Tread 2015 winter

MAGAZ INE winter 2016

BIKEPACKING

Gearing up for backcountry overnighters

EL NIﾃ前

Deluge on a droughtstricken wilderness

WONDER WOMEN Ultrarunners say 50 miles ain t no thing

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“I didn’t have to leave town for world-class health care. It’s just down the road from my house.”

Claude had hIp replaCemenT Surgery aT gOleTa valley COTTage hOSpITal

Now he’s back on his bike.

Claude Goleta Severe hip pain prevented Claude from riding his bike to and from work each day. Cottage Center for Orthopedics affiliated physicians help people like Claude every day. In 2014, they performed over 1,000 joint replacements, more than anyone else on California’s Central Coast. Claude chose experience. Today, he is back doing what he loves.

For a list of services and treatment options, visit Cottagehealth.org/ortho or call 1-855-3NO-PAIN to make an appointment.

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Life. Where you love it.

11/19/15 10:38 PM

Together, with 1% for Ojai, our community will help protect Ojai’s open space for everyone to enjoy, forever.

Visit a Participating Business Today and Take Part

OJAI VALLEY LAND CONSERVANCY

Protecting your views, trails, water and wildlife

Agave Maria’s

The Farmer and the Cook

NatureSprite.com

A Taste of Ojai

GoOjai.com

Ojai Food Taxi

Axxess Ventura

Greyfox Investors

Ojai Pilates and Fitness

Azu

Healthy Eco Home

Ojai Quarterly

Bliss Frozen Yogurt

Kava Home

Susan K Guy Art

EcoLogic LifeStyle Design

Modern Folk Living

Suzanne’s Cuisine

Dogs Fly Design

Mooney Creative

Watercolors - Patty Van Dyke

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THIS COULD BE YOU.

Dive into Marine Protected Areas sbck.org/MPA Santa Barbara Channelkeeper is keeping watch for clean water—and protecting your playground—through education, advocacy, monitoring and enforcement. Support Channelkeeper and explore local Marine Protected Areas at sbck.org/MPA Photo taken

by Brian Hall at Scorpion State Marine Reserve, Santa Cruz Island—bphphotography.com c alif o r nia. c om 2

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Downwind Tours Lessons Events Experience the thrill and beauty of paddling this amazing Santa Barbara Coastline

epicsupsb.com 805.570.0752

Sansum Care is…

Your health.

Simplified.

• New Medical & Surgical

TRAILBLAZING Providing you secure online access to your own medical records through MyChart

Center on Foothill Road – completed

• Pesetas and Pueblo clinic upgrades – underway

• All-new comprehensive Cancer Center – coming in 2016

• Awarded California

Association of Physician Groups Elite status

s

• As a nonprofit, all

Sansum revenue is invested into improving services and facilities

1 (800) 4 SANSUM Sue McDonald and husband Michael enjoying Santa Barbara’s trails winter 2016

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WELCOME TO

GO OUT AND P LAY

Hey Readers, Welcome to Tread. Tread. Tread.

Hear that echo? We like it out here too, where the horizon never gets a step closer and wind blows at the sweat beads rolling down our necks. There’s so much to discover and share.

Sharing what’s out there is the simplest part of our mission. California’s Central Coast is a radical place to explore. We all love it and can’t get enough. It motivates and mystifies us. The more we learn and push ourselves, the more we need to know.

In our first edition we do what we plan to do for a very long time to come: introduce some of the people, places and things we find fascinating, gutsy and sublime. Our goal is to inspire respectful use of this outdoor playground, where ocean, mountains, creeks and islands offer the best sandboxes and jungle gyms on the planet.

Read Tread, then go out and play. ~Lea Boyd & Peter Dugré, Directors PRODUCTION MAESTRA Kristyn Whittenton SALES EXECUTIVE Dan Terry dan@treadcalifornia.com (805) 684-4428 CONTRIBUTORS Joshua Curry • Glenn Dubock Brandon Fastman • Caitlyn Fitch Chuck Graham • Bryan Toro Mark Turner • Bernd Zeugswetter SUPPORTING STAFF Amy Marie Orozco TREAD MAGAZINE December 2015 Vol. 1, Issue 1 PUBLISHERS Michael VanStry & Gary Dobbins RMG Ventures, LLC Carpinteria, CA TREAD Magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form without the express written permission of the publisher. ©2015 RMG Ventures, LLC Distributed Quarterly in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties

Tread California @TreadCalifornia 4

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FEATURES

I S S U E 1 WI NTE R 2 0 1 6

2 6 Y OU T H I N K Y OU’ RE BA DA SS? M E E T JODY, K AT H & K I M

Ultra athletic females talk about what it takes to conquer the Red Rock 50 and how to fuel up, dig deep and conquer ultra endurance events.

3 4 SA N T A ROSA , Y OU DEVI L

Chuck Graham steers his kayak around wind-whipped Santa Rosa along with two SUP adventurers. (They learn some valuable lessons, like don’t mess with Santa Rosa.)

3 8 I N DI A N SUM M ER: BIKEPACKING THE SANTA BARBARA BACKCOUNTRY

Writer Brandon Fastman teams up with cyclist Ed France to conquer the Santa Ynez Mountains for a two-wheelin’ overnight. It comes with its literal and figurative ups and downs, but, hey, that’s what adventure’s all about.

4 5 EL N I Ñ O: BL E S S I N G O R CU R SE?

Winter could be wet—really, really wet.

Tread looks into how torrential rain, flash flooding and high winds would impact already imperiled wildlife species.

ON THE COVER: Photographer Bernd Zeugswetter captures wife Hjördis Rickert on the face of Gibraltar Rock above Santa Barbara conquering the Self Reflection 5.11b/c route.

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Brandon Fastman

L ea B o yd spen ds m o st days i n f ro n t o f a co m pu ter i n an o f f i ce, bu t as so o n as th e wo rk bel l ri n gs, sh e h i gh tai l s i t to th e m o u n tai n s o r th e sea. Sh e i s a n ati ve C arpi n teri an an d Man agi n g Edi to r o f h er h o m eto wn n ewspaper, Coastal V iew News. Th e C en tral C o ast h as served as h er pl aygro u n d f o r decades, an d n o w h er greatest jo y i s i n tro du ci n g th e o u tdo o rs to h er 3-year-o l d dau gh ter.

seCtions

B ran do n F astm an , a do cto r o f En gl i sh l i teratu re, h as wo rked as a staf f wri ter at The Santa Barbara Independent wh i l e co n tri bu ti n g to o th er regi o n al pu bl i cati o n s. Th i s past year, h e wo n f i rst pl ace f o r edu cati o n co verage i n th e C al i f o rn i a Newspaper Pu bl i sh ers Asso ci ati o n ’s B etter Newspapers C o n test. Hi s pri m ary f o r m o f di versi o n i s spi n n i n g aro u n d ro ads an d trai l s o f th e C en tral C o ast. He h as co vered al l th i n gs cycl i n g i n San ta B arbara, i n cl u di n g arti san f ram e bu i l ders, bi ke advo cacy ef f o rts, tran spo rtati o n po l i cy an d th e an n u al F i esta C ru i ser Ru n .

6 events:

Pe t e r d uGr é Peter Du gré h a s s p e n t th e p a s t d e c a d e co veri n g ev e r y th i n g f rom p ol i ti c s to spo rts as Asso c i a te E d i tor of Coastal V iew News, i n si ste r p u b l i c a ti on s a n d oth e r re gi o n al o u tl ets . T h e ve r s a ti l e me d i a - ma n al so co u n ts a w a rd w i n n i n g p h oto c re d i ts to h i s n am e i n a d d i ti on to a grow i n g l i s t of en du ran ce f e a ts l i k e th e S a n ta Ba r b a r a In ter n ati o n al M a r a th on . Gi ve n th e op p or tu n i ty to m er ge h ob b y a n d p rof e s s i on i n th e pages o f T r e a d , D u gr é l e a p t ove r th e m o o n . “Th e Ce n tr a l Coa s t h a s e mb r a c e d th e o u tdo o r li f e s ty l e . N ow w e ge t to p rop erl y jo u r n al a l l of th e w on d e r a rou n d u s , ” Du gré sai d.

C huC k Gr a ha m

Lea B o yd

Contributors

C h u ck Grah a m h a s l i ve d i n S a n ta Ba r b a r a C o u n ty si n ce 1973. H e a n d h i s w i f e Lor i m ake th ei r h o me i n Ca r p i n te r i a . A b e a c h l i f egu ard o n th e Ca r p i n te r i a Ci ty Be a c h si n ce 1991, h e a l s o l e a d s k a y a k tou r s at th e C h an n e l I s l a n d s N a ti on a l P a r k . A f reel an ce wri te r a n d p h otogr a p h e r f or o ver 20 year s , h e h a s b e e n f e a tu re d i n Outdoor Photographer, Canoe & Kayak, Trail Runner, Men’s Jour nal, The Sur fer’s Jour nal an d Backpacker to n a me a f e w .

C h u ck’s wo rk c a n b e s e e n a t w w w . c h u c k grah am ph o to. c om.

