Tangerine Falls has always been a challenging hike off of the West Fork Cold Spring Trail. The 2017 fire and 2018 mud flow obliterated what little bits of trail that there used to be. Last month I led a Humanist Society hike in search of the Homestead/Root Cellar that lies beyond the top of Tangerine Falls.
Another hike leader Boo had planned to lead another hike in the area, but only one person, Juan, signed up for his hike. So, Boo and Juan joined our hike. They are such strong hikers that they planned to do another hike after our hike! In total we had eleven hikers. A very good group that was up for a serious challenge.
About 25 years ago someone built a trail to the Overlook above Tangerine Falls. That trail mostly survived the mud flow. But it is a very steep trail that is quite slippery in places. I definitely recommend using hiking poles to be able to descend it safely on the way back.
Here we paused in a shady spot on that trail. Phil is right behind me. Then Juan, Boo and Tatiana (who you probably recognize from my previous hikes). The trail was pretty sketchy in places. Here it was just a pile of rocks to climb over! Here you can see Martha, Tatiana, Martin (red shirt) and John (blue shirt).
From this trail we got a view of Tangerine Falls. But the “Falls” were really just a moist smudge on the rock face!
A few in the group had opted to go up the stream bed toward the bottom of Tangerine Falls, then climb almost straight up the left side of the Falls to get to the Overlook. One of them was Phil, who was already waiting for us on the Overlook when we got up there!
He is just a tiny speck in this second, wider photo!
From the Overlook rock, we descended behind Tangerine Falls, down to the stream above Tangerine Falls. This used to be a fairly pleasant hike before the mud flow. It is fairly flat and the trail stayed along the stream. But all has changed! We immediately encountered this fallen tree that we had to get past.
After descending on this short trail, there was pretty much no trail at all after that, except in a few places. Mostly, the hike involved hopping rock to rock in the stream bed. Here was the stream bed!
Fortunately, we did this before the major rains began. So, much of the stream bed was more like this. Quite dry. Ed is the guy in the red shirt.
In places, it was difficult to know which side of the stream bed was best for travel. Several in our group had successfully completed this hike before, so we made a good team helping each other find the way.
Notably, in August of last year (2024), I scouted it with someone who had recently made it all the way. I scouted it with him and my hiking and unicycling partner Danielle. Unfortunately, on the way back on that scouting trip I fell on rocks in the stream bed and had a concussion. Very scary. I also broke my left hand. Most bones heal in 6-8 weeks. But it turns out that bone in the middle of your hand can take many months or even a year to heal. And sometimes never. In my case, my hand was in a cast for 4 months.
I was determined to go back and lead the hike when my hand was healed. But I had to wait a year, until the area was dry enough to be passable. But also cool enough after the heat in September. I was grateful that Danielle had helped me get home safely when I was injured. And grateful that she was willing to help me lead this hike.
My wife Merlie did not want to do this hike, but she was determined to be there to make sure I made it alive! I am honored that she persevered on this challenging hike! Much credit to Danielle for helping her.
It was the season for baby “blue belly” fence lizards to be running around. They are very fast and skittish and difficult to photograph. I was very pleased to get this photo of one when it briefly paused on a rock. It was only about two inches long, nose to tail.
Phil kept scouting far ahead of the group. As we got near our destination he headed up a side creek to the right. Half our group bushwhacked from there to the destination, which was a challenge. But then we found there was an actual trail from the main stream to the destination. Danielle went back and led Merlie and some others via that easier route. Danielle is wearing a white top and Merlie has a pink and white top. And she is sticking her tongue out at me for bringing her to such a crazy place! Martha just smiled.
This oak tree was badly burned in the 2017 fire, but it is coming back. It is also a landmark for finding our destination.
These flowers bloomed nearby.
And then we were at our destination! The legendary “Homestead” or “Root Cellar”. Tatiana was first to pose in it.
Then Boo got a photo of all of us.
Martin had helped us find the way, but at this point he just wanted to play dead!
After taking time for lunch, then we had to make our way back down. Ideally with no concussions or broken hands!
Tatiana had surgery that affected her balance. I was in awe of her determination to complete this challenging hike!
Here were some interesting flowers.
Ferns.
After lots of rock hopping in the stream bed, we made it back to the Overlook rock. Boo climbed on top in a rather precarious spot!
This is where things got really interesting. Juan had brought a drone with him. His drone was not like my little drone. He had a real DJI drone that you pilot. Probably powerful enough to chop the end of your finger off if you are not careful! Here is a short video from Juan’s drone. Yes, that crazy guy climbing on that scary rock is Boo! Boo is fearless!
Half the group had already headed down, but this still shot from the drone captured those of us remaining.
And here is a wider shot. I merged two of Juan’s drone photos to create this. Notice Boo precariously perched at far right!
This was our view from the Overlook.
And this was my photo of Juan’s drone.
The descent went smoothly, thanks to hiking poles that many of us carried. Here the group made the final stream crossing from the West Fork Cold Spring Trail to the main Cold Spring Trail.
And here Danielle waited in her truck at the trailhead!
Most of us were happy to have completed this challenging hike and were ready to go home. But Boo and Juan headed out on one more hike after all of that! They hiked to the Hot Springs the long way around from the Cold Spring Trail. Here are Boo’s photos.
https://swt.org/hikehssb/tangerinehomestead-2025-1011/boo/
And Boo even made this nice video of the full adventure!
If you are interested, here are my photos of this hike from July 2017 where we easily made it to the Homestead/Root Cellar. A very different place before the fire and mud flow!
https://swt.org/hikesierra/tangerinehomestead-2017-07/
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/
Comments
0 Comments deleted by Administrator