Thursday May 15, 16.6mi/33.6km
Log Cabin Camp (109.5/1530ft) to Interstate 5 (126.1/2520ft) (CA) + 1.5mi updated route
I started off the day with one final Crossing of Agua Blanca Creek, where I refilled my water before a decent climb.
The Potholes trail was nice, it climbed gradually through a forest before emerging in a meadow with an old decaying cabin.
The inside looked like it had been used recently.
I’m not sure why they call this area the potholes but it was a nice meadow.
Pretty soon I climbed up onto a ridge, it was a nice cool morning and a perfect temperature for uphill hiking.
As I started to descend the other side of the ridge, I noticed behind me there was a sign. Apparently I had been in the Sespe Wilderness the last couple of days.
Descending the ridgeline.
Piru Lake to the southeast, I think it’s a dammed reservoir not a real lake.
In the previous meadow the trail was fine, but for some reason in this meadow it just disappeared into the tall grasses.
Trail. If you say so, Forest Service!
Hiking through these flowers was even worse than the grasses, they were tall and tangly.
I emerged at a trailhead area and followed a paved road for a mile before leaving it and crossing Piru Creek.
The guidebook says this is the last water for 28 miles, but I plan to hitch into town at the interstate crossing in 13 miles. For the rest of the day, the guidebook descriptions were optimistically inaccurate about the trail conditions I would be hiking. The first couple miles was on a “nice two-track road”, which was barely a cow path to follow.
Then the next mile was a “defined trail” which led me from the creek up to the ridge. There was no trail, there were only short sections of old trail tread completely obscured by overgrown bushes. It was very difficult to follow unless you were standing directly on it and also squinted just right. I laughed when I saw a smartwater bottle on the ground, generally only thru-hikers carry those and no one would come on this old overgrown trail except Hot Springs Trail hikers. The bottle appeared to be at least a couple years old. I wonder who it belonged to?
After over an hour of bashing my way up that trail to the ridgeline, I was looking forward to the “motocross trail” as the guidebook described it. It was in slightly better condition in that it existed more often than not, but it was equally overgrown.
After a couple of miles of pushing through tall yellow flowers, and thick bushy sections, it gradually got a little better.
I also came across this weird benchmark surrounded by tall overgrown bushes.
Finally, at 5pm I emerged onto a “Jeep road”, which wasn’t currently a road but probably had been in the last 10 years, so it was easy to walk. Someone even put a Hot Springs Trail sticker at the junction, ha!
I was a little shocked to see a small sedan perched on the edge of a cliff, I can’t imagine anyone driving this road in its current state. They must have driven it back here years ago, before the road got abandoned.
The “larger road” for the last couple of miles was nicer but clearly not a drivable road.
The overgrown road wound its way down to the interstate, and for the last quarter mile I had easy walking on a paved road. I had kinda forgotten what it felt like to walk at 3 mph, and I was relieved to see the usual interstate signs, marking the end of my day.
By this point it was 6:30pm and I was covered in dust, leaves, sticks, pollen, and who knows what else from the bushes all day. So I grabbed a $20 Uber and went to the town of Castaic where I got a cheap motel room. In my tired state, I put the wrong motel into the Uber app, so I had to walk three blocks to the correct motel. But on the way I stumbled across a pretty good New York pizza place. After stuffing myself with lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and unlimited sprite, I stumbled over to the motel and had the best shower ever. Today was difficult and dirty hiking, and didn’t at all resemble the expectations I had from the guidebook. Tomorrow should be easier!