DAY 19: VIA SANTANA LOOP TRAIL & OFF TRAIL
1.5 Miles +500 Feet
19 Day Summary: 71 Miles +14,450 Feet
Well basically, I just started at the ocean and climbed Mt. Whitney. It only took me 19 days to reach this mark... Ok, so I'm not setting any speed records but I am working 50 hours a week and my weekly commute time is an additional 10 - 15 hours! With the sun going down at nearly 4:30, forget about it.
I figured on a nice simple trail down the Borchard Path today in the Dos Vientos area of Newbury Park. From the 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks, exit at Borchard and drive all the way into Dos Vientos. Turn right on Via Ricardo, then another right on the very next street. Take that to the end and turn right on Via Santana. Park at the cul-de-sac.
The trail head, squeezed nicely between two houses.
This entire area was pretty much open space 20 years ago but with the expansion of AMGEN and California, Dos Vientos was born. Fortunately, the city of Thousand Oaks has written in law that they will not expand beyond a certain percentage of open land. Unlike that of Oxnard, which was once mostly farms and now houses over 200k residents.
Once you pass thru the gate at the trail head, you turn left and follow the trail behind the yard. Immediately, you reach a trail junction (no sign). Turn right to reach the Borchard Path. But to the left (the picture above) looked more interesting, so I tried it!
If I was a bird, this is where I'd live.
It was not easy to climb to this point. It was pretty much straight up and impossible to do by mountain bike. My Achilles and feet were pushed to their limit on this quick 500 foot incline. It didn't help having no traction on my shoes. I finally reached a trail intersection at the top and turned left:
After looking at the map, I realized that this was Edison Road.
If I followed it up and around, it would eventually take me to the top of the 101 Grade. If you remember, I climbed from Camarillo to the top two weeks ago. I did want to do it from Newbury, but not today. So instead, I went back to my trail and trekked the other way (left). The trail quickly became just an idea. I followed some sort of a dirt path but I was always on the brink of a slip and fall. Loose uneven dirt and scratchy low grown brush was my route:
You wanna mess with me!
I reached this point, now what. Down. If you come here, you'll notice a cool rock not to far below. That was my rock. I slid down on my butt and took a nap:
A well needed rest.
Yeah, I just came down from there. No big deal.
Pretty
Neat
Color
Cactus
That's it. I pushed my way lower and walked across the land to reach the Borchard Path. I would not recommend this hike but it was a nice little adventure. Other than a few scratches on my legs, I'm all good. I will try up some of these other silly Dos Vientos trail heads in my thousand days and see if I can't name a trail after myself. Day 19 complete, Tomorrow is Saturday. Wally, my good buddy from Cleveland is in town for a wedding. He's in Pasadena, which is about 90 minutes from here. I may try to see him and rind a trail to hike out there...
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