Hurricane Deck Marathon

Parts (not all) of this hike are shown on these two maps: West Manzana, and East Manzana.

The Hurricane Deck Marathon is a loop that circles from Nira, up the Portrero Trail, across Hurricane Deck lengthwise, then meets up with Lost Valley Trail, loops back to the Manzana trail and emerges at Nira Campground. It is an inappropriate day hike at 24 miles, unless you want an extreme hiking experience.

Should you decide to camp and make it a two day hike, do not make a fire. This place will set on fire like a blowtorch!

And don't forget to bring a few gallons of water for your camp. There is no water on Hurricane Deck and there is only one source to refill your water supply on the loop, 18 miles into it.

You can do this loop the other way, of course, beginning from the Lost Valley Trail and heading toward Portrero Trail.

There has been much debate over which way is best. To start at the Potrero Trail end you get all the steep uphill over with, then Lost Valley offers a gradual descent that is gentler to the tired knees and feet after all that work. You also get a water refill at about 18 miles, when you'll really be needing and and your waterbottles are empty.

To start at the Lost Valley end, you have a gentler uphill, tiring you out less. But your refill station for water comes before your bottles are empty, at about the 5 miles mark. Unless you bring empty bottles to fill up there, you may not have enough water, risking serious illness from dehydration. You can stash water on Hurricane Deck a week in advance if this concerns you.

Don't attempt this hike without significant hiking experience. Even experienced hikers I know have been rescued by helicopters because of extreme dehydration and getting lost! In fact, many of us now do this hike twice - once to plant stashes of water the week before, and then the following week we do the hike.

Total mileage is 18 to 24. The exact figure will be posted after May 13.

You will need an Adventure Pass to park at the trailhead.

Hurricane Deck (the entire thing) Updates

Update trail conditions

Posted: March 31, 2008, 1:32 pm
by: Diane

Hiked the Hurricane Deck trail from White Ledge to Potrero. Unfortunately, the fire did very little "damage" (I'd like to consider it more like "clean-up") to the trail. It's just as miserable and overgrown as ever.

The section starting at White Ledge has burned quite a bit and can be a bit hard to follow in a couple of spots, but having it be open like that is nice. Once you pass out of this burn zone, most of the rest of the trail is untouched by the fire.

A few places along the crestline are burned on the front side and a little over the crest. It's a little easier to walk through this burned crest but there are enough burned twigs and yucca coming back to life to make it difficult.

Better luck next time.

Posted: March 14, 2008, 8:04 am
by: trav867

Just read Diane's post in the General Discussion forum- I had no idea the extent of the fire damage- looks like the wilderness will be closed for a long time. Looks like I'll be headed to Sespe Wilderness this spring...

Posted: March 14, 2008, 7:17 am
by: pjthermos777

Nira and Davey Brown campgrounds are still closed. I attemped to go for hike two weeks ago. I ended up just doing a different trail.

I would like to know when it will open again.

Posted: March 13, 2008, 9:57 am
by: trav867

Can't give any info about fire damage, but I'm curious about the status of the wilderness. From the Los Padres National Forest website, I gather that the majority of the place is still "closed." Can anyone tell me with certainty whether this is accurate?

Posted: February 22, 2008, 8:52 am
by: pjthermos777

I am thinking about planning a backpacking trip with a few friends. What is the condition of Hurricane Deck and what about the fire damage?

Planning on going sometime in March.

Thanks for any help that you can give.

-Peter

Posted: May 11, 2006, 5:42 pm
by: trav867

I did the Nira-Manzana-Whiteledge-Lost Valley loop Sunday and Monday. I had never been to San Rafael before. I started from Nira at about 2 pm and camped at Manzana Narrows. Got up early and made great time to the Whiteledge camp.

