DAY 41: TORO CANYON PARK

DAY 41: TORO CANYON PARK

Miles:  1.5

Elevation Gain:  400 Feet

Time: 1 Hour

Difficulty (1-10):  2

Reward (1-10): 4
Description: Hike to a gazebo on top of a hil.

Where?: Carpinteria, CA
Directions: From the 101 Freeway in Ventura, drive North to Carpenteria and exit at Santa Claus Lane.  Turn right at the exit and then an immediate left on Via Real.  Turn right on Nidever Rd.  This turns into Foothill, the 192.  Stay straight and follow the windy, scenic road.  Turn right on Toro Canyon Rd.  About a mile later, turn right on Toro Canyon Park Road.  Follow that to the end.

***MY 41 DAY SUMMARY:  143.75 Miles  +22,025 Feet***

Merry X-Mas!  So, it didn't even fathom upon me that I picked a trail today on Christmas with the exit being Santa Clause Lane.  This was a mere coincidence.  Jess told me that when she was a kid, she heard stories of Santa Clause Lane in Carpinteria, but we didn't see any lights today; of course it was during the early daylight hour.

Less than thirty minutes from my house, I found another gem for the family.  After passing the polo grounds and nice houses, we ended up in a dump.  Actually, it wasn't so bad but with all the rain, the trail was quite a bit muddy.  The wife and child decided to stay back and play on the swings and slide while I ran up the trail.

We drove all the way back to "Area 4".  I walked up to the interesting rock formation first before ascending up the trail.  I jogged the easy 300 foot climb.  There was a gazebo overlooking the area at the top and after a few photos with my dogs, I ran the loop back down.  There was plenty of overgrown open space beyond the trail but I do not plan on exploring that in the future.  Instead, I saw another trailhead along the road heading up to the park.  That's where I will go when the time is right.

At the bottom of this very short trail, which I did in about 10 minutes, I met back up with Jess and Ayden and then hiked with them beyond area 4.  There were some abandoned structures, a creek and eatable mushrooms growing rapidly.  After about an hour of total time frame, we exhausted the park area.

Once again I lucked out.  As it pours now, the rain held off for the hike.  We celebrated Christmas today with Alyssa and Jess's dad and called it a holiday.  Good Times.  Check out the photos on Facebook if you're interested and before you go, please don't forget to check out one of my sponsors!

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