No Hike if Raining. Bring plenty of water.

 This is a Friday 8:30am meetup – no need to register.

West Camino Cielo – 8:30am.  This hike is on a graded forest service road that extends west along the Santa Ynez Mountains ridge above Goleta.  The trail starts downhill to the west on a rough gravel road, turning south and continuing over rocks and scree below a tall rock face and the gun club. Two wide switchbacks continue down the west-facing slope, a total descent of more than 600’. The road continues west, gently up and down, offering spectacular views to the north into the Santa Ynez Valley overlooking Lake Cachuma, and to the south into the valleys above Goleta and overlooking the Santa Barbara Channel. It also passes through burn areas from the Whittier fire.

Except for the beginning of the hike, the grade is generally easy.  We will hike out for about 3 miles and then back, making it 6 miles round trip; at the end we will be hiking 600’ uphill to the trail head. One can turn around sooner or hike further before turning around (the road continues all the way to Antenna Peak, a distance of more than 8 miles). This hike has limited shade.  Hike time: Roughly 3 hours. 

OPTIONAL: Lizard’s Mouth is a large, popular landscape consisting of sandstone outcroppings, boulders, caves and crevices overlooking the ocean.  Located just before the gun club, it is just a 10-minute hike off the road.  You can stop there after our hike if you are interested.

DIRECTIONS: From Foothill Road, take CA Hwy 154 to West Camino Cielo, 6.3 miles, exiting to the left. Turn immediately right onto West Camino Cielo/Kinevan Road. In 0.2 miles, take the fork to the left, continuing on W. Camino Cielo, up the narrow switchbacks and along the ridge for 3.6 miles to the Winchester Gun Club. Park off the road on either side, before or after the gun club (or closer to the Forest Service road, which is another tenth of a mile or so beyond the gun club).  Allow a little extra time to get there—you can set your GPS to Winchester Canyon Gun Club.

Hike Leader: Ed Kaufman

 Hope to see you there!