Castle Peak/Cave of the Munits/Ahmanson Ranch (West SF Valley) & opt. dinner

CAVE CLIMBING TO A ROCKY PEAK, THEN EXPLORE THE ROLLING WILDFLOWER COVERED HILLS OF UPPER LAS VIRGENES CANYON

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

With great views of the San Fernando Valley...

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

(above: CASTLE PEAK)

2 PM: Castle Peak and Cave of the Munits—3 miles (a 100 foot tall chimney cave--has a hole in the top where you can see the sky).

HIKE DIFFICULTY: CASTLE PEAK: Medium--we will be ascending through a chimney cave which does not require ropes or climbing equipment. This requires using your hands, however. When we climb out the top of the cave, we will continue up a hillside to a notch in the ridge. (total gain of 700 feet). Just over this notch is the civilized trail that will take us east to Castle Peak. From Castle Peak, we will go back on the same ridge trail (not going down thru the cave) and it will lead us back down to the trail crossroads. At the crossroads, there is a trail heading east to the cars or south to Ahmanson Ranch.

THEN at 4 PM: 4 to 6 mile loop in Ahmanson Ranch/Upper Las Virgenes Canyon

If you want to bail and go back to your car here, that's OK. But we will head south from here toward the Victory Blvd trailhead parking lot and the rest of the Ahmanson Ranch trails. The Ahmanson Ranch trails are all fireroads or civilized single-track trails. Elevation gain is gentle there.

(Ahmanson Ranch was once slated to become 3000 homes until the State of CA bought it in 2003 for $150 million.)

WE'LL BE BACK AT SUNSET, AND WE CAN TAKE DINNER SUGGESTIONS...

DIRECTIONS: 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)

TO SEE WHAT THE HIKES LOOK LIKE, PLUS MAPS:

https://www.meetup.com/hiking-196/photos/all_photos/?photoAlbumId=1274467

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

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/b/f/1/3/event_21588915.jpeg

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/b/f/3/1/event_21588945.jpeg

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/b/f/2/a/event_21588938.jpeg

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/b/f/3/f/event_21588959.jpeg

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/b/f/4/1/event_21588961.jpeg

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/3/8/a/f/event_25394511.jpeg

FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS TRAIL MAP: http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/3/8/a/f/highres_25394511.jpeg

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

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THE USUAL LEGAL DISCLAIMER, WARNING OF RISK ETC:

YOU AGREE BY GOING ON THIS HIKE THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY AND THAT THE MEETUP FOLKS HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR SAFETY. PLEASE READ THE MEETUP TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP: https://www.meetup.com/terms/ ESPECIALLY PARAGRAPH 11.

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For my how-to guide to photo posting https://www.meetup.com/hiking-196/messages/boards/thread/9914574 http://img1.meetupstatic.com/img/clear.gif

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And for more cool hikes this week, see my Calendar of Meetup hikes in L.A.: http://lameetuphikes.... (http://lameetuphikes.blogspot.com/)