Santa Barbara

June 10, 2019

Our first day on the Pacific began with a walk around Carpinteria. We found a Health foods market where we got some breakfast, then explored some of the cute shops on our way back to the van. There, we gathered our things and set up on the beach for the day. We read our books, built a Sandcastle, and went swimming. The water was chilly, and it had been foggy all morning, but the clouds were starting to lift. We could see the pale blue outline of an island off the coast, and the tall rocky peaks of the mountains just inland. Hunter had already run 4 miles before I woke up, but was hoping to get in 8 for the day, so we went for another run. We ran down the beach as far as we could, dodging waves as a tide came in. We ran back, then around the block, and out on a trail that followed the ocean until we emerged from some short shrubs onto small cliffs that overlooked a ‘seal sanctuary’ (according to the sign). Earlier, when we were sitting on the beach we had seen about 10 dolphins swimming around, jumping and then submerging again. We saw a seal earlier as well, but at the seal sanctuary there was no wildlife in sight. The view was gorgeous though; the landscape was dotted with wildflowers as the mountains rose up in the background and the cliffs fell away into the Pacific Ocean. When we got back to the van we were pretty sticky from the combination of sweat and salt water, so we were very appreciative of the public showers. 

After a fun day at the beach, we drove to Santa Barbara for the night. We made dinner before walking out onto the pier. It was so big that cars could drive out onto it and there was a whole parking lot along with restaurants, shops, and tons of people fishing. We got ice cream (of course) and sat, looking at the ocean at the very end of the pier as we enjoyed our cold treat. Golden hour set in, and the palm trees were silhouetted against the hills in the background. Back at the van, we headed to our camping spot: a trailhead that marked the beginning of the next day’s hike. We drove up winding roads and passed nice houses with lovely views before we turned in for the night.

June 11, 2019

We woke up this morning and got ready for our hike; we planned to do Cathedral Peak and Seven Falls. We ate some eggs, filled our waters, and set off at a run. It started out as a paved walking path, and then turned into a dirt trail. We got a little lost at first (there were so many intersections to navigate!), but after retracing our steps we found the right trail. We came to a tiny stream Crossing that was all dried up, which we later found out was Seven Falls! We continued on, passing lots of not-so-little lizards; I jumped every time we saw one and walked with great caution, but we soon realized they were completely harmless. We made it up to a viewpoint overlooking Santa Barbara and the ocean. It was beautiful, but so far the Grand Canyon is still my favorite view. 

At the end of the day we started towards our next destination: Mammoth Lakes. We planned to stop for the night just outside of the town of Lake Isabella, three hours away from Santa Barbara. On the way to Lake Isabella, we passed many oil rigs, which we had never seen before… It was kind of an eerie sight. We stopped at Olive Garden for dinner (one of Hunter‘s favorite restaurants) in a weird town that seemed to have many industrial buildings, but no houses. We kept driving and the road began to follow the Kern River. The landscape transitioned from flat fields into a narrow canyon, as we drove straight between two mountains. The setting sun cast a pink glow on the clouds above us; it was getting dark as I maneuvered the van around sharp corners and past rocky ledges, with the road dropping off into the river on the left. Long after dark, we reached our camping spot along the Kern River.