This weekend I hiked the Sisquoc loop with a friend who does it annually. It is not my favorite hike but I do love to be out there so I was happy he asked me.
We did the hike counter-clockwise, which is the easiest way since you are going downstream down the Sisquoc. I packed ultralight as usual and if you are interested in my gear, I posted pictures here.
I wanted to test out some gear choices. I have seen a lot of women wearing skirts on the PCT so I wore a hiking skirt. That was a mistake. Hiking skirts would work great on our frontcountry trails or to somewhere like Red Rock. They are cool and comfortable, better than shorts. But for the Sisquoc trail, you need pants. There are lots of foxtails and other sharp and prickly plants. Shorts or skirts are a bad choice.
I also wore Keen sandals thinking they might be better for crossing streams than shoes, but actually they are worse. I think they are the worst shoes for hiking ever made. I slipped and fell twice walking on the trail, once falling into a yucca which pierced holes in my arm and leg that are now turning yellow from the bruises left. That's how deep the yucca spines went in. When walking in streams they let in all the pebbles, gravel and sand and then don't let go. They also let in the foxtails too much, but I suppose you can't blame them for that since they weren't designed for foxtails.
We set off early on Thursday morning headed to Lonnie Davis. We passed the Narrows where there was a huge encampment of CCC workers. We never saw the workers or any sign of their work, which we were told was happening between S. Fork and the Narrows. They had just worked Big Cone Spruce Trail and cleaned up the camp, so there's a good suggestion for a nice backpacking trip. We did find a lone, confused horse standing in the creek near S. Fork, but that was the only sign of the crew between S. Fork and the Narrows.
We camped at Lonnie Davis and then proceeded to Sisquoc trail early the next morning. It is so pretty at the start of the trail with the interesting cliffs over the trail. The trail stays pretty high for a long time making the going easy. It's a long way to the first official camp, Sycamore, on the trail, but we made it there in time for a mid-morning snack.
After sycamore, we continued along the trail which seemed to actually be a trail more than I remembered. We crossed the creek often but not as often as I expected. At one point we hiked below Cain, a big reddish rock cliff, and then descended to Cliff camp. After that, we spent a lot more time crossing creeks.
We camped at Abel camp on our second night. We reached camp in the early afternoon so we had time to enjoy the water. In the afternoons, the Sisquoc felt warm and inviting. I got fully into the water with all my clothes on to wash off. It was hard to keep from being swept downstream. The water was as high as I remembered it being last March and here it was May already.
Back in camp, I was eaten alive by some kind of unseen insect before I even realized what was happening. I had to retreat to my tent to hide from the bugs and then later wear a jacket, tights and gloves to prevent further biting. I slept well and very warm that night. I had to throw a few ticks out of my tent. Overall, there were very few ticks on this trip, but around Abel camp I saw a lot of them.
In the morning we continued down the creek toward Manzana Schoolhouse. We considered going further but since we'd arrive on a Saturday we decided to play it by ear. No sense in going further than we needed to, but we didn't want to stay at the Schoolhouse if there were lots of noisy people there. So we had a backup plan to go on to the Horseshoe camp if Manzana Schoolhouse was full.
We arrived at the Schoolhouse after a million creek crossings. The foxtails all along the whole Sisquoc trail had been horrible. My sandals would get them embedded in them and also foxtails would go inside the shoes and form matted cushions of foxtails under my arches and above my toes. I had found a stuff sack at Lonnie Davis and attempted to make shoe covers and gaiters out of it. That helped some, but the shoe covers didn't stick very well. I found a bit of lacing at Manzana camp and tied the shoe covers on for the final day.
We arrived at Schoolhouse pretty early so I decided to go in search of the grave that is downstream. Baby Bessie of the Wheat family. I managed to find the Wheat homestead chimney but not the grave. I just couldn't manage wandering through all the star thistle and dried up fiddlenecks. They were tearing my legs to shreds.
On the way back from searching for the grave I saw a man hiking with a HUGE backpack and carrying a shovel in one hand and a 5 gallon bucket in the other hand. I couldn't figure out what all that was for. It turned out he had spoken to my hiking partner and said he planned to hike the Sisquoc loop. My friend pointed him to the trail but I had seen him downstream toward the grave. Maybe he was lost. We worried about him carrying all that stuff. I hoped he'd notice there's a shovel at every campsite and leave his shovel somewhere.
We woke in the morning to fog. It felt cold with a slight breeze blowing wet air in our faces. I didn't relish the thought of stepping into the creek, but off we went to our first creek crossing after about 5 minutes of walking. Brrr.
The hike back to Nira is so pretty. I think on this hike the prettiest part is between the cliffs above the Narrows to Whiteledge. The second best part is the enchanted elfin forest of Spanish moss-covered oak trees just before the Schoolhouse, and then the hike back to Nira is third best. I like hiking in the potreros with their little meadows, flowers and pine trees.
We reached the road and did the final stretch back to Nira to complete the loop. I was grateful to put on clean, dry socks and shoes which I had stashed in the car. It was a lovely trip in our beautiful backcountry with perfect weather. Where to next?
