DAY 13: MONTECITO PEAK, COMPLETED!

DAY 13: MONTECITO PEAK, COMPLETED!

8 Miles  +2500 Feet

13 Day Summary: 52.5 Miles  +11,500 Feet

Montecito Peak rises above the Two Eucalyptus Trees 

I failed to reach this area on Day 7, but today I was on a mission!  There were no parking spots at the trail head, but I did find one on the other side of the creek.

To be safe, Sami and I started on the far side of the loop.  This guaranteed me the correct trail junction.  I had some doubts that today was going to be good because on the drive over, it was partially overcast, I could not see the islands and I heard that rain was in the forecast for that night.  Actually, it's raining right now, but now is 10 hours later.

 Correct Sami, we are going up (the other way loops back down)

 In the upper right; my first understanding of the eucalyptus trees

  I'm pretty sure I ended up somewhere on that hill last time, oops!

 The trail intersecting the road; I marked it with rocks

40x zoom, I felt confident seeing runners way over there

A short cut, and my dog is tired

The shortcut worked!  This will remind me on the way back.

That first thousand feet is beginning to look like just a hill above Santa Barbara

A Rhodesian Ridgeback!  (There were two of them; no not Sami)

I made it to the trees.  (That would be two sets of Two Trees in three days!)

Anacapa Island (the same Island that you see from my house)  

Santa Barbara Zoo

Santa Barbara Pier

20 minutes to the peak!

Here's the split!

The final quarter mile was pretty steep, but we made it!

My Next Mission!

Santa Cruz Island and the oil platforms

 On one end of the peak

 Sami guarding the message box on the other side

 Proof I was there!

 Starbucks from 1998, yeah that does sound good!

 My hair is getting out of control

Sami's last sip of water before the decent

It took me about two hours to climb to the peak.  It ended up being a miraculous day.  There was no wind, temperature in the mid to upper 60's and clear visibility; perfect.  The cell phone worked at the top and the wife said, come home!  So I did!  I ran down 2500 feet in just less than one hour.  I rolled my ankle a couple of times but it didn't snap.  I felt immense pain in my feet and joints from landing hard and awkwardly with each pouncing step, but I'm all good.  I think I sprained my ankle enough times as a kid that I have more rotation in it now.

On the way up, a series of runners with numbers on them were passing me in five minute intervals.  There must have been some sort of mountain run today.  I don't know how you can run up 2500 feet, but they did.  There were also several other old couples, father and son and teenage hopefuls along the way.  The trail was alive and I was very pleased to be a part of it today.  Some random feller told me about the Cielo Road.  The top of the road is actually 200 feet higher than Montecito Peak.  He told me that I can take the San Ysidro Trail to get there if I didn't want to trek over this same footage.  As it was, I did duplicate 3 of the 8 miles that I hiked today but I was going in a different direction for the entire part.  So, it felt and looked brand new and fresh.  

A couple last shots near the bottom:

Ah, finally, WATER!

Kevin's Bench, say cheese