3rd Annual Bay Area BPL Hike

[Ken Helwig]

PLEASE READ! The venue has changed. We will be having this on the same weekend, Feb. 26-27th but we will be holding this at Henry Coe St. Park.

I got an email from Ken Thompson about starting to plan out the 3rd Annual Bay Area BPL Hike. With us outgrowing the beautiful Point Reyes area, we felt that a change in venue is in order. Last year we barely made it with folks coming on this hike. We could only secure one group site and were not allowed two. Even if another person were part of the group secured the other spot, the rangers would not go for it. Secondly, no fires. Dunno about you all, but in the winter, it sure is nice to have a fire to stay warm to. I was thinking of this:
Pine Valley in Ventana might just be a place that we can do it. The hike is down into Pine Valley from China Camp and it is around 6.5 miles each way. It is a beautiful hike with views of Monterey Bay and Ventana Wilderness. Pine Valley is along a river (Carmel River?) the valley can hold as many hikers as we want. The area did not suffer in the fires a few years ago and still looks awesome! Pine trees and interesting rock formations for all to play with. There is plenty of space to accomodate 40-60 tents throughout the valley. Yes that is alot, but this valley is pretty darn big and there is alot of room. No permits are nescessary, only a fire permit that can be faxed in. My bet is that there are NO rangers around either…not that this is a problem. I know that it is July and we are still figuring out some of our trips before the Sierra's close down. Ken and I are trying to stay ahead of the curve here. January comes rather quick!!!! Please discuss

I JUST WANT TO PLACE A DISCLAIMER HERE. FOR THOSE THAT HAVE NOT DRIVEN THE DIRT ROAD TO THE PINE VALLEY TRAILHEAD, IT IS A RATHER ROUGH AND TUMBLE ROAD. LOW CLEARANCE CARS MAKE IT ALL THE TIME, BUT BE FORWARNED THAT IF THERE HAS BEEN RAIN A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE TRIP, IT COULD BE RATHER MUDDY. FOR THOSE THAT HAVE VEHICLES THAT ARE LOW CLEARANCE, MAYBE THERE CAN BE SOME CARPOOLING WITH THE FOLKS THAT HAVE 4X4 OR ALL WHEEL DRIVE. MAYBE MEET IN CARMEL VALLEY AT A SPOT AND PROCEED FROM THERE. THIS IS NOT TO SCARE ANYONE BUT JUST A SMALL DOSE OF REALITY. DAVID LUTZ BROUGHT UP THE ISSUE WITH HUMAN WASTE. IF YOU FEEL YOU CAN LIVE WITH BRINGING A WAG BAG THEN PLEASE DO SO. BOYSCOUT TROOPS COME THROUGH HERE AND SPEND THE NIGHT OFTEN BUT I AM ALL FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING. AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE WEEKEND, I WILL START MAPPING OUT THE LOGISTICS OF THE SWAP MEET, AND CARPOOL FROM CARMEL VALLEY….carry on

[Marc Eldridge]

Missed last year. Would like to go this year.

[Ken Helwig]

Last year the gear swap was a hit, let's do that again. If anyone has any other suggestions to throw in, please do.

Just a little thing on the drive up to China Camp if this is where we do decide to go. The road is a dirt road, that is kind of tough to drive. I recommend high clearance vehicles on this road. It is a 4 mile or so stretch on dirt to the trailhead. We are at the mercy of the weather obviously due to muddy roads. It always seems that January has a nice window of clear weather and one can hope that this will happen again.

[Backpack Jack]

Hey Ken is this in the Los Padres National Forest?

[Ken Helwig]

Near Carmel. Dunno if it is Los Padres Natl. Forest or not. I do that it is in the Ventana Wilderness. The road that takes you up to the trailhead can be had from Hwy 101 too.

[Sylvester Cullen]

I was going to suggest Manzanita Group Camps in Henry Coe, but this sounds fine as well.

If this comes about on a weekend that I can go, I may make a longer trip of it and start out at Pfieffer SP, camp at Barlow Flat or Sykes, and then over the hill to Pine Valley. Out the same way.

I do have a small concern though… About 7-8 years ago I got about a foot of snow at Redwood Camp in December.

Any way I can help out, name it.
(crossing fingers this trip does not happen Jan 22/23)

Many, many thanks for everyone coordinating this.

[Ken Helwig]

Sylvester, this choice is not written in stone as a destination yet. The reason I am suggesting this locale versus, say Henry Coe, or Point Reyes is the amount of folks that wanted to attend last year. I hate saying no to folks beacause of restrictions with certain parks. If it was done in the early summer I know of places in the Sierra's that we could do this. However we have done this in January for the past two years and have done well with it. Oh and it is always on a weekend. Ken T. and myself have plenty of time to figure this out.

[Sylvester Cullen]

Ken, Thanks.
I understand the large size of the group, and the tough task it is finding an acceptable area.
Pine Valley looks fine to me – been through there a couple of times, and I agree that it would support a pretty large group.
Let me know if I can help in any way….

(changing profile…. only mom calls me sylvester)

:)

[Ken Helwig]

If you don't mind me asking, are you from the Bay Area or from another area in CA, we have some that come from the Central Coast, some from the highest regions of Northern CA….just curious.

