Castle Peak/Cave of the Munits then Sage Ranch (West San Fernando Valley)

#5 IN OUR EXPLORATION OF THE RIM OF THE VALLEY TRAIL SYSTEM

A DOUBLE HIKE MULTI-MEETUP--7 MILES TOTAL--DO ONE--or DO BOTH!!!!!

Both Hikes feature great views of the San Fernando Valley

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/1/5/b/event_21488539.jpeg

THE HIKE: to two cool spots in the west San Fernando Valley

Castle Peak and Cave of the Munits—4 miles (a 100 foot tall chimney cave--has a hole in the top where you can see the sky)

Sage Ranch—3 mile loop (mountain-top with lots of cool rock formations, relatively level, only 200 feet elevation gain)

WHEN?: SUNDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2011, 10 AM to 4 PM

WHERE?:

10 AM: Castle Peak Park—located at the west end of Vanowen Avenue (take the 101 freeway to Valley Circle offramp, go north to Vanowen, turn left/west and park in neighborhood)

LUNCH: we will chow down at the top of Castle Peak

THEN, DRIVE TO SAGE RANCH, TAKES ABOUT 20 MINUTES...

1:30 pm: Sage Ranch—at west end of Woolsey Canyon Road.(101 freeway to Valley Circle blvd., north several miles to Woolsey Canyon road, turn left, and take it all the way to the top) Parking lot is just north of entrance to Boeing facility.

DIRECTIONS AND MAP: http://lamountains.com/maps/sageRanch.pdf

TO SEE WHAT THE HIKES LOOK LIKE, PLUS MAPS:

CASTLE PEAK: https://picasaweb.google.com/Rare.Earth.fotos/CastlePeakAndCaveOfTheMunitsSimiHillsCA #

SAGE RANCH:

https://picasaweb.google.com/Rare.Earth.fotos/SageRanchSimiHills962009 #

BRING: LOTS OF WATER, COMFORTABLE SHOES, A HAT, LUNCH, SUNSCREEN, CAMERA

HIKE DIFFICULTY:

CASTLE PEAK: Medium--we will be ascending through a chimney cave which does not require ropes. Then we will drop back down to the trail and we will climb an easy trail through a hill covered with wildflowers to the ridge top, gaining another 200 feet. From there we have a wide single-track trail that goes up and down to Castle Peak.

SAGE RANCH: really easy, as it follows a wide fire-road with about 200 feet gain and loss maximum.

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Hosted by Rex Frankel. You can see a calendar of 30 Meetup groups that lead hikes in L.A., Ventura and Orange counties here: http://lameetuphikes.blogspot.com