Santa Ynez Traverse

As a child I would look up at the mountains above my elementary school and imagine what was up there. I have long wondered if you can walk all the way across. I decided to find out. It turns out you can and so now I can say I hiked the Santa Ynez Mountain range from Gaviota to Ojai.

There are different ways you could do this hike without trespassing.

• Hike from Gaviota Hot Springs to Bald Mountain and turn around. Then drive up to Refugio Road and complete the hike.
• Begin at Refugio Road.

Most of the hike was dirt and paved roads, and the end of the hike was Divide Peak OHV, Ocean View Trail and Kennedy Ridge Trail.

There is very little reliable water along the way. There was some water in the creek near Kinevan Road and there was a small algae-filled pond near the top of Franklin Trail. You could make a much longer and more strenuous backpack trip by dropping down side trails to natural water. You could find water on Baron Ranch Trail, Tequepis, Arroyo Burro, Cold Springs (to Forbush), Romero (to Blue Canyon), Franklin Trail (toward Jameson Lake) and Monte Arido (there is a spring or there is water near Murietta camp.)

I cached water in advance approximately every 20 miles. The hardest water cache was one that I left at the summit of Franklin Trail. Franklin Trail was rather death-defying with washouts near the top. I cached a lot more water than I needed and often ended up carrying a gallon or even 2 gallons. I kept my gear to only 7lbs so it wasn't that bad. Here is my gear list.

Overall I thought this was a great hike. Hiking Camino Cielo presents dramatically the amazing beauty of where we live. It took me 3.5 days of hiking. The total distance from Gaviota to Ojai is almost 80 miles.

I did this hike in the first week of November, 2023. Of course I made videos. There are three of them.