Windpower, giant moths, SOAR & more

10 By the numB ers: Rock climber Andy Patterson

12 wiL d th inG s:

Mountain lion meet and greet

17 toP 10:

Plan your 2016 adventures

20 weekend PLay: One night in Nira for an easy outdoor fix

22 oPen kitCh en: Skillet skills

24 Get th e Gear: Sock it to me

Jo sh u a C u rry i s a passi o n ate, experi en ced ph o to graph er wi th a so ph i sti cated po rtf o l i o o f i m ages th at i l l u strate h i s arti sti c eye f o r co m po si ti o n , co l o r, l i gh ti n g an d m o o d. He sh o o ts edi to ri al an d co m m erci al l y an d th ri ves o n getti n g al l th e pi eces o f th e pu zzl e to geth er to create th e f i n al i m age. Jo sh u a’s l o ve f o r th e o u tdo o r l i f estyl e was i gn i ted by cam pi n g an d su r f i n g at a yo u n g age. Hi s passi o n co n ti n u es to gro w as h e sh ares h i s experi en ce wi th h i s wi f e an d two ch i l dren , wh o th ri ve o n th e en er gy o f th e o u tdo o rs an d th e am azi n g pl ace we l i ve.

Bernd ZeuGswetter

8 news:

J os h u a C ur r y

Festivals, races and outdoor gatherings

B er n d Zeu gs w e tte r gre w u p i n A u s tr i a wh ere h e f o r ge d h i s l ove f or th e mou n tai n s, wen t th rou gh c u l i n a r y s c h ool a n d ear n ed i n ter n a ti on a l c e r ti f i c a ti on a s a m o u n tai n gu i d e . H e ’ s l i ve d i n S a n ta Ba r bara f o r th e l a s t 15 y e a r s , p u r s u i n g th e cl i m bi n g l i f e a n d d i vi d i n g w or k ti me b e tween gu i di n g a n d p rof e s s i on a l p h otograph y. At th e ti me of w r i ti n g, h i s mos t re cen t assi gn me n t ta k e s h i m to Ch a mon i x, F ran ce to ph o togr a p h a l p i n e c l i mb i n g f or Patago n i a. winter 2016

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events December 12:

UCSB Sedgwick Reserve hikes

8:30 a.m., 3566 Brinkerhoff Road, Santa Ynez, $10 donation. Participants can choose between three two-to-three-hour hikes ranging from easy to moderateplus and focused on geology, landforms, panoramas, plants and animals or birds on the 6,000-acre reserve. Hikes are held monthly; the next two are on January 9 and February 13.

December 12:

Annual Los Padres Chapter Sierra Club Holiday Potluck Party

6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Jefferson Hall, Unitarian Church, 1535 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara.

December 31:

Ventura Sierra Club Gear Grab

10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Working Artist Ventura (WAV) Courtyard, 175 S. Ventura Ave., Ventura. The event brings together outdoor people with used gear they’re looking to sell. Thirty percent of every sale goes to the Sierra Club.

January 9:

Santa Margarita 10km, 25k and 50k Trail Races

6 a.m., Santa Margarita, $60-$125.

Brought by ULTRA SLO Trail Series & Running Warehouse, the races include a variety of rugged singletrack, steep jeep trail and rolling fields and vineyards.

January 9:

La Cuesta Ranch Trail Run, 50k/7 a.m., 25k/8 a.m., 10k/8 a.m.

La Cuesta Ranch, 2400 Loomis Street, San Luis Obispo, $10. This event features 100 percent dirt trail and ranch roads with views of the West Cuesta Ridge.

January 15:

California Crossroads Tour Stop

7 - 9 p.m., The Faulkner Gallery, 40 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, $10 donation. A campaign to end reliance on fossil fuels and shift to 100 percent renewable energy will feature expert speakers.

Jan 16/17:

Rincon Classic Surf Contest Waiting Window Opens

Rincon Point, Carpinteria. The locals-only event opens the Queen of the Coast to competition just once a year. Organizer Surf Happens waits for optimal conditions to pull the trigger on the contest within the waiting window.

February 7:

Central Coast Concerned Mountain Bikers Super Bowl Trail Building

8 a.m., Montana de Oro State Park, meet at park headquarters above Spooner ’s Cove, www.cccmb.org | EMaIL RaCES, aCTIvITIES aNd SPECIaL EvENTS TO LEa@TREadCaLIFORNIa.COM

Channel Islands Paddlers, a group of mainly

Glenn Dubock

6

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Ventura County ocean lovers, meets most Saturday and Sunday mornings when weather allows. On Saturday mornings, paddlers typically meet in the park at Victoria and Via Marina Drive behind the Vons at the Seabridge shopping center in Oxnard. On Sundays, they meet up in Marina Park to paddle in Ventura. The group welcomes new Stand Up Paddlers. Learn more at www.meetup.com/ChannelIslands-Paddlers

intro to map & compass navigation, ages 14 and up

8am-2pm • $60 member/$80 nonmember Feb. 20 or Mar. 19 at Stevens Park, Santa Barbara Jan. 23, Feb. 6 or Mar. 5 at Piedra Blanca Trail, Ojai

How to ride a Bike for kids, ages 4-7

9am-11am • $60 member/$80 nonmember Sundays at Elings Park, Santa Barbara

Jan. 31, Feb. 28, or Mar. 27

How to ride a Bike for kids, ages 4-7

9am-11am • $60 member/$80 nonmember First Sundays at The Collection, Oxnard

Feb. 7 or Mar. 6

Hiking gaviota pass overlook

8am-12pm • $50 member/$70 nonmember Saturdays at Gaviota State Park, Gaviota Pass

Jan. 23, Feb. 6, or Mar. 12

intro to Backcountry skills

8am-2pm • $70 member/$90 nonmember Cold Spring Trail to Forbush Flat

Jan. 30, Feb. 13, or Mar. 26

Hiking ojai’s piedra Blanca trail

8am-2pm • $60 member/$80 nonmember Saturdays at Piedra Blanca Trail, Los Padres National Forest, Ojai

Jan. 30, Feb. 13 or Mar. 12

Hands-on Bike maintenance: drive train

6:30-8:30pm • $45 member/$65 nonmember Each month at REI Santa Barbara

Jan. 28, Feb. 25 or Mar. 24

ski and snowBoard waxing Basics 6:30-8pm • FREE Wednesday, Jan. 13, at REI Oxnard

Hiking tHe pacific crest trail/ tHru Hike Basics

6:30-8pm • Free Sunday, Jan. 17, at REI Santa Barbara Wednesday, Jan. 20, at REI Oxnard

getting tuned up for mountain Biking 6:30-8pm • Free Wednesday, Feb. 24, at REI Oxnard Sunday, Feb. 28, at REI Santa Barbara

rei.com

*Class schedule subject to change; please visit www.rei.com/learn for specific information and registration requirements. Space is limited; see course details for more information.

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Celebrating the Outdoors Since 1981

Ventura's Outdoor Store

36 W. Santa Clara St., Ventura (805) 648-3803 Joshua Tree, CA. Photo: Kyle Sparks © 2015 Real Cheap Sports Inc.

805-745-1335 • OhanaFunCo.com • 5285 Carpinteria Ave. winter 2016

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with Trident as it conducts its analysis of how best to execute a project that is estimated to generate enough juice to power 150,000 households. The behemoth turbines would rise 360 to 400 feet above sea level about 15 miles offshore and would be distributed over an area of 63 square miles.

The agreement between Trident and Morro Bay says the entities will cooperate in analyzing how to use parts of the mothballed Morro Bay Power Plant to transmit the energy. An extensive planning and permitting process is underway; project analysis should take five or six years. Among other things, the planning process will have to account for how the new turbines would affect marine life and disrupt the migration routes of whales and birds.

Summerland beach oil well excavated

be on the lookout for giant mothS

The largest moth in the United States has made a new home in Santa Barbara.

In September and October 2015 the giant swallowtail, a moth with up to a 6-inch wingspan, was found in Santa Barbara and Goleta. The massive insect, common in the Southeastern U.S. and Arizona, had been moving gradually westward across the desert. It was first spotted in Los Angeles County in 2000 and took 15 years to breeze up the coast to S.B. Also, according to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the giant sphinx moth made its first appearance in California and was spotted in Downtown S.B. in September. The massive moth’s wingspan measured at 5.5 inches, making it one of the largest specimens in North America.

According to the museum, Santa Barbara is an ideal home for the giant swallowtail. “With our abundance of or8

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ange trees, a preferred food plant for the caterpillars, and bougainvillea bushes, a favorite nectar source for the adults, our city provides an excellent environment for its long-term survival, and it will no doubt be here for many years to come,” said museum representative Richard Priestaf. Look for more in the future.

Noxious petroleum odors and oily discharge shut down the beach in Summerland for a weekend last summer, forcing officials’ hands in attempting to resolve the persistent problem. In late October, representatives from local, state and federal agencies dug up the beach to find the known culprit, the Becker Well, an improperly abandoned well from the 1890s. The

wind power off morro bay?

Trident Winds, LLC pitched a plan to place 100 floating turbines offshore of Morro Bay and the city nibbled. The nibbling came in the form of entering a Memorandum of Understanding

1890s oil well excavated

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News excavation project, deemed a success, was the first step toward capping and remediating the well. An engineer is currently in the process of devising a plan to properly re-abandon the well, a expected to cost $1.5 million.

The problem is a relic of the wildcat days of oil exploration when wells shot into the ground; regulatory agencies had yet to be created and there were no standards for proper abandonment. In other words, nobody is on the hook to clean up messes left behind by the original generation of oil explorers. Summerland Beach was filled with holes at the turn of the 20 th Century on and offshore.

