A Weekend Camping in Santa Barbara Frontcountry

     This past holiday weekend, I had to go up to Santa Barbara so I decided to make a camping trip of it. It was my first time ever camping alone or hiking alone, so I was excited to see what it was like. Below I will detail my trip!

Day 1: Road trip up to Santa Barbara and rocket launch

     After packing my car with all my camping stuff and checking my list twice, I left San Diego around noon and it took me just over 4 hours to get to Downtown Santa Barbara. Not bad for a holiday weekend, as the trip can get up to 6 hours with LA traffic. After taking care of some business and grabbing a quick bite to eat, I continued my journey to Jalama Beach, which is located directly south of Vandenberg Space Force Base, where rockets launch from regularly. Tonight, I was expecting to see mission NROL-105 liftoff, which is a SpaceX mission launching some reconnaissance satellites for the government into a polar orbit. What made this mission even more special to witness was that it was a "return to pad" launch, meaning that the booster will land at the same place it took off from. Usually the booster would land on a remote drone ship off the coast of Mexico that I wouldn't be able to see from Jalama Beach, so this was stroke of luck, and perhaps a bit of fate.

     I arrived around 7:45 pm, set up my camera pointed towards the north, and waited. The beach was extremely windy and cold. I had no cell service on the beach so I didn't know when the launch was going to happen, just that the launch window was 8:13-8:53. The clock ticked past 8:13 and I braced. Nothing happened. 10 minutes passed by and still nothing. It was a true test of the human sprit, standing there with my hands in my hoodie pockets, braving the constant strong chilly winds, staring North towards unchanging blackness. Eventually, I saw a bright light appear from the North. As the light rose past the hill obscuring the launch pad, it lit up the sky like a second sun, but traversed the sky much faster. The flame trail produced by the 9 Merlin engines seemed longer than the rocket itself, and started to gain a blue hue on its end as the rocket rose higher up into the atmosphere, where oxygen is more scarce. After a minute or so, the rocket had passed right above us and the light went out. A second later, 2 separate lights appeared; stage separation! This created the "jellyfish" effect as the second stage continued its journey but the booster turned around. As it is returning, the booster mainly relies on its grid fins to direct itself back to the launch site, not its engines, so we couldn't see it travel back across the dark night sky. I pointed my camera to just above the launch site, predicting where we would next see the booster's flame erupt. A minute or so later, I was proved correct and the bright sun suddenly reappeared over a hill, slowing its descent to a crawl as it disappeared behind the hill to land at the pad. In all, it was awesome. I have always wanted to see a rocket launch and I am so happy that my first one was a return to pad launch! Next, I want to see a really big rocket launch, like New Glenn, Starship, or SLS.

     Unfortunately, it was too windy to set up a tent and camp on the beach under the stars (which were amazing), so I relaxed in my car for a bit and turned in early.

Day 2: Hiking around and exploring historic frontcountry

     Since I turned in early, I woke up around 4:30 am feeling refreshed with nothing to do. I decided to go on a sunrise hike, which is another first for me. I enjoy getting an early start to the day but almost never have while camping. After driving for about an hour, I donned my headlamp and headed down the popular Tunnel Trail. This was unfortunately a mistake. Google maps had taken me to the top of Tunnel Trail instead of the bottom, so the entire time I was hiking down to a lower vantage point that didn't have a view of the sunrise. As I hiked, a beautiful pink started filling the cirrus clouds, turning the sky into cotton candy. I then started to panic. The sun is rising and I have no good vantage point! I better head back to where I parked because that is the best view I have had so far, except it's 2 miles back and all uphill, so I would miss the sunset! I spotted a nearby hill that looked like it could have a good view and decided to just force myself up through the brush to see the sunrise. Luckily I ended up finding an unmarked path on the hill that had a few scrambles to get up and was a tad overgrown, but overall very doable. This was probably the best view I had all trip. As the sun spilled over the sleepy city of Santa Barbara, the birds (and bugs) awoke and started to chirp (and bite). In the distance, you can see the Channel Islands and the many oil rigs present between them. The developing colors of the sunrise really made it a treat to witness. After taking in the view for some time, I headed back to my car.

