Mission Ridge is the most challenging hike I lead and I was happy to be leading it again for the Humanist Society of Santa Barbara. We had a dozen happy, energetic hikers. Some were more energetic than I was, so I was grateful everyone mostly stayed together! I like to lead this around New Year’s each year. We are at the mercy of the weather, but this year the weather was perfect!
Here are all of my photos! Here are all of my videos!
The biggest challenge on this hike? Finding parking at the trailhead! When I started hiking here over 40 years ago there were plenty of spaces on both sides of Tunnel Road. But property owners have placed obstructions in the parking along the road, especially on the down hill side. Making it difficult to find a space. I always emphasize the importance of carpooling so that we are not part of the problem.
Here we were heading up Tunnel Trail. It is possible to get to Mission Ridge from Rattlesnake Trail and the Rattlesnake Connector. But those trails don’t offer much in the way of views. If I am climbing high up, I want views! The Tunnel Trail route has spectacular views non-stop. The only downside of the Tunnel Trail route? Did I mention the parking hassles?
We soon encountered this dead tarantula in the middle of the trail. Quite a surprise. They are usually most visible in September and October.
Here we paused for a group photo near the first power towers on the Tunnel Trail. Photo by my unicycling and hiking companion Danielle Bushar. She is also famed now as a bee keeper!
Nearby we saw these Indian Paintbrush flowers. Spring has sprung early this year!
Here we paused for a group photo before heading up the actual Mission Ridge. Danielle is the one in the middle in green with a pinkish hat.
From this spot we could also see “Mission Falls”. A dry waterfall that only flows when it is actually raining. It flows over that triangular rock formation.
Ascending Mission Ridge we encountered several of these interesting rock formations that are somewhat common in this area. A bit spheroidal with concentric rings. This one is more eroded than most, revealing an inner structure.
This first section of Mission Ridge is very steep! I have led this loop hike in both directions and I have found going uphill on this side is a bit safer. Martin Pattison led the way behind me. On the other side of the canyon you can see Arlington Peak. That is a part of the same rock formation that forms Mission Ridge. In the canyon below is the Seven Falls area of Mission Creek.
Danielle is a stronger hiker than I am and she scouted ahead of me. Here she turned back to look at the rest of us. Showing how steep is this primitive trail! Check out the ferns along the side. We don’t have a lot of ferns in this area, but this trail is quite overgrown and sheltered. Impressive how it survives among the rocks.
We saw fewer paragliders than usual, but this one sailed far below us.
Along with this Red Tailed Hawk.
We finally reached the top of that Mission Ridge climb. I then launched my drone for a nice view of us with “Rocky Pine Ridge” (also known as The Rock Garden) behind us! Just below me is UCSB math professor Xianzhe Dai. Next to him is fellow UCSB math professor Guofang Wei. They also happen to be married! And they brought three of their graduate students along, who are sitting near them!
We then made our way to our nearby lunch spot. Here I launched my drone in the opposite direction, with the Channel and coastline behind us.
After lunch we made our way all the way across Mission Ridge. Here we posed as my little drone captured us!
We spotted these Blue Dick flowers.
And John Anderson encountered a rattlesnake! Here he got a photo before it disappeared.
There is a steep and somewhat slippery descent at the end of Mission Ridge to get down to the Edison service road. Instead of heading straight down the Edison road, I showed the group the labyrinth that is hidden past the top of the Edison road. I launched my little drone one last time to take in this spectacular scene!
We then coasted back downhill on the Edison service road. What a wonderful group on a delightful hike on a perfect day! When we got to the bridge in the lower section of Mission Creek we got a nice view of this pool with lots of water flowing!
On the final walk down Tunnel Road we spotted this turkey mooning us!
You can see the schedule of all of our local Humanist Society hikes and other events here on Meetup. Everyone is welcome!
https://www.meetup.com/humanist-society-of-santa-barbara/
– Robert Bernstein
Wonderful set of pictures! Thank you for sharing the hike which I can no longer do, although, admittedly, I never liked hiking in the mountains here as compared with the hiking in the east and southeast coast or even the Bay Area and, of course, Yosemite. Too hot and dry and unshaded here. But I really appreciated your sharing! Especially, but not only, the glimpse of the rattlesnake! Must have been a lovely day! …What kind of a drone is that? I have been looking for a small drone that can take photos on day hikes in SB City.
@Bird Thank you for the very kind words. Glad I can offer a virtual hiking experience for you! It is a matter of taste where one likes to hike. I grew up back East and I am endlessly delighted to hike here. Back East you can hike for hours and never get a panoramic vista like the one on Mission Ridge.
As for my drone, it is made by HoverAir. My original one was their introductory model X1. Unfortunately, the batteries and charging system were poorly designed and the batteries kept bursting. I politely suggested to them that they needed to fix the problem or they would be hit with some nasty lawsuits when one of their batteries burns down someone’s house.
They ended up making me a rather generous offer to trade up to the X1ProMax. The ProMax is a bit larger, but it supposedly has a better battery and charging system. It also has collision avoidance sensors lacking on the X1. And it has much better resolution. This hike was the first chance to really test out the ProMax. People are fascinated with how it does its thing without me apparently doing anything to pilot it. I explain that it uses an ESP link directly to my brain.
https://us.hoverair.com/