra Club gives people a close up look at eight different trail sections.
Organizer Howard Kayton is the outing chair of the Sierra Club’s Santa Monica Mountains Task Force, and says residents of places like Oxnard and Thousand Oaks are fortunate to have the unique trail in their backyard. “Here’s a trail that’s so close to where people live, and yet we can be in the wild in just a matter of a half hour. It’s really wonderful,” says Kayton.
The Backbone Trail features expansive vistas of the Pacific Ocean, Channel Islands, and the coastline from Point Conception to Palos Verdes. It also provides a bird’s eye view of communities, including Ventura and Los Angeles, as well as distant peaks like Mount Baldy and Pine Mountain.
It’s also home to a myriad of plant and animal life, including coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions, and displays fascinating geology. Kayton says one of his favorite spots is called Fossil Ridge. “You can actually see fossils that were embedded in the rock. It’s incredible when you’re up at 2,000 feet and there are seashells, and you have the realization that these were under water at one point,” says Kayton.
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Policy and External Affairs Manager Lauren Newman says efforts are currently underway to acquire the last three missing links of the trail, and the co-owner of one of those properties happens to be one of the state’s most famous residents, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “The governor has expressed interest in working with us and possibly selling it, and my understanding is that the partner is undecided,” says Newman.
Park service officials are also working on a trail management plan that should help them map out the final needed sections. They envision campsites along the way so that people can backpack the whole trail over several days.
Newman says the Sierra Club has done a great job promoting the trail over the years. “It’s amazing that they have such a well known program that the public can readily participate in, and have it broken down into different segments so that someone who may not want to hike the entire backbone trail all together can put the pieces together over the years and say, ‘I hiked this section, and now I hiked this section, and wow! A few years later, I’ve hiked the whole trail,’ ” says Newman.
The two hikes closest to populated areas of Ventura County are set for Nov. 14 and Dec. 5. The first one starts at 9 a.m.. from the Ray Miller Trailhead in Point Mugu State Park at the western end of the Backbone Trail, and heads into scenic La Jolla Canyon.
The other will reach the summit of the range at Sandstone Peak near Thousand Oaks starting at 9 a.m. from the Mishe Mokwa Trailhead.
A complete list of all the hikes and additional information is available on the park’s internet Web site at www.nps.gov/samo, by clicking on the “OUTDOORS calendar of events” link.
Please contact Outdoor Observer with details and contact information about environmental events, volunteer opportunities and adventure sports at outdoors@vcreporter.com.
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