DAY 207: Happy Valley & Fairy Land
Date: Thursday June 9, 2011
Miles: 7.0
Elevation Gain: 1800 Feet
Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Easy trail but long and rollercoastery
Reward: I found Happy Valley & Fairy Land
Description: Following the old dirt roads while being stalked by a hawk!
Where: Newbury Park, CA
Directions:From the 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks, exit on Rancho Conejo Rd and take it past Amgen near the end. Turn left on Conejo Center Road and then drive a quarter mile down and park. On the right look for:
Directions:From the 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks, exit on Rancho Conejo Rd and take it past Amgen near the end. Turn left on Conejo Center Road and then drive a quarter mile down and park. On the right look for:
Trailhead (Arroyo Conejo Gateway)
The first time I hiked on this mile stretch of dirt road was Day 82 when I first climbed Mt. Rex. Today, take the road to the bottom of the hill (a drop of about 300 feet). Then stay on the main road pass the other options; Achilles Heel Trail & Abandoned Car Trail. You will wind around the turn and begin gaining elevation again. At this point, I have been jogging the entire time. In the distance on your left will be the bold Mt. Rex. Then on the right you will see:
Happy Valley
I met John the other day and he told me about Happy Valley. I assume this is what he was talking about. Rather than taking the trail through the valley, stay on the main road. In a moment, there will be a fork in the road. I took the right fork which lead me higher. I climbed to the top and shot this pic:
Happy Valley Lookout
The trail appeared as if it was going to continue on forever. It went lower and then higher to what I believe is considered Mt. Conejo. I decided to turn around today because I wanted to find Fairy Land. The trail that I came up from was on the left, but if you will encounter a fork option to the right which I assumed would also intersect the main road that I was on prior to turning up to the Happy Valley Lookout. I remembered John saying that Fairy Land overlooked the weigh station. He explained that you follow the utility poles, so that's what I did:
Utility Pool Trail
I was right, I did intersect the road. It was a 5-way intersection. I figured to go straight. To the left would be my way home. To the right will lead me lower and likely take me to Camarillo Oak Grove Park. In fact, I believe on Google Maps, this road is known as the Camarillo Oak Grove Fire Road. Soon enough I will connect all the dots and then publish the map to the blog... There was also a single track trail leading up to the left, but I left it alone. Possibly, that would lead to Mt. Rex, but I don't know that for sure. So, I kept on following the utility poles. I was fooled once with a fork in the road; I took the upper that led me right to the poles and then the road ended! No big deal, take the right lower road and then like a roller coaster, back up again. Finally, nearly to the top:
Overlooking Cam. Oak Fire Rd? -There's people on horses by the tree
The trail that I just came up
Destination Point, there was a Hawk screeching every few seconds
Fairy Land & Cam Oak Grove Park in the back...
The long distance shots with my camera are nearly worthless. I'm still haunted by Day 93: Broken Camera Trail! It doesnt help with the hazy June Gloom...
Hmm, maybe I can reach Mt. Rex from here and go home that way...
Thru the fence...
Weigh stations
And NO!
This is where I stopped. There was a trail for a moment but from here it became far too steep and my legs were getting all scratched up. I thought I remembered John saying something about following the fence, but it wasn't worth it. I was over an hour into my total travel at this point and I had a hawk circling over me and screaching every few seconds. What was his problem! Anyhow, I turned back and ran most of the way back. Good deal that the temperature has been maintaining 7 degrees below normal for this time of year. Perfect weather for a hike!
What Happened to Day 206?
Let me tell you. I thought I was just going somewhere to connect some dots. I didn't think it was going to be anything special so I didn't bring my camera. However, WATERFALLS, CANYONS and a tunnel through a rock leading to a private water hole. All this just 5 minutes from my job and only a 5 minute hike to reach the cool stuff. Ha; I had my phone on me and snapped some pictures. Now I just need to figure out a way to transfer this to my computer. Give me a couple days, I'll post the good stuff!!!
geeliiu89od
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