GibrAltAr Fire

It could have been much worse. A fire sparked at around 5 a.m. on October 29 threatening the drought desiccated mountaintops of Montecito and miraculously resulted in zero structural damage as it was quickly mopped up by firefighters both by air and land. Somehow the wind that had whipped down can-

yons the previous evening subsided, and although a record-breaking late October heat spell could have resulted in fire crawling down the hills and into residential areas, quick work and preparedness thwarted the threat. At one point on October 29, 500 personnel and a fleet of helicopters and air tankers battled the fire in thick chaparral a half mile from East Camino Cielo Road. By November 2, the fire was 100 percent contained.

A yeAr to SoAr

Ventura County voters in November 2016 will be able to arm themselves with a deadly weapon in the battle against urban sprawl. SOAR initiatives (Save Open space and Agricultural Resources) protect urban/rural boundaries and agricultural zoning from developers hungry to turn land into money. Between 1995 and 1998, eight Ventura cities and the county adopted the initiatives, which require voter approval in order to convert land zoned as open space or agricultural to Gibraltar Fire squelched

Diego Topete

From left to right, Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks and SOAR attorney Richard Francis file the SOAR initiative. uses that allow development, but those initiatives are set to expire in 2020. The organization SOAR is pushing to renew them in 2016, and with voter approval, the initiatives will be extended through 2050.

Ventura County First District Supervisor Steve Bennett co-authored the initiative and helped to launch the one currently on the books. He considers SOAR laws essential to protect Ventura County against a future that would have it looking more like Los Angeles and Orange counties.

In order to get the initiatives on the ballot, volunteers will canvas the county for signatures (they’re due in March).

There are nine separate ballot initiatives and collectively the grassroots force will need to gather 84,000 signatures. Executive Director Karen Schmidt said 2016 is the year to renew since it coincides with a presidential election which should boost voter turnout. The City of Ventura passed its 1995 initiative with 52 percent of the vote. Opponents to the initiative contend that the stringent development restriction contributes to housing shortages and exorbitant costs.

Visit www.SOARvc.com for further information on SOAR initiatives and how they work. | Submit your newS and eventS to peter@treadcalifornia.com winter 2016

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By the

numbers:

Andy Patterson ANDY PATTERSON MIGHT JUST KNOW SANTA BARBARA ROCKS— AND THE WAY UP THEM—BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE ALIVE. The prolific climber, who has a couple dozen first ascents to his name, has mapped the hardest lines on the craggiest crags, taming routes that stymied many a strong climber before him.

Long before pioneering Santa Barbara County climbs, Patterson found his footing in the sport as a teen growing up in 10

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West Michigan, where the closest thing to rock climbing was scaling the icedover dunes of Lake Michigan. “A fall would send you skittering down several hundred feet of steep, bumpy and frozen sand. It was pretty wild. I swore during those trips to the dune that I would someday be a ‘real’ climber and tackle rock.”

The move to Santa Barbara over a decade ago vastly improved Patterson’s climbing habitat. He rates his adopted

PR OFI LE

PHOTOS BY BERND ZEUGSWETTER

hometown as a two or three on a scale of five for rock climbing, but concludes, “That’s perfect: just enough quality climbing to keep me motivated, but not enough to draw crowds.”

Work (Patterson is the lead blacksmith and designer at Santa Barbara Forge and Iron) and family (he has a wife and young son) now vie for Patterson’s attention, but he still finds time to play. He chatted with Tread about a few significant digits related to rock climbing and life.

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Wheeler Gorge, Ojai difficult they would be or how I would climb them, and I’ll never forget the process of deciphering a sequence, training and mustering up the focus to eventually lead them. The process of realizing a route is a big part of the fun for me.”

3 top climbing spots : The Brute, Potters Point, Santa Barbara

1 week old: The age at which Patterson’s now-toddler son, Oliver, went on his first boulder-scouting mission.

2 most memorable first-ascents: Trebuchet and

Jabberwocky in Rattlesnake Canyon.

“They are stout lines, to be sure, but it’s not the difficulty that makes them hallmarks of my climbing career. When I first found those routes, I had no idea how

“For sheer all-around enjoyment, proximity to good climbing of all sorts, and pleasantry of the camping experience, I think I have to put the Eastern Sierra (Bishop, Mammoth, Lone Pine) at the top of the heap. After that, I would choose Indian Creek. It might be one of the most picturesque places on earth, and for those who love crack-climbing, this place serves a glutton’s portion of splitter cracks. Lastly, I love climbing up Rattlesnake Canyon, near Santa Barbara.

I’ve often joked with my wife that 25 percent of the last eight years was spent up Rattlesnake.”

4

pieces

of

advice

Patterson has for beginners: “Find a project, find a good crew of friends and try hard. Also, don’t complain and whine when you suck. Sometimes you just suck,

and the only thing to do (to roughly paraphrase the late great Wolfgang Gullich) is eat some cake and drink a beer.”

6

months: Amount of time Patterson spent almost exclusively on a hangboard he’d installed in his garage right before his son was born. “I had some of the most fun I’ve ever had as a climber. That was when I knew I loved climbing.”

20 s :

In his 20s, Patterson says he had all the time in the world to climb. Now it has become “logistically complex.”

“When I have the chance to get out, I make it happen.”

30 minutes: With this amount of time to climb, Patterson’s go-to spot is Skofield Park in Santa Barbara.

“Even though it’s close to town, it feels remote, and the climbing there suits me perfectly.”

70/30: Percentage of time Patterson spends on artificial walls (70) and on real rock (30). “I’m trying to change that ratio.” | winter 2016

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Here, kitty, kitty If you’ve opened thIs magazIne, chances are you enjoy spendIng tIme outdoors. chances are you’ve logged some hours on trails in the tri-county area. and chances are, if you’re like those of us at Tread, you’ve spent at least a small fraction of those hours wondering where the closest mountain lion might be and how tasty you might look to that lean, mean hunting machine. mountain lion fears can take on monstrous proportions in a fertile imagination, but the reality is somewhat less scary. california department of fish and Wildlife reports that there have been only 16 verified

12

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mountain lion attacks on humans in california since 1890, and only six of them fatal. the last documented attack occurred in january of 2007 in humboldt county. domestic animals in the wildland interface are much more common targets, and each year the cdfW receives hundreds of reports of mountain lions killing pets and livestock. the long drought may also have played a role in mountain lions encroaching on suburban and even urban areas in recent years. mostly though, california cougars are hoping to nab deer for supper and will settle for racoon, rabbit or squirrel.

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Save the Mountain Lion, buiLd a bridge

Fittingly, the world’s most famous mountain lion counts the Hollywood sign within his sprawling estate. Yet P-22, as biologists have named the handsome bachelor, is no Hugh Hefner. In fact, he has little chance of ever finding a single mate in his isolated Griffith Park digs. His lonely fate has made him the furry poster boy for a new wildlife crossing in the Los Angeles area.

P-22 arrived in Griffith Park by crossing two major freeways when he left his mother to find a territory of his own, but most cougar freeway crossings do not end as well. Twelve mountain lions have been struck and killed by cars in the area nearby since 2002.

Caltrans now has a $30 million solution to create a safe passage for wildlife that experts agree will give the cougars of the Santa Monica Mountains and Los Angeles area a chance at longterm survival. The plan is to build a 200-foot long, 165-foot wide bridge across Highway 101 to connect the Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills.

The Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing would be landscaped with native vegeta-

houSe ruLeS

Going outside to play on the Central Coast? You’re ringing the doorbell at mountain lion manor. Be a thoughtful visitor and chances are you’ll never even

wild things tion to most closely mimic the natural habitat of its intended users: mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, foxes and mule deer. Plans also include noise barriers to reduce traffic sounds and block vehicle light at night.

A Project Study Report for the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing was released in September, and preparation of environmental documents is the next step toward construction.

“For over a decade, we have been working towards the goal of creating this wildlife passage in the Santa Monica Mountains,” said California State Assemblymember Richard Bloom. “Now, through a PSR that presents a viable, scientifically valid wildlife overcrossing, that goal is within sight. Public support has never been stronger; the ecological need has never been greater.”

Several groups are partnering with Caltrans to make the wildlife crossing a reality. The State Coastal Conservancy has granted $1 million toward the environmental review, and anyone interested in the project can find out more or donate funds at www.savelacougars.org.

CougarS in the newS “Mountain Lion ‘KnocKed Me down and tooK off,’ Man

Says of Puma Tranquilized Near Palmdale” - KTLA 5, Aug. 28, 2015

“Mountain Lion snatches pet poodLe froM BurBanK BacKyard”

- Los Angeles Times, Aug. 26, 2015

“Mountain Lion spotted at Least 4 tiMes in san francisco”

- ABC 7, July 8, 2015

“Mountain Lion cornered, captured in caLifornia resident’s BacKyard”

- CBS San Francisco, May 19, 2015

“Mountain Lion p-22 ‘Left the BuiLding’ after hours under house” see your reclusive host. Keeping these tips in mind when entering mountain lion territory certainly can’t hurt.

buddy up.

Lone trail users are more vulnerable than pairs or groups.

- NBC 4 News L.A., April 14, 2015

“Mountain Lion found wandering next to Macy’s in teMecuLa dies after Being tranquiLized”

- KTLA 5, March 6, 2015

tiMe it right.

