For the past six months or so, I've been doing some work for a client outside of Santa Barbara, so when I had a chance to visit the site in early May, I decided to cook up a little work-cation. I opt to take the Amtrak because it is cheap, allows you to take a bicycle onboard for free, and hugs the coastline for the stretches north of Ventura. I leave Santa Fe Station in downtown San Diego at 5am on Monday May 8. After a morning of train delays, I finally make it to the Goleta station at about 2pm. I check into the hotel and hightail it over to the Jesusita Trail along Mission Creek. The trail is a little too steep, washed out, and bouldery for mountain biking, but I am able to ride about 2/3 of it and walk the rest. I am struck by how steeply the Santa Ynez mountains rise from the coastal plain; I also notice how tall the shrubs are compared to San Diego. I head back to town and eat nine tacos at Lily's taqueria, an excellent spot with Tijuana-style street tacos and a salsa bar.
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| Lily's Tacos in Goleta, CA |
The next couple days are occupied by work-related tasks, but on the third day, we wrap up at about 1pm so I decide to take my bike up to a road that I'd been eyeing the last couple days. Camino Cielo ("sky road") is an old paved route that hugs the crest of the east-west trending Santa Ynez mountains, with incredible views of the ocean and coastal towns to the south (Goleta, Santa Barbara, Montecito, Carpinteria) and the Santa Ynez river and San Rafael mountains to the north. Fun fact: the Santa Ynez are one of the only east-west mountain ranges of the United States, having rotated 90 degrees during their journey north along the coast from San Diego.
I start at the intersection of East Camino Cielo Road and Marcos Pass Road, and then ride 18 miles east to Romero Saddle. I can barely stop pedaling: every bend in the road reveals another expansive view of these prickly green coastal mountains, a short cruise down, a steep climb up. There is never one "peak" view that captures my attention; rather, hours of constant amazement. Having already climbed 3000 ft, I am pretty saddle sore at the halfway mark, but the setting sun casts a golden light on the ridgeline and makes the return trip a magical experience. In all, I climbed 5000 vertical feet and rode 36 miles. I saw more bicycles than cars, as it should be!
Upon my return, the countdown to our departure from southern California began - we leave in about two weeks! I've been spending some time reflecting on the past year in San Diego, grateful that I've been able to explore so much of the county. I didn't expect to find so many cool trails and dirt roads among the coastal mountains! I made a little slideshow to commemorate this year of adventuring:
Before releasing you to check out the photos, I'll conclude with sharing our summer plans. Raf and I wanted to take full advantage of the transition from San Diego to San Gregorio / Vida Verde and have planned a summer of travel, relaxation, and adventure. The general idea is that we're putting our stuff in storage near Vida Verde for the summer and stringing together a number of different trips:
- ~June 15 to ~July 15: Mickey goes on a personal retreat at "The Dreaming Tower" in Elk, CA; Raf leads a trip through Bold Earth (a teen adventure travel company)
- ~July 15 to July 28: Mickey stays in Bend, Oregon with friends Dave and Amy; Raf attends staff training at Vida Verde
- July 28: Mickey and Raf travel to Minnesota
- August 11: Mickey and Raf travel to Windsor, Ontario and spend a week with Raf's family on a lake
- August 20: Mickey returns to Bend, Oregon; Raf starts work at Vida Verde
- August 27 - September 12: Mickey spends three weeks backpacking on the Olympic Peninsula with friends and hanging out with Mom and Dad at North Cascades National Park
- ~September 12: Mickey moves into Vida Verde
Mission Creek / Jesusita Trail - Santa Barbara:
East Camino Cielo Road - Santa Barbara:
El Cajon Mountain:
Miscellaneous San Diego:
