Had to laugh when I saw the map he displayed when deciding not to attempt going to Cook Spring Camp for his water. Brought back memories. That is the USFS map I tried to follow when I was new to the Ventana and tried to hike to Cook Spring Camp. CookSpring-USFS-annotated.jpg The round-about trail it...

Today when ascending the old Twitchell road to Twitchell Flat I encountered a backpacker and his dog coming down the West Fork of Limekiln Creek. Turns out he had gone out Kirk Creek Trail to Vicente Flat, then taken Stone Ridge Trail in an attempt to reach Goat Camp. Somehow he lost the trail and e...

I backpacked to Hanging Valley this week from Arroyo Seco Rec Area. The northern end ArroyoSeco-Indians road to Hanging Valley is generally in excellent condition, the previous tread-eroding damage on the climb a short distance above Marble Peak Trail trailhead having been repaired. The exception is...

That closure notice on the Monterey County Public Works website has been there for months and months. So long I can't remember exactly when it first appeared, but possibly has been there ever since the Dolan Fire - after which barriers with "closed" signs appeared at the start of the dirt ...

Tassajara Road is OK to China Camp, though with deep ruts in places. Beyond Black Butte, where road starts to descend, is much rougher and rockier. I averaged 8mph from there to Horse Pasture Trail. Beyond that, becomes a "dirt' road again. I saw two scrapers parked on the way out - hopefully r...

Date Hiked: April 2, 2022 General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined) From northern trailhead to Tassajara Cutoff junction, trail in good shape with some slumping, overhanging branches and PO, plus one walk-around fallen branch. Thin running water at Horse Pasture Spring but NO w...

Date Hiked: June 23, 2022 General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident) Hiked from Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to far end of Mt Manuel ridgeline (on way to Post Summit). "Wilderness Freeway" along SP maintained section to wilderness boundary - trail then turns n...

Date Hiked: January 12, 2022 General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined) Saturday I hiked the Carrizo Trail as far as Agua Duce (heading to peak 4275). The Dolan Fire spared much of the lower trail but the upper trail burned hot. The trail was easily followed until the start of t...

Funny thing about the route to Alta Vista. I once went out and found to my surprise that the trail had been completely cleared, for quite a width. Was amazed by the size of some of the cut redwood trunks - I remember one was over 18 inches. So had to think that had not been a casual group who did it...

FYI - off-trail hiking webpage
https://bigsurtrailmap.net/offtrail-hiking.html