Darby and I set out for another hike in Las Trampas Regional Wilderness. This time, I was thinking about the rugged area on the west side of Rocky Ridge where it drops down to the head of Cull Canyon. I had been down the Sycamore Trail and the Devil's Hole Trail years ago, and remembered it as a very scenic area of steep wooded ravines, chaparral and sandstone cliffs. The only problem is that to get there (legally anyway), you need to climb about 1000 ft. over Rocky Ridge, descend a similar amount on the other side, and then climb back out again.
We started off from the parking lot at the end of Bollinger Canyon Road, and headed up the Elderberry trail. It climbs steeply for a half mile or so, then goes up and down in and out of ravines before climbing to the top of Rocky Ridge. It was a beautiful day, and the hills were nice and green. It has not been a great spring for wildflowers, but there were some buttercups and nice big bunches of lupines along the way.
The climb was taking its toll, plus for some reason, I began to have an annoying stomach ache. I was pretty well beat by the time we reached the top. I was a bit disappointed to see that the trail continued to climb as we turned northwest along the ridge.
Where it began to level off, we stopped for a rest on a hilltop with a great view all around. I looked around a bit at the sandstone outcrops with poppies around them. The rocks are packed with fossil seashells, showing that this 2000 ft. ridge was once a seashore, and not so long ago in geologic time -- only a million years or so.
After a short rest, I felt better, but I knew that I wasn't up to the hike down the far side of the ridge. So we continued along the ridge, enjoying the great views all along the way, and went down the paved road back to the parking lot. As it often works out, even though I didn't do everything I had planned, it was a very nice hike anyway, and I didn't miss the extra 1000 ft. of climbing.
5.1 mi. -- 1550 ft. up and down
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