My Quest for 1000 Hikes: Day 21: San Ysidro Trail

Day# 21: San Ysidro Trail
San Ysidro Trail
Montecito, CA
Thursday, July 16th 2015
Time: 3 hours, 37 minutes
Pace: 37:42/mile
Distance: 5.77 miles
Elevation Gain: 1726 feet
Dogs Allowed?: Yes

Directions:
From the 101 Freeway in Santa Barbara:
Exit Sheffield Dr and head north for 1.3 miles to E. Valley Rd
Turn Left onto E. Valley Rd and continue 1.0 miles to Park Ln.
Turn Right onto Park Ln and continue 0.4 miles to E. Mountain Dr
Make a slight left onto Mountain Dr and continue 0.2 miles to the trailhead on the right
Park on the street

The trail begins by heading north through the neighborhood. Make sure to stay on the trail and follow the signs. After leaving the neighborhood, continue north on the fire road until you come to the actual San Ysidro trail a ways up. The trail starts where the Edison Rd makes a sharp left, the San Ysidro continues north.

Heading up the Edison Rd

Marley enjoying the hike up the road

Once you leave the road the trail becomes much more enjoyable. It is a singletrack from this point forward and follows the creek through the canyon. Lots of shade and great forest scenery here.

Lots of shade

Overhanging rocks

Once you travel a ways up the canyon, you come to a seasonal waterfall where groups with young kids will probably call the end of the hike. But not for us. We continued up from here, where the trail starts climbing the canyon walls and eventually leads all the way to the top of the mountains here.

My friend Alex was leading the way when suddenly, SNAKE!!! I reacted fast and grabbed it before it could go over the side of the hill where we would not be able to get to it. This was a great highlight for the trip, because it was a California Mountain Kingsnake. I have only seen a few of these in my lifetime and what a treat it was. After a few pictures of him, we let him go on his way and we continued up the mountain.

We continued up the switchbacking trail a couple miles until we where about ready to head back down. This trail is one of my favorites now and I will be back to hike the rest of the way to the top at a later time. The way back down was uneventful, but beautiful views all the way back down to the canyon.