[Ben Egan]

I'm in! Will be watching this thread. As long as it's between August 13th and September 20th.

Edit:

Wait, so I just read the thread, when is this trip tentatively? Also, I've done that hike before, and a lot in the Ventana Wilderness out of Pico Blanco Scout Reservation for well, scouts. Great, beautiful area. Silly youth, sometimes I get a little ahead of myself.

[kevin smith]

well all i can say is after making it to last years pt reyes bash oh i mean hike lol i guess i better make sure i go on this one too you never know what might happen when those bay area bpl guys go hiking last years trip was a blast i am definatly in however i will not have my son with me this time im sure my other hiking buds jack and ryan will be down for it too
will be watching this thread as it develops i have no doubt it will be a great time!!
kevin

[Stephan Doyle]

I'd love to be there, but it's far too early to see if my schedule will allow it at this time.

[Jeremy Pendrey]

Ken and Ken: It's great you guys are organizing this again. One suggestion is to make the trip 2 nights, Friday and Saturday, with Saturday being the official big night, but also having a reservation for a large site for Friday for those that want to spend more time. I know last year some folks spent Friday night at Glen Camp before the main event Saturday at Wildcat, so something like that would be a good feature this year too.

Also, I'm fine with Ventana, but you can definitely have snow there in January, so that is something to keep in mind. I think of Ventana as more of a shoulder season hike, rather than a midwinter hike. I know January has worked in Pt. Reyes, but Feb and March would work too, and gives us more options. Anyway, just thinking out loud. We could probably even get a large group site somewhere in the Santa Cruz mountains near your place, Ken H.

[Sylvester Cullen]

Ken, I'm in the armpit of the Bay, in Vallejo. Work in South City.

[Ken Helwig]

Jeremy, two nights is a fantastic idea. That gives folks a much better option too! Ken and I have been discussing not going to Point Reyes due to the amount of people the park allows for us. This is still in the planning stages and right now I am just throwing ideas out there. I as well as Ken, are open to suggestions. Ventana seems to work, due to the area not being regulated like Point Reyes, Coe, Big Basin, etc. The hike from China Camp to Pine Valley is a tad hard due to the downed trees, overgrown plants etc. I just don't want the headache of telling someone no, or I missed them on the list, or putting folks on waiting lists. I am trying to make this as smooth as possible. I do love the 2 night suggestion-good one!!!

Also, what makes this more attractive is that there are a few campgrounds near the TH too. So those coming up on a Friday can car camp the first night if they were inclined to.

[Ken Thompson]

I'm all in for 2 nights. Since I have quite the drive I did 2 nights at Reyes last time, worked well for me. Being able to have a fire would be nice. No lugging in charcoal. Campground near the trailhead sounds good too. Decisions, decisions…

[Anonymous]

Count me in too!

[kevin smith]

im sure i have one of the longest drives so i will probably leave thursday night and stay somewhere close
that night last time the trip up was kind of a disaster
so i will make sure that everything goes smoothly (long story)
i am in for two nights for sure i can assure everyone that no matter where we end up going it couldn t possibly be no fun for anyone attending it will be an absolute blast and for those who didn t make it last time but were thinking about it the hike is worth going on without a doubt
as long as your not alergic to silnylon or cuban fiber LOL
i have a feeling there will be a lot of both there ha ha

kevin

[Hiking Malto]

I will very likely have a West Coast trip on one of the adjoining weeks and would love to meet more of the west coast group.

Ken,
For me the Sierra is opening for the summer Wednesday. Tenatively hiking out of Florence Lake up to Darwin Bench and my favorite destination, Evolution Lake for my youngest son's first Backpacking trip.

[Ken Helwig]

Greg, enjoy the trip. I was there last summer at exactly this week. There is an amazing campsite on Darwin Bench that overlooks part of Evolution Valley. It is along Darwin Crk. I think possibly that it is the only camp along the use trail. There is this long tall rock right next to the camp. I vowed that the next time I am there, I am camping there. Seemed like a magical spot to me!!!!!! Are you camping on Darwin Bench?????

[Justin Carter]

I'm totally in!

[Mark Verber]

I haven't spent a lot of time in Henry Coe so I will leave it to others to suggest destinations there. For Sykes, I would recommend Barlow rather than Sykes because it's a site that has a decent size continuous space to pitch shelters. Sykes is a bit short of spaces where I would want more than say 8 people to gather.

I will try to review notes on places out of china camp that could take a group our size… though I am not thrilled with the drive there if it's rained recently.

–Mark

[Ken Thompson]

I really appreciate those of you who live down there doing the legwork. It's gonna be great! I want to put together a spring trip up here too. Of course there is still this year to play with as well…

[Ken Helwig]

Well one thing we can do is move the event to late Feb. Less chance of rain, and hopefull better weather. I would be against Sykes and the surronding area. Two things, one- parking issues along the highway and the amount of available space to camp in that region. Pine Valley is pretty spacious with alot of space available. I would assume that this year the headcount will be 50 particpants. I agree with Mark about the road up to China Camp is not a picknic. In fact it is a rather tough drive. But I have seen many cars take it on with no problem. Mark, if you have any ideas of a place please let me know.

[Hiking Malto]

Ken,
We are planning a night on Darwin Bench. Will check out your suggestion and report back.

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