Avoid hiking or running when mountain lions are most active, dawn, dusk, and at night.

watCh the LittLe oneS.

Small children who have wandered away from their parents are easier targets.

Leave theM aLone.

If you see a mountain lion, let it be.

don’t run.

If you encounter a mountain lion, face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger by waving your arms. Throw rocks or sticks. Pick up small children.

Fight baCk.

Don’t play dead if attacked; claw, scratch and fight. |

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1,000 words Turner & Fitch photography Piedra Blanca, Sespe Wilderness

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Top 10

Top 10

adventure ideas

of 2016

Paul Lang

1

Camp at Channel Islands natIonal park

Let’s face it. If you haven’t camped on a Channel Island, you must in 2016.

And if you already have, it’s time to try another island (you can camp on all five within the park). Santa Cruz is only an hour away by Island Packers’ boat out of Channel Islands Harbor, but its pristine wilderness and sweeping vistas sets it back in time a couple of centuries. If you’re feeling more adventurous, pitch a tent next to the windbreak at an inland camping site on Santa Rosa Island.

Each island requires a moderate trek with gear to reach camp. Beware of silence and seclusion.

need to know:

You must paCk all of your own food and water.

You must paCk out all of your trash.

You must reserve transportatIon fIrst and then a CampsIte. Secure food & tents to prevent the spread of hantavIrus, CarrIed by Island mICe. For further information, visit www.nps.gov/ chis/planyourvisit/camping.htm

We don’t Want to hear you say, there’s nothing to do. here’s the tip of the iceberg.

Tread recommends a variety of outdoor activities, some always at your fingertips and some that lend themselves to the types of challenges that will keep you fired up for another year of pushing your boundaries. some of this stuff is just plain old fun.

Jody Pesapane

2

dIve an mpa

3

sup to an oIl platform

The Marine Life Protection Act set aside Marine Protected Areas as underwater preserves that have been compared to underwater National Parks. While it’s illegal to fish them, you can still snorkel and dive them. Ventura Dive & Sport, 1559 Spinnaker Drive, has everything you need to be transported under the seas. The company offers two and three tank dives from its boat, The Raptor, at Anacapa and Santa Cruz islands, which feature Marine Protected Areas and are known for large fish sightings like black sea bass. Contact Ventura Dive & Sport at (805) 650-6500.

You might think an oil platform is an eyesore off the coast, representing a triumph for industry over the environment, a ticking time bomb waiting to contaminate the ocean. Still, if you’re anything like us at Tread, they call to you. Why? winter 2016

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Chuck Graham

Because we can see them and we like a challenge. Platform Holly is less than two miles offshore of Ellwood Beach in Goleta. We recommend traveling in a pair, for obvious reasons. The shear size of the platforms from a close vantage point will open your eyes to the jaws of industry, particularly when it’s just you walking on water to the base of the oilpumping behemoths.

4

Ski Mount PinoS

There are many places to find the white stuff in the Tri Counties, but Mount Pinos, on the border of Ventura and Kern 18

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sprays of poppies, lupines and monolopias. Bring a camera for the flowers and the chance at a pronghorn photo op (Be sure to #treadcalifornia on Instagram.).

Carrizo has two primitive campgrounds.

7

WatCh the Sky rain MeteorS

Your best bet to combine camping and stargazing in the summer of 2016 could come overnight on Aug. 12. Head to Nira (see Weekend Getaway, page 20, for details) and direct your eyes upward for The Perseids meteor shower, one of the

Do the Pier to Peak half Marathon

We like the Pier to Peak because it’s a challenge for experienced distance runners and a trophy race for anyone looking for a bucket list experience. You start at Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara and end up at the top of La Cumbre Peak, at nearly 4,000 feet elevation. Enter the race over Labor Day weekend or chart the course on your own time. Either way, we applaud the juxtaposition of settings this course offers. You start in an urban area at the ocean and bolt straight out of town. At the finish, you can see the start and pat your back for making it to the top.

5

counties, stands out for several reasons.

It is the highest peak in the area at 8,800 feet, and well-maintained Nordic trails abound. If you can get your hands on a splitboard and climbing skins, climb up the mountain and bomb down. Bowls on the northside of the mountain are a backcountry skier ’s or snowboarder ’s dream.

It’s a bit of a haul at two hours from Ventura and is off of Frazier Mountain Park Road, which eventually turns into Mount Pinos Road. A campground is located 7 miles up Mount Pinos Road.

For details on possible road closures following a heavy snow, call Mount Pinos Ranger District Office, (661) 245-3731.

Chuck Graham

6

finD a Pronghorn at Carrizo

These speedsters that are mistakenly referred to as antelopes and look like muscled deer-goats are tough to track down, only partially because they can sustain speeds of 55 mph on a half-mile run. Pronghorn were restored to the Carrizo Plain National Monument in 1990 but the population has been challenged in the periodically dry environment.

Now only 60 to 70 remain at Carrizo in eastern San Luis Obispo County. Though it might be a tough creature to cross paths with, the hunt is a great excuse to explore Carrizo, particularly if the winter provides enough rain for the spring to blossom orange, purple and yellow

best of the year. The bright night show, a product of comet Swift-Tuttle, can produce up to 60 meteors an hour at its peak.

The moon sets after midnight, which will darken the celestial theater for a radical fit of radiation. The show centers from the constellation Perseus but can appear anywhere in the sky.

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Top 10

Prove it!

complete one of theSe feAtS And poSt your photogrAphic evidence on inStAgrAm. #treAdcAliforniA

10

8

Survey 9 SiSterS

9

Add moonlight rideS to your mt. bike repertoire

The 9 Sisters—Morro Rock, Black Hill, Cerro Cabrillo, Hollister Peak, Cerro Romauldo, Chumash Peak, Bishop Peak, Cerro San Luis and Islay Hill—are a series of volcanic plugs dividing the Chorros and Los Osos valleys, and although they’re not enormous (Bishop Peak is tallest at 1,559 feet) their geological formation and iconic status make them a worthy endeavor. We like lists (this is a top 10 list), so the allure of tackling nine climbs was tough to resist, particularly when they’re laid out like a Sultan’s harem between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. It should be noted that climbing Morro Rock is off limits, but you can still tour the Morro Rock Natural Preserve.

Also worth noting, three of the rocks jut out from private land: Hollister Peak, Cerro Romauldo and Chumash Peak.

If your typical mountain biking routes have become too typical, add a twist.

Strap on a headlamp, mount the saddle and climb into darkness. Night mountain biking is trending into popularity. You

might have your favorite trail memorized by day, but the darkness of night tosses that element of the unknown back into the mix. Danger is fun. The view from the Romero Canyon fire road of the edge of the Santa Barbara cityscape will mesmerize and leave you contemplating from whence all the twinkling lights are shining. Particularly with the shortness of days in the winter, a nighttime ride or two might be just what the doctor ordered. You might get hooked.

Join A cAuSe

This isn’t a New Year ’s resolutions list, but Tread is guilting you into joining an environmental cause in 2016. Nonprofit groups like the Landtrust for Santa Barbara County and the local chapters of the Sierra Clubs—Santa Lucia and Los Padres chapters—do not achieve great things all on their own. It takes gutsy volunteers rolling up sleeves and getting to work or finding a few dollars to pitch in. The Naples Coalition’s quest is to save the Gaviota Coast. SLOPOST, San Luis Obispo Parks, Open Space and Trails Foundation, is working to maximize outdoor recreation in SLO. The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy works to protect the wild environs of Ojai. Being part of the crusade to expand and conserve outdoor spaces is a journey all on its own. |

Ricki Matsumura

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Camp Nira GET THE WINDOW SEAT

FIGUEROA MOUNTAIN, WITH DOZENS OF TRAILS STRIPING ITS SKIRT AND A HANDFUL OF CAMPGROUNDS POLKA DOTTING THE HEM, IS A WEEKEND WARRIOR SHANGRI-LA. For a relatively short driving investment—less than two hours from Santa Barbara—the payoff is rich and the adventure is adjustably large or small.

Nira campground is the end of the line for vehicular access behind Figueroa. Drive up and pitch a tent for a night or two of day hikes, creek play and campfires, or park the car and hoof it up Manzana Creek to Lost Valley (1 mile), Fish Creek (2.5 miles) or downstream to Potrero (1 mile) or Coldwater (2 miles) for easy overnight backpacking treks.

If the winter of 2015/2016 delivers on promises of El Niño rains, Figueroa Mountain should be ablaze in wildflowers by late February or March. Plan a daytrip for a satisfying picnic of petaled panoramas or ogle the bright blooms en route to an overnight at Nira or any of the other campgrounds in the Figueroa Mountain area.

There are two routes into the San Rafael Wilderness. Figueroa Mountain Road is a longer trek than Armour Ranch/Happy Canyon Road, but it’s the best bet for wildflowers. To find out if the explosion of colors is on, call Helen Tarbet at the Forest Service at 925-9538 x246 or email htarbet@ fs.fed.us, or visit www.fs.fed.us/r5/lospadres. And don’t forget your camera.

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SETTLE IN

Manzana Creek cradles Nira campground in the crook of its curved arm; as such, most of the 12 sites border a stream that flows most of the year. You simply need an Adventure Pass to camp. There’s no spigot for water here. Bring plenty for drinking, dishes and toothbrushing.

