Friday, June 17, 2011

DAY 215: Chumash Indian Museum Trail

Eyes, nose, mouth: This Rock is an angry, ancient Chumash Indian Guardian!


DAY 215: Chumash Indian Museum Trail
Date: Friday June 17, 2011
Miles: 1.5
Elevation Gain: 150 Feet
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Very easy flat trail through the shaded oaks, until...
Reward: The Rock Monster...
Description: Behind the museum, hike the nature trail past the Chumash Village and feel at peace with the earth
Where: Thousand Oaks, CA
Directions:From the 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks, head north on the 23 and exit on Avenida de los Arboles.  Turn right and take Arboles to the end (about 1.5 miles).  Turn right on Westlake Blvd and then turn left on Lang Ranch Parkway (follow the sign to the Chumash Museum).  Across from the park on your right is the Indian Museum Parking Lot:

Follow the Trail

For more info about the Museum, you may visit their website:  www.chumashindianmuseum.com
I discovered this place two weeks ago.  For more pictures and info on the first quarter mile of this hike, please view: Day 200

 6 minute walk to The Village

 Inside the tee-pee
 The trail beyond

 About 10 mins further, the trail continues as a single track

 Then it ends; creek to your left and this; but :)

 Climb; overgrown and tricky...

 I saw a switchback trail heading higher

 Lots of  lizards

 I am literally on the rock face that I saw yesterday

 Look into my eyes!

 The Albertson Motorway that I ran yesterday

 He said, "Go Back"

I scrambled up about 100 feet and could have gone higher.  There are no signs back here that say that you cannot climb this rock.  I don't believe that the protected Indian Caves are anywhere on this side.  In fact, there was a fork off the trail that led to the Albertson Motorway.  A locked fence separated the two trails and remembering from yesterday, that led to another locked gate which would take you to the far side of this humongous rock.  Thus, the only and correct way to reach the Indian Cave is by taking the tour, which I wanted to do all along...

**Oh, nearly forgot.  I was hiking back and guess what?  Yep, another SNAKE!!!  I was walking today because my foot was bugging me and I was getting lost in the drone of distant bees harvesting the wild flowers.  I nearly stepped right on him, middle of the trail, until he slithered away.  Fast sucker!!  Dang, nearly stepped right on him.  He was silky black with a long yellow stripe.  He moved so fast that I had no chance to snap a picture.  I did a quick Google skip on snakes and he most resembled a Western Ribbon Snake.  Problem is, those are found in Iowa, not Cali.  Take a look at the image from the net:  Pic & Facts of Western Ribbon Snake

If you can help identify what I saw, I appreciate it :)...  3 days in a row for snakes.  TGIF!  Last month was butterfly season, this month is without a doubt snake season!

3 comments:

  1. I'm being told by my 10-year-old Alyssa that this is a Garter Snake.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, that's what it sounds like to me, too. It's a name I learned as a kid, but it seems to be the correct common name. There are several variations, but "garter snake" works for me. When they're moving fast, all you can see is the dark body and the yellow stripe, but I've noticed that if you get one to stay still enough for a picture, you discover their body is more intricately marked than that.

    I had a run of snake encounters last spring. For a while, I was seeing one almost every trip. I think my snake run was in May, but the funny weather we've been having might have pushed their activity into June.

    ReplyDelete

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