Mugu Peak, La Jolla Valley Grasslands and the Ray Miller trail

Saturday June 3, 2017 - OCEAN BREEZES / Views - Mugu Peak via the Chumash Trail; La Jolla Valley Grasslands and the Ray Miller trail

*** NOTE: For safety reasons, Rain or Extreme Heat will cancel hikes ***

Distance: ~ 10 mile loop with short shuttle

Gain: About 1500', mainly in the first mile and again 1 hour before end of hike

Rated: Moderate +++ (significant gain at start and overall hike length); not a beginners hike.

Time: ~ 5 hours hike time

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Description:

Let's cool off by the ocean! This 10 mile hike will take us to Mugu Peak (moist air, sea breezes and temperatures should be ~20 degrees cooler than back in Santa Clarita!). On of my favorite hikes and depending on the time of day, we may be immersed in sea fog (yum!), sunshine, or a mixture of both as it burns off.

LATEST Weather Forecast:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=pws:KCAOXNAR8

We start on the Chumash trail and head straight up, up, up, to Mugu peak because the usual route, La Jolla Canyon, was badly damaged by floods and is now closed.

After enjoying the highest point in the hike and completing most of the gain, we then head down a bit and turn East into the La Jolla Valley. We traverse a large grassland area, with views of the Boney Mountains (check out that spine below), the highest peaks in the Santa Monica Range.

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Finally, we arrive at a burned out "Hike-In" campground that still has a few shade trees. We will stop near here to snack and rest up a little. Then it is some more gain as we head back West and up on the Overlook fire road to meet the Ray Miller trail. This trail drops us back at the La Jolla Canyon parking area where we will have staged a few cars for a shuttle earlier. Then it is a short distance back North on PCH to where we left most of our cars in the Chumash Trail parking lot.

Meet in Santa Clarita to Carpool:

Meet us at the WALMART parking lot (NOTE: this is not Towsley Canyon!!!!). Address is 27931 Kelly Johnson Pkwy, Santa Clarita, CA 91355.

The store is on the corner of the intersection of Copper Hill and Newhall Ranch Road. Meet there at 6:45AM in the Southwest corner of the parking lot. After we organize the carpools, we leave at 7:00AM SHARP and caravan to the Chumash Trail parking lot off Hwy 1 (PCH). Directions to the trailhead are below, if you prefer to go directly.

Please be respectful of your driver's support by contributing something at the end of your carpool to help defray the cost of gas - THX.

Meet your leader at the Trailhead:

Meet at the Chumash Trail parking lot trail head between 8:15 AM and 8:30AM. (See Bug Alert below). After setting up some shuttle cars at the end of the hike loop, we will depart up the trail at 8:45 AM SHARP.

Directions from Santa Clarita to the Chumash Trail parking lot:

Take Newhall Ranch road for 2 miles West from the Walmart meeting place over the 5 Freeway, where it becomes CA-126, heading West toward Ventura.

Follow CA-126 W, 34.9 miles until Exit 5 from CA-126 W to merge on to CA-118 East, toward Saticoy. Continue until the road T's . Turn right on to Santa Clara Ave, which becomes Rice Ave and eventually merges into Route 1 (PCH) turning South.

Stay on PCH passing Point Mugu Naval base on the right, until you are by the ocean and see a SEABEES firing range in the sand dunes on the right - WATCH IT! - the parking lot is on the left. Turn left into the "Chumash Trail" parking lot if there is room or do a U and park just beyond it, on the left - WATCH FOR CARS AND MOTORCYCLES AS YOU TURN ACROSS PCH INTO THE LOT.

Bring: Hiking boots with good tread, Poles if you have them, lunch/ snacks, at least 3 liters of water plus some electrolytes. SUN SCREEN/ lip balm as this trail has very little shade. If haze is low, the views from Pt. Mugu can be spectacular, so bring your camera.

BUG ALERT!!

There are often bad mosquitos in the Chumash parking lot, at the start of the hike (the lot is next to a marshland and is shaded in the morning). I recommend you keep covered up and do a quick bug spray as you exit your car. Once we get up the trail a bit and into some sun, we lose them.

Adventure Pass: Not required .

Dogs: Sorry, dogs are not allowed on this trail (I don't make up the rules).

Leader: Steve I.

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