Nira is beautiful in the winter. The school’s-out summer campers and the fall hunting crowd have cleared with the close of deer season in late September. Winter finds families of these leggy grazers tiptoeing along the creek and nibbling the green growth everywhere. It’s quiet and cool, just right for tackling a couple of the long hikes that launch from there.

Creek crossings can make it difficult to access Nira during or after big rains. A few years back, a cub scout troop got stuck on the wrong side of the swollen creek and rescue crews had to assist in pulling the boys out.

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CATCH A ROCK SHOW

GO PLAY

Trails galore start from Nira or the parking lot a few hundred yards west.

Campers (and even day-trippers) have their choice of long or short hikes, asskicking elevation gain or relaxed rises and falls along the creek.

For a sweet little backpacking trip perfect for kids or first-timers, park at the trailhead just west of Nira and follow the path about a mile downstream to Potrero Camp. This spacious site walks the line between car camping and backpacking—there’s even a picnic table. It’s also the point where hikers connecting to Hurricane Deck Trail must hang a right and cross the creek. Those headed to the Manzana Schoolhouse, where a couple dozen students learned reading, writing and ‘rithmetic in the 1890s, should continue on along the creek another seven miles to reach the historic site.

There’s plenty of fun upstream, too.

If it’s a wet winter, the spring and even summer should hold pools deep enough for swimming. Manzana Camp, six miles from Nira, makes for a relatively easy backpacking overnight. Hikers who arrive early enough, can set up camp and then continue up the trail, which climbs above the creek to offer incredible canyon views, then drops back to the creek where pools await.

The hike to Hurricane Deck Trail from Potrero camp is steep and offers little relief from the blazing sun.

But it also rewards with sweeping vistas and the pale crown of the deck in the distance. A couple miles in, hikers will find a playground of rocky outcrops full of Swiss cheesy caves. Chumash pictographs can be found, and one cave boasts 21 prints of the long-extinct grizzly bear.

Hurricane Deck Trail is not for the faint of heart (or light of water). A report from the website Santa Barbara Hikes, offers this enticing description, “The trail is barely maintained at all. I think the Forest Service would prefer that the trail fall into disrepair and close up with brush permanently. They probably get tired of sending rescue squads...” But those who forge forth on the overgrown path can drop down to the Manzana Schoolhouse by heading west or loop to Lost Valley by heading east.

MEET THE LOCALS

The San Rafael Wilderness is just that—wild. Expect to meet some of its four-legged furry inhabitants as well as some lovely feathered friends when you pay a visit. Deer are commonly seen by the roadside on the drive in and out, as pictured. A bear that liked to tear apart the dumpster lid in Nira prompted the receptacle’s relocation—now it’s at the trailhead and parking lot to the west.

In the heat of the day, the creatures commonly seen are the scaled kind, such as the young horned lizard. Garter snakes regularly sun themselves on creek rocks and glide through the water.

Weekend Play

COME BACK AGAIN

Nira and its surroundings get under the skin like poison oak (watch out for this three-leafed enemy of comfort out there) and will keep itching until you plan a trip back. There’s enough play potential for weekend after weekend. Start with a Nira overnight and get more ambitious from there. Just don’t forget a Forest Service Adventure Pass. Passes are $5 for a day and $30 for a yearly pass. Mountain Air Sports in Santa Barbara carries them.

They’re also available at Big 5 stores in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura.

Visit www.fs.usda.gov for a full list of outlets. |

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open kitchen

CAMPER’S DELIGHT -

CAMP COOKING CAN BE A ROYAL PAIN IN THE REAR. It’s dirty. Dishes are dirtier. Water is scarce. Try making this hearty breakfast in one cast iron pan or dutch oven. Translate: one dish.

The resilient cookware can go right on the fire, and the ingredients are so flavorful—bacon, onions, bell peppers— there’s no need to fuss with herbs and spices. Keep it simple, stupid.

Bacon and potato scramble

PREP THE FIRE

First thing’s first. A fire must have a dense bed of smoldering embers to produce steady heat for cooking. An overnight slow-burner will help to get a hot, even fire ready quickly for breakfast cooking. Stick the skillet directly in the coals or arrange some stones to keep it raised but still close enough to get nice and hot. Preheating the skillet for about

10 minutes should provide a hot cooking surface. Keep an eye on the skillet for smoking and on the ingredients for burning. The beauty of cast iron is that it holds heat. If it’s getting too hot, give it a timeout; pull it from the flame and the food will continue cooking. If the sizzle slows down, throw it back on the heat.

Helpful hints: Try putting a couple of cir-

cular stones in the coal bed. They work great for resting pots for boiling water or propping up the skillet.

If the coal bed has a lot of flames pouring off of it, rest two dense logs on the bed and place the skillet on top of them.

The log will burn slowly, and the skillet should heat evenly about six inches off the coals.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound bacon (chopped) 1 large yellow onion (chopped) 4 peeled Russet potatoes (chopped ½ inch cubes) 1 red bell pepper (chopped) 1 green bell pepper (chopped) 8 eggs beaten 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

PROCESS

Once the iron skillet is preheated add the bacon and brown while the grease renders, about five minutes. Add onion and cook until translucent, about five minutes. Add bell peppers and cook until just beginning to soften, two minutes.

Add the potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes or until tender to the poke of a fork. Add beaten eggs, stir well and cook until just solid, five minutes. Stir in the cheddar cheese.

Recipe serves 6 to 8 | 22 22

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Get the Gear THE TREAD TEST LAB HAS BEEN BUSY EXAMINING SOCKS DOWN TO THEIR FIBROUS FOUNDATIONS. The lab has no walls or white coats, but we have run these socks through the wringer to see which perform and last. Durability, design and comfort are the cardinal qualities for the sock, protector of the feet.

BALEGA SECOND SKIN FIT: Ultralight COMPOSITION: 78 percent drynamix polyester, 20 percent nylon, 2 percent elastane THE PACKAGE SAYS: “As light as a feather.” “Triple heel creates heel pocket, high heel tab to prevent blisters, microfiber soft touch and durability.”

WHAT WE SAY: If you’re used to a thick sock, prepare to tighten the laces on your shoes. This sock is thin and slick, which could cause some footslippage inside the shoe, but once you’re used to the texture, its design performs, breathes and supports.

The elasticity provides a comfortable compression, which combined with the blister resist barrier, leaves the feet protected. for running CGREAT GOOD for hot weather

B hikes

(watch toe stubs on steep declines)

ILL-SUITED for Dcold weather or boots

DARN TOUGH VERMONT SOCKS: Hike/Trek COMPOSTION: 59 percent merino wool, 38 percent nylon, 3 percent lycra THE PACKAGE SAYS: “Micro cushion.” “Naturally regulates temperature.” “A secure foot hugging fit.”

“Naturally antimicrobial” WE SAY: Darn Tough socks earned high marks in style (who says hiking/biking socks have to be brown and tan?) and function. But the real clincher here is the lifetime guarantee. And like most anything with a lifetime guarantee, we’re working hard on needing to use it. The fact we haven’t had to yet simply grows our affinity for these socks.

SMARTWOOL, PHD: Run sock COMPOSITION: 55 percent merino wool, 41 percent nylon, 4 percent elastane THE PACKAGE SAYS: “Blister free fit. No stink.”

WE SAY: Wear this sock all the time. It wicks and walks and jogs. The insulation of the merino wool withstands hot and cold. To test the “no stink” claim, this sock was hiked in, jogged in and basketballed in (sometimes we play on courts) without being washed in between. It doesn’t stink yet.

C

GREAT for running and hiking

B

GOOD for daily comfort

D

ILL-SUITED for extreme cold or boots

CGREAT for hiking BGOOD for water resistance ILL-SUITED for ILL-SUIT distance runs

D

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K at h l e e n B a K e r Jody Chase 26

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You think You’re

?

S S A BAD meet JodY, kath & kim S T ory By PeT er D u gr é P H o T o S By JoSHuA Cu r ry & BryAn To r o

Caution:

Average readers are about to be made to feel like Jabba the Hut. The women you’ll soon read about eat marathons for breakfast and climb to 4,000 feet for lunch. By dinnertime, they’re ready to turn on the headlamp and wash it all down by savoring miles 48, 49 and 50.

k i m d en i g Curry Photos

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Ultrarunners Kim Denig, Kathleen Baker and Jody Chase finished ahead of the pack in the 2014 Red Rock 50, a 50-miler from Rancho Oso near Red Rock to Montecito and back. Unanimously, they say it’s an awesome, fun and lowkey experience and probably the best way to get to know the low-traffic route from Santa Barbara’s backcountry to frontcountry. Tread tracked them down to find out what makes them tick, their must-have gear for ultra events and why they’re hell bent on making the rest of us feel so lazy. winter 2016

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Kathleen Baker Age: 37

Hometown: Ventura

At first glance, there’s not a shred of Type A in Kathleen Baker, who met up with Tread last fall when she was 8½ months pregnant. It’ll take a few minutes to bust the shell of this genial gal and figure out from whence her ultra grit burns.

Before pounding trails by feet, she was a mountaineer, scaling rocks and guiding less seasoned spider-people. Then suddenly, Baker ’s elbow gave out on her, and she couldn’t climb. The torn ligament was more than a physical injury; it left a gaping void. “I just love the mountains. There’s no place I’d rather be,” Baker says. Her doctor recommended she join his trail running group. He taped up her elbow; she hit the trail running and the rest is history.