     Next, I wanted to try some of the more popular hikes that Santa Barbara has to offer before lunch. Claude suggested Lizards Mouth. Now I am not sure I would call this one a hike, but it is a cool area to walk around, boulder, and explore the cool rock formations there. Even though I wasn't prepared to boulder, the Santa Barbara Search and Rescue team was there practicing, so I thought it would be safe of me to try some of the rocks. Constant gunshots from the neighboring gun range were sometimes alarming but what calmed me right back down was the sweeping view of the coast and Channel Islands, similar to my view earlier in the morning. Next, I went to a scenic vista of San Marcos Pass and learned about the historic and dangerous stagecoach route that the pass used to be. Some parts of the pass required 6 horses to pull your wagon instead of the usual 4. The pass played a large part in the Mexican American war when General Fremont tried to climb the pass with canons and artillery during a rainy night, but the pass proved to be too much and he has to abandon a lot of his weapons and horses. He eventually marched on Santa Barbara which conceded without a shot fired due to the defending troops being in Los Angeles. I then stopped at the historic Cold Spring Tavern, which is known for their tri tip sandwiches, and ordered the famous sandwich and some wild game chili. The place was very cute and was run by great staff. A line develops very early, so get there 10 minutes before they open and put your name down.

     I next went on a few different short hikes near my campground for the night but 2/3 of them were cut short due to the trail flooding. I thought I could brave the stream crossings but my soaking wet socks plead otherwise, so I decided to go to my campsite at Los Prietos Campground and hang up my socks over a fire and read a book in my hammock. Further into the night, I cooked some steaks for steak sandwiches over the fire and took some pictures of the stars before I headed to bed.

Day 3: Big hiking day and Art Museum

     I woke up early for another sunrise hike, this time determined to get to the peak before the sun actually rose. I hiked the popular Inspiration Point trail, which was a quite enjoyable morning hike. The only thing is that Inspiration Point itself is pretty meh, as there is a small outcropping obscuring the sunrise. After getting lost on a few different unmarked trails, I finally found one that didn't have an obscured view and observed the beautiful sunrise. The sun spilling over the rolling mountains was indeed inspiring and I felt truly at peace being there. The sunrise wasn't as impressive as the previous day's but it was still great.

After the sunrise, I decided to check out some of the other trails that are connected to this one. After again, getting lost a few times, I found myself on Seven Falls trail, which is a collection of trails that follows a stream cascading down a valley. Whenever I encountered a fork in the trail, I would take the one seemingly less travelled, for a sense of adventure. Sometimes I did this and discovered a secluded waterfall and pool that no one else was at. At one of these, I even stripped down and took a VERY chilly dip. However sometimes this adventuring burned me, and I ended up in an undesirable location or lost. After thoroughly exploring all the trails and falls at Seven Falls, I continued upwards to Arlington Peak. I had talked with some other hikers on the trail throughout the day and told them of my plans for Arlington Peak, and they all made sure I had enough water and knew what I was getting myself into. Apparently it was "quite scrambley" and there wasn't any shade. They weren't kidding! I would barely call this trail a hike, it was more of a climb with some flat parts. Some parts of the trail were just vertical pieces of rock. Other parts of the trail seemed so ridiculous that someone spray painted an arrow pointing me in the right direction. A couple times I went down an incorrect path and I didn't notice because correct path was equally ridiculously vertical. About a mile away from the peak, the sun continued to beat down on me, but my water pack felt light, so I decided to turn back. I am not trying to be one of those out of town hikers on the local news that night! It was as easy getting lost going down as it was going up. Eventually I found my way and was proven right, as I ran out of the water right before I reached my car.

     I then headed into town to grab a smoothie before strolling down State Street and entering the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The tickets were only $15 and when you entered, you understood why. The museum is quite quaint and has a focus on ancient art, which is among my least favorite type of art. However I did discover a delightful Japanese print artist named Hiroshige. Before this, I have only ever known of the famous Hokusai, but Hiroshige's work is detailed and has lots of color and contrast.

They did have a part of the museum which kind of speed ran through art history from 1850 to 1950, highlighting surrealism, cubism, abstract art, and some more. This part was interesting but they only had a couple pieces from each style. They did have an impressionist exhibition which looked interesting but tickets to it were unfortunately sold out. I don't think I will go back again unless there is a very special exhibition.

     I went back to my campsite, made a fire, had some dinner, went stargazing, and nursed my newly formed blisters before turning in. An end to a great solo trip!

     This was my first time solo camping and solo hiking and I had a lot of fun! I rediscovered my love for exploring unmarked trails and discovered a love for sunrise hikes. Not to mention achieving my dream of seeing a rocket launch. I can't wait for many more adventures in the future, hopefully with as good weather as it was this past weekend in sunny Santa Barbara.