The first mile or so of Hurricane Deck from Whiteledge is fine, but once you hit the chaparral the going gets reallly tough. I did the Hurricane Deck section between about 11 am and 3pm and honestly it was horrible- a combination of crouching through brush, losing the trail, and picking off ticks. At some points, the only way I could find the trail was by looking for cuts in the brush- thanks Bryan!

The lost valley trail was beautiful- there are 2 spots within a mile of the Hurricane Deck Junction where I found water. It's getting hot during the day, and from whiteledge I'd say bring at least 3 if not 4 litres.

I made it back to nira at 7pm- I would not recommend anyone doing the narrows-whiteledge-deck-lost valley- nira trip in one day. I'm 21 and training for a june marathon, and the trip nearly killed me.

Also, be warned! I just got back from the doctor where I picked up a perscription for Poison Oak medication. I thought I knew what the stuff looked like, but apparently not.

I have a complete journal if anyone is interested in reading it, but if you're planning on doing the loop, just know that the 5 or so miles of Hurricane Deck are basically hell. That said, everything from Nira to Whiteledge was absolutely perfect, and lost valley trail is in decent shape.

Posted: May 8, 2006, 4:10 pm
by: Brian_

Is the trail still passable?

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Posted: March 28, 2006, 6:34 pm
by: Bryan

Hiked Western HDeck on weekend on March 5-6, 2006. Trail was pretty overgrown but was passable - no crawling. I've seen the trail better but certainly seen it worse. I brought along loppers and tried to clear as much as I could. I ended up making obvious cuts every 20 yards or so. That way you could follow the trail by looking for the cuts. Anyway the views are nice and never even saw a footprint.

Posted: March 5, 2006, 8:28 pm
by: Anonymous

25-26 Feb. 2006 Hiked Manzana Trail to Manzana Schoolhouse and camped there. Then hiked up Hurricane Deck and down Potrero Trail. Hurricane Deck was a bit overgrown, but passable. We lost the trail twice, but found it again. Encountered some ticks and 2 rattlesnakes. The junction with Potrero trail was unmarked, but otherwise pretty evident (I was afraid of passing it). There is a nice meadow with Chumash cave paintings on Potrero Trail, worth the small side trip.

Posted: January 17, 2006, 12:25 pm
by: Anonymous

Did the Nira-Manzana-Whiteledge-Lost Valley loop. Pretty dense brush on the Whiteledge-Lost Valley section of Hurrican Deck. The sign said 5 miles, but it took a solid 4 hours.
No ticks, no snakes. Watch out for the tricky switchbacks in the trail description.
Anyone know what the actual mileage is on this section?

Posted: November 19, 2005, 10:46 pm
by: Chris Chirgwin

Hiked from Nira to the Schoolhouse on Friday, November 18. Camped overnight at the school house (no water about 1 mile below Dabney Cabin to the Sisquoc). On Saturday, hiked up Hurricane Deck to Potrero Trail and back down to Nira. There was alot of brush on Hurricane Deck that slowed us down. Potrero Trail was in good condition however.

Posted: June 1, 2005, 6:01 pm
by: BSA Troop 42

30 May 05 – White Ledge Camp to Lost Valley Trail junction. Good trail. One rattlesnake encountered; no ticks. Hikers and packs turned yellow from blooming Greasewood pollen. Our deepest thanks to those with the energy and initiative required to maintain the trails. It was fun to recognize the spots that Diane mentions in her Trail Guide.

Posted: April 18, 2005, 1:45 pm
by: Anonymous

Hello Diane,
Thanks again for your site. You make enjoying the trails so much better.

There is a bad cave-in on Hurricane Deck between Lost Canyon Trail and Big Bend Trail. It is dangerous without ropes. The trail that had gone to the north side is awkwardly absent for almost a hundred feet - and several hundred feet down.

It is possible to climb up the ridge but is very loose and steep with no solid holds.

With that exception, the Marathon Loop was everything you described.

Thank you!
Dave

Posted: March 23, 2005, 7:36 pm
by: Diane

Post your updates here.