Saturday May 10, 14.4mi/23.2km

Santa Ynez River (30.8/1620ft) to Matilija Creek (45.2/1600ft) (CA)

I hiked gradually uphill most of the day, fortunately most of it was on dirt roads and easy.As I ascended higher up the valley, I noticed the Santa Ynez River that I had been paralleling was starting to become dry (or run underground). So the next time I saw that it had water I stopped to refill my bottles.The guidebook for the Hot Springs Trail is pretty thorough, but the one thing it doesn’t address well is the water sources. So I filled up three liters and continued on.As I climbed higher up the river valley I saw this giant dam in the distance.The local water utility company built themselves a reservoir, impounding the upper Santa Ynez River, and creating Jameson Lake.I hiked along it for a little ways, and took a lunch break at the upper end of the lake, where I could watch all the waterfowl flying around.Apparently the road I had been hiking on all morning had a name, Juncal Road. As soon as I got past the dam area, I could tell the road was not used.The road was overgrown by road standards, but still made for a nice trail. And it had all these interesting insects.Including some unfriendly ones, one of which stung me repeatedly. I didn’t see the little culprit, but it really hurt and I took a benadryl just to be on the safe side.Fortunately a half-mile later, I came across a nice little swimming hole and I put my arm in cold water.The water felt nice, so I ended up putting my whole body in. Once I exited the water, I was dry within a couple minutes. I finished my climb up to Murietta Divide, still on the old road, which was surrounded by flowering bushes at this elevation.The last couple hours of the day I descended on the old road down to the next valley. About halfway down there is a turnoff to a trail, which I attempted to take, but was quickly turned back within a quarter mile by really thick overgrown brush. So I stuck to the road which was easy walking, but unfortunately also skipped the Murietta campsite I was planning to stay at. At the bottom of the descent, the old road joined a maintained dirt road, and there were some houses nearby. It was clearly a hiking corridor, and there were a few helpful signs.I walked the dirt road for a couple minutes and saw where my intended trail emerged on the other end. A brand new sign!Curious, I hiked up the trail and again was turned back in about a quarter mile by brush. So weird. I eventually found a spot to camp by crossing to the other side of the road and taking a different hiking trail to Matilija Creek.It’s only five minutes off my route, and a beautiful spot. Today and tomorrow are short mileage days, since I don’t want to arrive in the town of Ojai before Monday morning. I have a box with new shoes at the post office, so I’m very excited for 9am Monday morning!