“It’s such a fun sport to go out and choose your own adventure,” Baker says.

She considers organized races like the Red Rock 50 training for “self-supported adventures” she’s interested in, like long hauls in the Grand Canyon.

She suffered another setback; this time an injury to her knee cap cartilage at the Orcas Island 50k two years ago. “It was the only race I didn’t finish,” she says.

The injury didn’t finish her but tested her resolve. “I was told I’d never run again.”

Rehab included pool running and swimming. “It was horrible. It was the worst thing, but having to do that stuff was motivation to get myself healthy and back running again.”

Most of the training Baker does is either in the Santa Barbara backcountry or in the Point Mugu area. She’ll do the Ray Miller Trail near the coast or the Topatopas out near Ojai. “I tend to keep miles more on the lighter side than most ultra runners. I focus on quality miles, like a brisk steep hike or run up Nordhoff 28

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Ultrarunning experience: 6 years Training grounds: SB Backcountry, Ray Miller Trail (Point Mugu), Topatopa Mountains (Ojai) Running groups: Coyote Cohorts, Santa Barbara Trail Runners Gear: Injinji toe socks: “I never get any kind of blisters”; Ultraspire hydration vest Fuel: Orange Mud

Peak. It makes me feel better than adding miles down by the beach,” she says.

The 2014 Red Rock was her first race back from the knee injury. She recalls, “I had no real expectations of placing high. It just worked out. I was having so much fun. That specific race is so fun.

It’s a carefree environment. You just go out and play in the mountains all day.”

Her main strategy is to not stress about it and to let the race tell its own story. “At the end of the day, it’s more important to have fun than to be concerned about where you are in the race.”

Before this pregnancy, her second, Baker was eyeing a 100-miler, potentially the Western States. It takes patience to knock off big mile runs. “I’m in no rush.

The 100-milers aren’t going anywhere,” she says.

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Jody Chase 30

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Tread caught up with Jody Chase when she’d just finished the Cuyamaca 100k in San Diego. She finished sixth and was disappointed that hydration was an issue for her on the sweltering course. She dealt with it well, having come to expect the unexpected. “Every single race, something could go wrong. There’s never a guarantee. That’s why it’s so exciting,” she says.

Chase tries to enter six or so races a year, one 100-miler. She first picked up the running bug 15 years ago in Arizona when she felt a little overweight and decided to bite off a 5k. Two years later she

started on trails and hasn’t hit shoe to pavement since.

Since that original 5k, she’s conquered 17,100 milers, including the HURT 100 in Hawaii. “It’s a jungle out there. It’s hot, humid and there are these giant, slippery roots just protruding from the ground,” she says.

Quitting isn’t in Chase’s DNA. Four years ago at the Antelope Island 50 miler, she fell and broke her hand on mile seven. “I thought, ‘I’m not running on my hands,’” she says, and she finished the race. Her most disappointing race is one

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Age: 47 Hometown: Atascadero Ultrarunning experience:13 years that never happened. She’d traveled to France five years ago to complete the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc 100 miler. Organizers pulled the plug on the race when she was 13 miles in due to mudslides.

“I like being able to see new places.

It’s a good excuse to travel around the country and to see a lot of remote places and wildlife that many people will never see,” she says.

One of her race victories came at the Man against Horse 50-miler in Arizona.

Runners compete against not just twolegged competition but against horses.

To build up for races, chase often will run 15 miles five or six days a week and do P90X in between. “I do it because I love it. You either love it or you hate it.

There’s no in between.” When she tapers off the weeks ahead of a race, she gets grouchy.

For anyone who wants to do ultradistance, she says, “Don’t pay attention to your watch. Run how you feel. If you pay attention to a schedule then it won’t turn out well … I learned over years that if you’re feeling really crummy, you have to do some walking. I’m OK with that.”

Average week: 70 miles Training grounds: West Cuesta Trail, Pozo Road Trails Running group: SLO Trail Runners Gear: Hokas shoes; Ultimate Direction Ultra Vesta hydration pack winter 2016

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Kim Denig There’s no down time for Kim Denig.

She teaches tennis and runs up to 80 miles a week. Still, the 2014 top female finisher in the Red Rock 50 considers herself a novice ultrarunner. “I don’t know how it happened. I just hoped to finish,” she says.

Denig fires on all cylinders all the time, so it’s easy to imagine her skipping up a rocky mountainside in the hot sun.

She also tied for first in the Santa Barbara 9 Trails race. She doesn’t know how that happened either.

Following the turnaround at Romero Canyon of the 9 Trails, an ultramarathon that combines nine Santa Barbara frontcountry trails, her circuits fried. “I just bonked. I couldn’t move. That’s the worst I’ve ever felt. I was actually hoping for a helicopter. I was just so dizzy.

I couldn’t stand up.” Still, she found another gear, caught up to the frontrunner and finished the race in a tie for first.

Denig describes ultramarathons like they’re five or six races all wrapped into one. “You can be feeling like you’re going to die and then you’re flying again,” she says. It’s almost like life. You just stick with it and you can make it” She’s won the local races and aspires for more. She didn’t start trail running until 2009, and before that she could never imagine running farther than 10 miles. “Trail running turned me on. It’s just so different. It’s an adventure.” The support of Santa Barbara Trail Runners has inspired her. “In the bigger picture of ultrarunners, I’m like a novice. There are so many that have done 100s and 200s.

You get brought up by the group. You’re like a baby cub and then you see they can do it, so you want to do it too,” she says.

As a highly motivated competitor with a lengthy background in tennis, Denig has a tendency to overdo it and like many of the athletes who log as much mileage on their feet as a car, she battles bodily

breakdown. “I’ve had a lot of trouble with injury. It’s kind of what happens to a lot of us. I’m just competitive. I like to go as fast as I can.” She’s had sciatica issues and Achilles issues and other common wear and tear injuries. My family and tennis coach get worried about me.

“They say, that’s so incredible, but can you just not do that anymore. Sometimes I feel like I have to sneak my runs in.”

She’s hooked on the feeling of being a fine-tuned machine. It’s liberating.

“When I’m in shape, and I can run like that, I feel free. I feel self-sufficient,” she says. |

Age: 53 Hometown: Santa Barbara Ultrarunning Experience: 6 years Average week: 60 or 70 miles Training grounds: Santa Barbara front/ backcountry, Backbone in Malibu Running group: Santa Barbara Trail Runners Gear: Nathan Pack; Hoka shoes; Patagonia socks Fuel: Hammer Gel; Salt stick; “I’m not big on the whole eating while racing thing.” winter 2016

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Wi nd w hipped wa ter adventure stops shor t of circumnavigation Sto ry a n d Ph ot oS By Ch uC k Gra h a m

Miller and O’Hea find the rhythm out of Lobo Canyon. winter 2016

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I knew we were In for It long before we left Ventura Harbor. later, when I watched will Miller and Patrick o’Hea getting swept away on their standup paddleboards out into the middle of bechers bay on Santa rosa Island, it validated all my apprehensions. when they nearly missed landing on the beach at water Canyon, I knew any paddling excursion from there would require grit. our aspirations of circumnavigating the windswept isle were quickly dashed when gale force winds blasted the Santa barbara Channel. Howling out of the northwest, gusts pummeled the second largest island off the coast, leaving us no refuge. My tent whipped and snapped with such torque that I didn’t sleep the entire weekend. one thing I’ve learned after five circumnavigations of Santa rosa Island is that sooner or later northwest winds are going to kick in, and this trip proved it.

at dawn on our second day we left the campground at water Canyon and hugged the bluffs paddling northeast past the newly built pier and out to the long, crooked finger of Coati Point. Soon we weren’t alone any more. Hundreds of inquisitive, year-old California sea lions left their haulout sites on the beach and bluffs to see what we were up to. they porpoised and torpedoed toward us,

straining their necks to get a better look and darting underneath my kayak. legions of them stayed with us out to Cowboy arch. we were fortunate to be temporarily sheltered from the northwest gale. It has to be really calm to reach the craggy archway. It’s tucked inside the daunting southeast wall of Carrington Point, an exposed wave-battered volcanic feature that is straight out of the shadows of Mordor.

Squadrons of California brown pelicans and serpent-like pelagic cormorants swooped and dove around us feasting on the scaled bounty swarming beneath.

Soon the sea lions were all in, a feeding frenzy stewing among swirling currents and frigid whitecaps as we rounded the towering headland.

once we rounded Carrington Point, it was slow going to lobo Canyon, the first accessible cove west of Carrington. wind velocity had ratcheted upward. It felt like we were paddling uphill in mud. occasionally we pulled into a canopy of giant bladder kelp to grab a hold, take a breather and force the wind to lie down. the oldest human remains in north america were discovered on the island

by Dr. Phil orr in 1959. two femurs of a man dating back 13,200 years were found at nearby arlington Canyon. “arlington Man” was an impressive guy.

He must have constructed some sort of watercraft, likely out of deer sinew and

willows on the mainland, and paddled himself out to the weather-beaten islet, a mind-boggling feat crossing one of the most dangerous channels in the world.

