Forbush Flat Hike

This is more of a trail review than a pure photography post but I just don't have time to write something new before I fly to Alaska... Haha, yep, I'm going to Alaska!!!!

As usual, click on the pictures to see full size and the rest of the gallery. Or skip the whole reading thing and checkout all the pictures here.

After reading about all sorts of trails, I settled for an overnighter at Forbush Flat to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower. The only issue with this is that the timing of the meteor shower is set like a clock and peaks every year around August 12th. Well, August 12th in the Santa Barbara mountains is quite the furnace…

Nonetheless, based on the fact that most of the hike is shaded, that the forecast convinced me it would be 85deg max and that there should be water flowing year long (at least people going there in July said there was water), I decided to go forward and plan my overnighter here with my girlfriend.

It was the first time I hiked this trail; I thought it was in good condition.

Forbush Flat trail condition

There are a few places where you get “free-bush-exfoliation” and a couple others places with steep sideways incline in loose gravel but nothing insurmountable. We hiked the 2 miles down in the dead of the heat (between 1pm and 2pm), my watch thermometer, on my wrist, stayed stuck between 98deg and 105deg the whole time. Despite the heat, the hike was enjoyable and pretty shaded. The views at certain points were nice but I wouldn’t qualify them as breathtaking. It’s too bad that gigantic power line goes through the landscape.

Forbush Flat trail scenery

The camp spots were empty and in good shape. The table at the lower spot, where we stayed, is pretty worn out but very usable. One of its benches could probably get replaced. There was absolutely no water flowing in the creek. I hiked up the creek a little bit and found a small pool of clear stagnant water, no bigger than a small bathtub. Without that and the water filter, we’d be pretty dried out. There was also an uncomfortable amount of bugs. Enough that we went through a whole bug repellent container.

There was nobody to be found all day, who would hike down there in the middle of a hot summer day! Well us I guess. The hike description was a tiny bit confusing as you reach the campsites before your reach the rusty sign with the junction for the Blue Canyon trail; unless I was disoriented I guess.

After setting camp and hanging out a little, we decided to hike the 2 miles down to the Santa Ynez river and refill our bottles with some fresh water down there. We headed down the trail, which was pretty much in the same condition as the one to get down to the campsites. After a mile or so, we started seeing pools of sitting water, some clearer than others.

Stagnant water on the way to the Santa Ynez River

That’s when I realized I had forgotten the water filter at the campsite; we were down to our last liter of water. Now, I’m not completely unprepared as it might sound throughout the description: I did have some iodine pills. Knowing where the pools were to refill, we went a little further to try to find the actual flowing river. After hitting another dry hill, still not seeing the river and not being sure where we were heading or how far we were, I decided to head back to the pools where I knew we’d find some water. A little dip, a little iodine nasty tasting water and we were back in business. We then headed back to camp. I looked at the map today, and we stopped about 0.3 miles from the actual river.

Back at the camp, I filled the jug (the one that lives at the campsites) with water from the tiny pool up the creek and we started filtering. Oh what a pleasure to taste something that was filtered and not just sterilized by a life saving pill. We also played a little taking pictures of the sunset.

Forbush Flat sunset

Forbush Flat sunset

Portrait silhouette

Portrait silhouette again, but better... right?

And frolicked in the field.

Frolicking in the Forbush Flat fields

A group of about 15 mid-20’s people showed up right after sunset and set camp in the upper site. They were partying and extremely loud, playing music, singing, laughing, screaming until late in the night; living basically. Honestly, it didn’t bother us a bit but I’d understand people could be deeply annoyed by this. After seeing a few meteors and played with light painting, we headed to bed.

Perseid meteor shower

Light painting

Even without the youngsters, the wildlife night was pretty loud. Some animal stayed around our tent digging through stuff pretty much until the morning. We had our tent set up without the rainfly so we could actually see some meteors through the trees, which was quite enjoyable. The tent is pretty much all mesh, I slept in my underwear and only needed the quilt in the middle of the night just because of a tiny breeze. I would’ve been just as happy with a shirt on.

We left camp at 9 the next morning because I was slow to pack, being tired from the little sleep I had both because of the animal digging around and my stomach not happy with the iodine water. We were at the car by 10:15 or so, drenched in sweat from the uphill hike in the heat. At least half of the hike was in the shade though.

I will definitely be going back but better prepared and not in August. Many lessons were learnt, whether about hiking in the heat, expecting to have water at the camp, timing the hike, etc. But heading there somewhat early in the day, setting camp then go check out the cascading pools (with flowing water) on the trail to the Santa Ynez river seems like an attractive idea to me.

Also, don’t overlook the fact that the hike is downwards on the way there and up on the way back. It’s definitely not a flat hike so even if 2 miles sounds easy, it’s still somewhat of a workout especially in the heat.

You can find the original details for the hike here.