Quick and Dirty
Cost: $20
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty (1-10): 1
What You Need
1/8 or 1/4 inch Closed Cell Foam (CCF) EVA Grade Foam Pad
Utility Knife / Exacto-Knife
Ruler / Measuring Tape
Usually when we head out to back country in the winter, we take insulated inflatable pads. Often times, the ground is so cold that the air passes through the pad. Over time we learned that inflatable pads typically don’t provide a strong barrier against the cold ground in the winter.
Home renovations, busy work schedules, and outdoor adventures have been keeping us from our keyboards. A quick photo from our adventure this past labor day weekend.
Six Moon Designs Haven Cuben at Colombine Lakes, Sequioa National Park.
The Quick and Dirty
Location: Sespe Wilderness located within Los Padres National Forest, just north of Ojai, CA.
Distance: 10 miles out and back from Piedra Blanca trailhead to Pine Mountain Lodge. We stayed overnight at Pine Mountain Lodge campsite before heading back the next day.
Difficulty: Moderate, the peak is 6,000 feet with a 3,500 feet elevation gain over 3 miles.
Dogs Allowed? Yes, dogs are allowed on leash within Los Padres National Forest
Good to know: a National Forest Adventure Pass is required for parking at the trailhead. No backcountry permit is needed for overnight camping, however you do need a fire permit if you want a campfire or use your stove for cooking.
Spring is our preferred time to visit Los Padre National Forest because of several reasons:
Dakota with her pack and sleeping bag, ready to go.
After spending a day hiking around Zion National Park, we spent another night in Hurricane and left early Sunday morning and headed towards The Wave, in Arizona.The drive from Hurricane to The Wave is about 2 hours. One thing we forgot to take into account was the time difference between Utah and Arizona, since this was before day lights savings time, we actually gained an hour going from Utah to Arizona and made it to the trail head around 7:30 AM. Once you turn off from Hwy 89 onto Red Rock Canyon Road, the road becomes unpaved and this last 10 mile stretch will take about 30 minutes depending on the road condition and weather. Based on our permit, a high clearance, 4WD vehicle came highly recommended but since there was no rain in the recent forecast, we decided to test out the road with our 2WD. The trail was surprisingly well maintained and luckily, we arrived at the trail head with no problems.
My recommendation for anyone who wants to drive a 2WD to The Wave is to check the weather forecast and make sure there is no rain predicted in the forecast. The soil is fine and clayey on the road, with rain, it would be VERY easy to get stuck.
The start of the trail, note the bright pink permit I had to hang off my backpack. Only 20 people are allowed on this trail per day.
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Back in July, I was selected as one of the lucky lottery recipients with a day hike pass to the Wave, in Arizona. For more details of how I applied for the lottery, see old post HERE.
On the last weekend of October, the trip to The Wave finally came. Since our day hike for The Wave was on Sunday, we decided to string on a couple stops to make the weekend trip more memorable. First stop was an old favorite, Zion National Park to hike the famous Angel’s Landing.
Hike Now, Work Later 