Paddling into a stiff headwind always has its drawbacks. However, we snuck through the surf and beached it at lobo Canyon, sand stinging our legs as the northwesterly winds funneled down the canyon. the return, on the other hand, made us feel like superheroes. with winds, current and swell at our backs, our downwinder around Carrington Point was nearly effortless, sometimes we covered 25 yards at a time while catching small capping waves and maneuvering between a slalom course of submerged, barnacled-encrusted rocks. then a fast moving front engulfed us, sideways rain pelting us all the way back to water Canyon. twelve soggy miles later we were back at our tents, puddles collecting inside the corners of my twoperson dwelling.

It was the end of the line for this trip, easily the shortest distance I’ve paddled around Santa rosa Island. now will and Patrick had a taste of what’s required to cover the 36 miles of challenging coastline. not to worry though, the island isn’t going anywhere, and I’m already hatching the next excursion around the islet. |

Cowboy Arch offers temporary relief from gusting wind.

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Water Canyon Campground boasts windbreaks, running water and cold showers.

Lo b o Canyon

Carrington Point

Sandy Point Skunk Point A rl i n gt o n Canyon East Point

South Point Ownership: Channel Islands National Park size: 84 square miles, second largest of the eight California Channel Islands TallesT peaks: Black Mountain, 1,298 feet; Soledad Peak, 1,574 feet Terrain: Unlike any other northern Channel Islands, Santa Rosa Island is mainly rolling hills and grasslands.

The southern portion of the island is steeper and more rugged. Its diverse coastline includes broad sandy beaches on the northwest, northeast and southwest. public access: Day trips and camping

White sand beaches ring Rosa.

GeTTinG There: Island Packers out of Ventura Harbor, islandpackers.com, (805) 642-1393

sanTa rOsa Field nOTes wOrTh nOTinG • The epicenter of the 1812 earthquake, which destroyed several buildings in Santa Barbara, was near Santa Rosa Island. The quake created a rift 1,000 feet long, 100 feet wide and 50 feet deep in the vicinity of Lobo Canyon.

• More than 600 archaeological sites have been identified on the island. The oldest fossils include the femurs of “Arlington Man,” which date back 13,200 years, and a 4- to 6-foot tall pygmy mammoth.

• More oil exploration has occurred on Santa Rosa than any other Channel Island; of the 12 wells dug, no oil was found. winter2016 winter 2016

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Indian

SUMMER Bikepacking the Santa Barbara Backcountry

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STORY A N D PH OT OS BY BRA N DON FA S T M A N I HAD NO DESIRE TO BE THE PROTAGONIST OF A JON KRAKAUER BOOK OR A GUEST ON THE LATEST BEAR GRYLLS-HOSTED SURVIVALIST TV SHOW. This wasn’t supposed to be a test of human endurance or a trek into nature’s black maw. It was merely to be a couple days in the woods away from domestic and professional responsibility with some moderate physical exercise to boot. But in the days leading up to a hopeful bikepacking trip across the Los Padres National Forest, a halo of heat descended on California, punctuating a historically hot summer amidst a historically long drought. As the heat lingered

with suffocating intensity, the Los Padres Forest Association formally advised against overnight trips.

“If you run out of water,” trail-guide author and journalist Ray Ford told me when I informed him of my plans, “you could die.” With his advice in mind, and against the protestations of loved ones, my traveling partner and I headed up the Romero Canyon fire road. Take it all the way to the top and you’ll hit Camino Cielo, the dividing line between Santa Barbara’s front and backcountry. Hanging from Camino Cielo like a curtain from a rod are the steep, rippling Santa Ynez Mountains.

Behind this curtain lies the vastness of the Los Padres National Forest, an unpopulated stretch of land that spills across four counties and can be traveled by a network of dirt roads and trails.

They are perfect for backpacking and— save for those in designated wilderness areas—bikepacking.

The recently popularized term, bikepacking, refers to the long-practiced pastime of offroad bicycle touring. The activity has become fashionable in cycling circles recently, so much so that bike manufacturers are producing frames built specifically for this purpose.

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Brandon Fastman

Horny toad visitation WTF are we? Sign posts are few and far between after descending into the backcountry

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Rewards of Romero Trail One purveyor of such lightweight bikepackingspecific bags is Scott Felter, a ceramics artist who, after riding the Tour Divide route from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, set up shop under the name Porcelain Rocket. I gave him a ring over the summer to ask him about the allure of bikepacking. “ After a week, it sort of becomes what you do. It is your job. It’s pretty magical thing when you realize you’ve been away for a month, and you’re living off the grid.”

Unfortunately, there are things in my life, like a boss and a human child, that keep me from going off the grid for a month. Luckily, the Los Padres offers the perfect setting for a long weekend, or even an overnight trip. Popular routes include the “corridor” that bisects the Dick Smith and San Rafael Wilderness areas. Big Pine Mountain, accessed via Buckhorn Road, is another popular destination. It’s the highest peak in Santa Barbara County, and it offers views from the Pacific to the Sierra Nevada.

I’d originally planned a route to Cuyama and back, but the weather forced me to scale back plans. From the Romero Saddle, we scooted along the Murietta Divide Road to the Mono Campground.

Canopied by live oaks, and frequented by all sorts of critters like turtles, horny toads and a fox that stole my trail mix, the campground originally housed workers who built the nearby Mono Debris Dam. It is also conveniently located about a mile from the Little Caliente Hot Springs, not a bad place to visit after a day of pedaling.

Even at a moderate distance, though, water was an issue. My partner—Ed France, executive director of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition—and I each packed 3 liters in a hydration pack and carried more on our bikes. Ed rides a mountain bike without any water bottle holder bosses, so he fastened oversized holders to his forks with compression straps, and stuck a two-liter soda bottle in each one.

That added up to about 11 liters between us, and we were tapped out before

Ed France looks like an alchemist as he purifies precious water at camp.

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Bombing the backside of Romero

we reached our destination, the campground. There was water to be found along the way, but nothing moving. Finally we had to give up and filter stagnant water. (Pro-tip: you can fit a twoliter soda bottle to a Sawyer mini-filter.)

Adjacent to Mono Campground is also the start of the Cold Spring Trail, which we decided to take home the next morning. The bottom, which follows a creek bed, is silty, overgrown and tough to navigate on a bike. When the trail points up, it gets steep, narrow and rocky. I definitely would not suggest it for a novice mountain biker, as I had to hike several sections while heaving a loaded bike ahead of me.

“This is much more fun on the way down,” France would tell me countless times that day. Typically mountain bikers ride up fire roads and down trails, not the other way around. But after much sweat and more swear words, we made it back up to Camino Cielo in the early afternoon, opting to descend on pavement. We headed west across the ridge and rolled down Gibraltar Road where, near the bottom, we ran into Ray Ford heading up the hill on his electric-assist mountain bike.

I could happily report to him that I didn’t die. And while I never even felt like my life was in danger, I did survive a nasty case of poison oak, some dodgy water, two rattlesnake encounters and a handful of cuts and bruises worth showing off at the office the next day. No word yet on whether Werner Herzog is buying my rights for a documentary. | 42

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Carrying Your Gear Packing is always a compromise between comfort and efficiency.

There’s no right or wrong way to do it. With bikepacking gaining popularity, craftsmen have begun several cottage businesses sewing lightweight bags that attach directly to a bike—on the handlebar, in the main triangle and under the saddle—foregoing racks. Mike Gibian, a frequent bikepacker who owns a wellness center in Santa Barbara, favors this setup. “Part of the fun is to just simplify things,” he told me, “not from the perspective of going without—but to focus on my surroundings.”

On the other hand, racks and panniers afford more capacity. Tom Norris, a Santa Barbara-based painter who has been cycling in the backcountry for decades, likes to take his time, loading up an 80-pound rig.

“At the end of the day,” he told me, “I want to sit in my chair, drink a toddy and look at the mountains I just climbed.”

Channing Hammond, the proprietor of Old Man Mountain racks— named after one of the region’s peaks—has been trekking into the Santa Barbara backcountry on multi-day trips since he was a teenager. An early adopter of the fullsuspension mountain bike, which cannot accommodate typical touring racks, he would load his camping gear into a huge backpack. In 1986, while working for the bicycle accessory manufacturer Jandd, he

decided to design racks that could be fitted to bikes with suspension and that could stand up to the jolting and jostling of unpaved travel. When Jandd, which was then headquartered in Santa Barbara, eschewed the idea due to concerns about liability, Hammond struck off on his own.

He took his racks to the Adventure Cycling Association’s annual meeting.

So impressed were they with his racks, they added them to the next issue of their catalog, which also happened to be the same one that published the first complete map of the Continental Divide Route, the 2,700-mile-long pilgrimage of North American offroad touring. Jandd has since offshored its manufacturing, but you can still find Hammond and his team welding some of the world’s toughest and most versatile racks right in Goleta. -BF |

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Goleta

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bike expressway Together, our 1,110 members are making bicycling safe and accessible. We are closing dangerous gaps in our bikeway network and operating robust education and community service offerings for cycling. Become a member or sponsor of SBBIKE to help realize our shared vision of Santa Barbara county as a world class cycling destination and a national leader in bicycling.

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ST ORY BY LEA BOY D CALIFORNIA FORECASTS CALL FOR RAIN, FLOOD-SIZED RAIN. FAILING A SURPRISE VISIT FROM NOAH AND HIS ARK, THE VULNERABLE CRITTERS OUT THERE COULD BE IN BIG TROUBLE THIS WINTER IF THE STORMS STACK UP AND DUMP DOWN.

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storms a brewin’ A butterfly flAps its wings in thAilAnd, meteorologicAl dominoes topple And A tornAdo rips through KAnsAs. or in this case, ocean temperatures rise in the central pacific and wet winter storms pummel the west coast. there’s no guarantee, but the evidence is solid— el niño is ready to sop up the sea and wring it out on california. great, right? we’ve been rain dancing for the last four years. the drought has us dry and desperate. now that winter is a breath away and the forecast continues to call for rain, perhaps it’s time to ask how much is too much? if the “godzilla el niño” unleashes its fury of precipitation, what’s to stop its scaly, clawed feet from stamping out the habitat of vulnerable species with destructive mudslides and flash flooding? wildlife can withstand natural

California tiger salamander

Despite its audacious coloring, the tiger salamander is a shy, rarely seen animal that spends most of its life in underground burrows. The amphibian requires seasonal pools to reproduce—an extended wet season is a must for eggs to hatch and larvae to metamorphose from a tadpole-like stage to adulthood. “If the pond never fills, salamanders never breed,” says Cat Darst, biologist for U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

Listed as federally threatened, tiger salamanders have suffered due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. The highly vulnerable Santa Barbara County population, located in the Buellton area, is recognized as endangered.

“An extended wet winter should really help the species,” says Jenny Loda, amphibian biologist and attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Since adult tiger salamanders stay in cool, moist underground burrows during dry months, biologists struggle to accurately estimate population numbers during normal years. Four years of drought ratchets up the uncertainty. “It’s really 46

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Ashley Spratt/USFWS

A female tiger salamander picked up near breeding ponds at Ellicott Slough near Monterey Bay. hard to know how they’re doing at this point,” says Loda.

Freshwater wetlands must persist for two to three months for tiger salamanders to reproduce. The drought has slowed reproduction to a crawl. “Many of them have probably been lying in wait

to breed, but that’s part of their natural cycle,” says Loda.

A wet winter will likely benefit tiger salamanders, but Loda says that severe storms could lead to the collapse of the burrows that house the animals most of the year. Salamanders lack the means

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events, says Cat Darst, biologist for U.S. Fish and Wildlife, but the risk of catastrophe increases for species already knocking on extinction’s door due to human impacts. Populations that teeter on the brink as a result of habitat destruction, pollution or introduced predators are less resilient when Mother Nature throws a fit.

Mark Jackson, National Weather Service meteorologist, says chances are very high for a stormy season, the kind that can lead to gully washers and landslides. Central Pacific Ocean temperatures are the second highest on record, a bit below top-ranking 1997-1998, when El Niño slammed California with rain, and a bit above 1982-1983, when El Niño, yes, slammed California with rain.

In each of those seasons, the state received about twice its average rainfall. Jackson says, “We can get very strong storms any season, but the frequency is higher in El Niño years.” A strong El Niño can deliver a “conveyor belt of storms from the

Pacific,” he says.

Coastal mountain ranges magnify the effect of El Niño storms. Typical rainy seasons bring precipitation from the north. El Niño brings weather from the west. When winds collide with perpendicular topography, like the Santa Ynez Mountains, clouds squeeze like sponges as they rise, making San Marcos Pass one of the wettest areas in the region.

Conversations with longtime Californians about El Niños of 1997-98 or 1982-1983 often involve tales of flooding and high surf. Julia di Sieno, who worked for Wildlife Care Network at the time, remembers the 60-plus ground squirrels rescued and brought in soggy, cold and nearly drowned.

Now di Sieno operates the Animal Rescue Team in the Santa Ynez Valley and is preparing for a busy winter rehabbing burrowing animals like squirrels, tarantulas, weasels, badgers and gopher snakes. “It happens so quickly, they can’t get to higher ground,” she says of flooding, “The

little ones will drown in their dens.”

Mauricio Gomez of South Coast Habitat Restoration spends a lot of time in creeks, or creek beds these days. He’s noticed that trees in the riparian zone have suffered in the drought and could come crashing down in a big storm. Cottonwoods and alders accustomed to regular sips from nearby creeks are just waiting to fall, which could mean mega flooding, erosion and sedimentation.

Even without tree falls, severe storms scour waterways, flushing out animals and destroying habitat.

“What can happen with El Niño is a blow out,” says Darst. “It wipes out habitat because it rains so hard and so quickly.”

Of particular interest along the Central Coast are the critters already under scrutiny for their low population numbers. Rains will be a net positive for thirsty wildlife, but biologists are keeping a close eye on protected species already at risk of going the way of the dodo.

of digging burrows themselves, and if storms impact ground squirrels or gophers, salamander numbers could likewise drop.

Darst says. “They’ve withstood El Niños in the past, but when other impacts are threatening them, it makes them less resilient.”

Ventura’s Santa Clara River supports a population of gobies, and Darst said restoration efforts, such as removal of the invasive plant arundo, should increase habitat quality and goby resiliency. As a

resident of marsh habitat, gobies are built to withstand a wide range of temperatures and salinity levels. They are hardy creatures, when people aren’t throwing up obstacles to long-term survival.

Big storms may reduce goby population numbers, says Darst, “but at the same time the gobies suffer when there’s no water.”

Tidewater goby

The niche of the tidewater goby, a fish species that rarely grows longer than 2 inches, is narrow and precarious, especially given the affinity of humans for filling in or dredging out estuaries and the affinity of introduced fish and frogs for goby entrees. Federally listed as endangered, gobies are endemic to California. They live in the murky, calm environment between stream and sea and are susceptible to being flushed out of their habitat in big storms.

Cat Darst of U.S. Fish and Wildlife said that typical storms leave remnant populations of the small fish, which are capable of surviving in the surf zone before returning to their more serene, preferred habitat. “Sandbars are commonly breached in the winter, but it usually doesn’t blow out everything in the watershed with it,” says Darst.

Strong populations of gobies should be less vulnerable to El Niño storms,

Trainees and trainers examine tidewater gobies caught during a seining exercise in Carpinteria.

Ashley Spratt/USFWS

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Laird Henkel, senior environmental scientist with California Department of Fish and Wildlife, says that conservation groups are paying close attention to how the winter weather will affect otters. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which oversees rehabbing injured or stranded animals, is preparing to take in more otters than usual this year.

One risk is for rough water to separate mothers and pups and leave young otters

vulnerable and starving. Another fear is that contaminant-ridden storm runoff will take a toll. Encephalitis can kill otters that ingest parasites carried in the feces of cats and possums, and chemical toxins swept to sea in storms present another potential threat.

When hunting ceased over a century ago, Big Sur held a last pocket population of southern sea otters, whose range once extended into Baja California. That stronghold has expanded to the north and south, with otters colonizing the San Luis Obispo County coast and even turning up in Santa Barbara waters.

An unexpected new threat to the population is shark attacks. Henkel said that about half the sea otter mortalities in the last few years have been due to white shark bites, and no one knows why. Sharks chomp and spit, realizing mid-nibble that otters lack the blubber they enjoy in their normal seal and sea lion prey.

If sea otters can avoid the worst potentials of El Niño and withstand the new impact of sharks, “They should continue slowly expanding into Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and the Channel Islands,” says Henkel.

spots, Gomez says, but too much rain could flush fish and eggs out to sea.

In the handful of creeks that have undergone major restoration efforts over the last decade, steelhead should be able to repopulate. In most waterways, however, fish that are pushed out won’t be able to return.

Gomez said that Rincon Creek, on the border of Ventura and Santa Barba-

ra counties, had a resident population of steelhead until a fire upstream left hillsides bare and a big stormy winter produced massive runoff that blew out the fish. A channel built to divert water under Highway 101 blocked the species return, and no steelhead have been identified in Rincon Creek since.

What’s to come for steelhead? “Only time will tell,” Gomez said. |

Lilian Carswell/USFWS

Southern sea otters turned the corner at Point Conception and started to recolonize areas to the south a few years ago.

Southern sea otter

These furry friends have had a rough go of it thanks to their sought-after coats.

Nearly hunted to extinction for their fur in the 1800s, southern sea otters have made a slow-but-steady comeback since a moratorium put an end to hunting in 1911. Listed as endangered, the playful animal a darling of aquariums—faces a number of threats with the impending storm season.

Steelhead trout

The drought has not been kind to steelhead, a species already hard hit by manmade barriers to movement within streams. According to Mauricio Gomez, of South Coast Habitat Restoration, a 2011 survey of Carpinteria Creek in southern Santa Barbara County found 530 fish; this year ’s turned up six. Creek flows have declined, confining steelhead to pockets of water, many of which have evaporated in the months upon months of dry, hot weather.

While the drought serves up steelhead fatalities, humans have been working to reverse their deleterious effect on the species. South Coast Habitat Restoration and several other agencies have removed barriers to fish movement, such as road crossings, in Carpinteria, Tajiguas, Quiota and Mission creeks, among other waterways. “There are now miles and miles of habitat opened up,” Gomez says.

Now that suitable habitat exists—minus the water—the upcoming wet season could be the saving grace for steelhead. A series of small storms might give fish the opportunity to “hunker down” in safe 48

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Matt Stoecker

Creek restoration projects have improved steelhead habitat along the Central Coast in recent years, but the drought caused numbers to plummet.

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