October 29th – Simi Peak from King James Court via China Flat
20 hikers met at a trailhead on Lindero Canyon Road (near King James Court) in Oak Park on a beautiful clear-and-cool autumn morning. Our hike in the Simi Hills began along a single-track trail, but soon continued along an old dirt-and-rock road as it rose steadily up the south side of the mountain, providing ever-expanding views to the south.
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October 22nd – Work Party – Wild Animal Corridor – Cache In Trash Out Event
This was the eighth time the Trail Blazers teamed up with the local geocachers, to clean up the Wildlife Corridor above Corriganville Park. 32 of us removed six bags of garbage and painted over the graffiti at the Corridor. This year we had a few families and Girl Scouts in attendance too. show more show less
October 15th – Chivo Canyon Loop
15 hikers met on a mild early-autumn morning in Simi Valley near the mouth of Chivo Canyon in the Marr Ranch Open Space in northeast Simi Valley. After we “dropped” into Chivo Canyon, we hiked northward along the old Chivo Canyon (dirt) Road to the upper end of lower Chivo Canyon (just south of the Chivo Canyon “Narrows”).
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October 8th – The Hummingbird Trail and Rocky Peak
12 hikers assembled at the inadequate on-street parking area at the north end of Kuehner Drive at the trailhead (1,175’) for the Hummingbird Trail (just outside the gate into Hummingbird Ranch) on what promised to become another very hot day. The morning was already warm as we began our 2.4-mile eastward climb to the Rocky Peak Fire Road.
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October 1st – Long Canyon, Oak Canyon, Montgomery Canyon, Challenger Park, Coyote Hills Park, Canyon View Trail Loop
Our two hike leaders arrived early at the very full Long Canyon Parking lot this morning. There wasn’t a single empty parking space to be found, even outside the lot. Two unscheduled track events arrived earlier and filled the entire lot. There was no legal street parking to be found anywhere nearby. After some last-minute brainstorming, we decided to move the meeting place, and the starting trailhead, to Challenger Park and begin our counter-clockwise loop from the opposite end.
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Temperatures were running about 10 degrees warmer than forecast, and the air quality was poor. Smoke from the Soberanes Fire to the north, came back inland with the mild ocean breezes, following the recent Santa Ana wind event earlier in the week. The loop didn’t provide many opportunities for much-needed shade. The day proved not to be the best for hiking.
Our hike started with 25 people and one dog. One hiker turned back before the Canyon View Trailhead. The remaining group started up the very steep trail, and after arriving at the top of the ridgeline, enjoying great local views, despite the fact the distant views were obscured by smoke. After arriving at the intersection of Long Canyon Road and the Canyon View Trail, three hikers and the dog headed back to the trailhead, following Long Canyon Road east to Challenger Park. 21 hikers continued on 7/10 of a mile, up the steep Long Canyon Trail, to a trail junction that overlooks a good part of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. From there we took a “use” trail connector into Oak Canyon. At intersection of Montgomery Canyon and Oak Canyon, five additional hikers elected to continue on down the hill, and also head back to Challenger Park via Long Canyon Road. 16 hikers continued on up the next hill into Montgomery Canyon, heading to Challenger Park. As before, two more exhausted hikers decided not to tackle the final hill in the Challenger Park, and they too followed Long Canyon Road to the Challenger Park Entrance. 14 remaining intrepid hikers completed the entire 7.5 mile loop, overcoming almost 1,700’ of total elevation gain.
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