by Hillary » Thu Dec 31, 2015 9:09 am
I agree with Jack on reversing direction. It just seems like it will be more enjoyable. And I agree with Mike - avoid Sykes! It just ain't worth it. Ew.
I did a 7 day east to west from Arroyo Seco to HWY1 @ Vicente about a year ago. It was amazing and all the warnings about ticks, poison oak, and mucky mud are well advised. We got one day of rain and "winter storm" in Ventana is not like the rain we get it town - it is just super exaggerated. Its colder, windier, wetter. Just make sure you have rain gear. Aside from the rain, one thing that I wasn't prepared for was the constant cold dampness. All the north-east facing hills are in constant shade with no sun to warm it up. I never got in a creek or dunked my boot, but the air is just cold and wet right now and if something needs to dry out it simply won't unless you hang it over a fire. Last I checked we are still in fire restrictions so that won't work. Make sure you have a backup base layer and dry socks because simply hanging them on my pack to dry didn't work, they just stayed damp. Also, in some areas, if it rained a week ago it will still be a slippery mess and the clay soil will stick to your boots and you'll just keep getting taller and taller. Fortunately, my husband had this bizarre flat thing in our kitchen set that we could use to scrape the bottom of our boots. None of this stopped our progress, but it was a hassle.
Lastly, I'd recommend a GPS. Some of the overgrown areas are hard to navigate because the trail will simply vanish. With Jack's GPS map loaded you can at least follow the lines and get close enough to continue moving forward. Those maps on my Garmin have saved me more than once. Before the Garmin I spent way too much time wandering around looking for tread or any hint of a trail or pushing through a section in the most inefficient way possible. That is pretty painful. VWA does a great job keeping trails clear, but they do disappear quick as you get further away from trailheads.
It sounds like a great adventure. The hills should be pretty and green with the rain we've been getting. They were just getting green tint when I was out a few days ago.
I agree with Jack on reversing direction. It just seems like it will be more enjoyable. And I agree with Mike - avoid Sykes! It just ain't worth it. Ew.
I did a 7 day east to west from Arroyo Seco to HWY1 @ Vicente about a year ago. It was amazing and all the warnings about ticks, poison oak, and mucky mud are well advised. We got one day of rain and "winter storm" in Ventana is not like the rain we get it town - it is just super exaggerated. Its colder, windier, wetter. Just make sure you have rain gear. Aside from the rain, one thing that I wasn't prepared for was the constant cold dampness. All the north-east facing hills are in constant shade with no sun to warm it up. I never got in a creek or dunked my boot, but the air is just cold and wet right now and if something needs to dry out it simply won't unless you hang it over a fire. Last I checked we are still in fire restrictions so that won't work. Make sure you have a backup base layer and dry socks because simply hanging them on my pack to dry didn't work, they just stayed damp. Also, in some areas, if it rained a week ago it will still be a slippery mess and the clay soil will stick to your boots and you'll just keep getting taller and taller. Fortunately, my husband had this bizarre flat thing in our kitchen set that we could use to scrape the bottom of our boots. None of this stopped our progress, but it was a hassle.
Lastly, I'd recommend a GPS. Some of the overgrown areas are hard to navigate because the trail will simply vanish. With Jack's GPS map loaded you can at least follow the lines and get close enough to continue moving forward. Those maps on my Garmin have saved me more than once. Before the Garmin I spent way too much time wandering around looking for tread or any hint of a trail or pushing through a section in the most inefficient way possible. That is pretty painful. VWA does a great job keeping trails clear, but they do disappear quick as you get further away from trailheads.
It sounds like a great adventure. The hills should be pretty and green with the rain we've been getting. They were just getting green tint when I was out a few days ago.