DAY 59: VIA VIS TRAIL

DAY 59 VIA VIS TRAIL

Miles: 1.75
Elevation Gain:  375 Feet

Time: 1 Hour

Difficulty (1-10): 1

Reward (1-10): 2
Description: Walking around Dos Vientos and found a view of the Ocean

Where?: Newbury Park, CA

Directions: From the 101 Freeway in Newbury Park, exit Borchard and drive it all the way to the end in Dos Vientos.  Turn left at the light onto Via Las Brisas.  Pass the first housing track and at the next housing track, turn right on Via Del Rancho.  Follow this to the end, and turn around in the cul-de-sac (there is a gate preventing you to continue straight down the road).  After you U-turn, drive up about 20 feet and park.  On the right, you will see:

**MY 59 DAY SUMMARY:  206.75 Miles  +32,100 Feet**

 Ocean View from Dos Vientos!

I'll get to the picture in a minute.  First, I want to reassure you that my left foot is doing better.  It's not excellent, but better.  However, my right ankle is now very tender, maybe from overcompensating yesterday.  So, I wrapped both ankles and feet up in duck tape and tied the boot very tight.  I did not attempt to run, much today, but for a few moments, I couldn't resist.  My body wants to move so I did break a sweat today.

I parked in the same exact spot as I did yesterday.  I began up the trail and instead of turning left, I went right.  The trail was quite simple and boring.  No insane incline, no houses, no pools...  After a quarter mile I ended up on that concrete road that intersects the Sierra Vista Trail.  The obvious way to do the Pool View Trail is to turn left and then loop back around.  Since I did most of that yesterday, no need to waste on repetition.  I turned right instead and followed the road to the street.  I turned right on the street with no houses and walked up about 500 feet.  I turned left up a paved driveway (If I would have continued straight, I would be back at my car).  At the very top of the paved driveway is an underground reservoir.  I walked up to the locked fence just to make sure there was no other trail.  On my way back down, I noticed the above picture in the distance to my left.

 

This was a complete shock.  Boney Mountain was in full view behind me to the south.  I knew the ocean sat  there beyond Boney but because the landscape is so vast, you can never actually see the water from Thousand Oaks.  However just to the west of Boney is Pt. Mugu, where the coastline swerves and pans to the north, hence creating the sunset over the ocean to the west.  I happened to be just in the right spot at a high enough elevation to see over the hills past Oxnard and into the blue. 

I then walked back across the cement area to a dirt trail and was immediately stopped by a locked gate.  No way around it, so I climbed over.  I noticed the "No Trespassing" sign on the other side.  Well what do you know, I jumped a fence to reach an actual trail!  I trekked up that for a second where it intersected a main trail.  From my research of the Dos Vientos area, I believe I just discovered the Mid Dos Vientos Trail.  I really wish there was a decent map of all the trails in this area.  So far, I can't find one.  Maybe after I trek them all I will sit down and piece it together.  

I turned right on the trail because it felt like that would eventually lead me back to my car.  The trail branched off a few more times but I kept pushing right when I could.  There were two large houses to my right that I had to hike around.  A third house was being built.  A couple of bikers sped by at another intersection:

Eventually, I ended up on the short Via Vis Trail, which parallels the street Via Vista.  This led me right back to my car, just as I planned :)