Took another day trip down to Ventana for a lengthy hike/bushwack from the China Camp trailhead. I hit the trailhead a bit later than I had hoped- I was following the directions in Schaffer's book which directed one to follow the route to the Los Padres Dam trailhead. Unfortunately, I didn't switch over to the China Camp directions and was well down the road to the dam before realizing my error and turning around. Made it to the trailhead around 6:45 and was on the trail by 7.

We had our first freeze of the winter in overnight, and it was quite cold when I hit the trail. I had on ski leggings and a light winter coat, both more as a protection against the local flora than for warmth. Managed to completely shred the left leg of the leggings during my chaparral bushwack. The trails were cold and dry. Routefinding wasn't much of an issue, though the trail was completely overgrown in a multitude of 10-20 yard stretches. The area has mostly recovered from the latest fire (mid 90's?) but the larger trees are still heavily charred. Saw only single person all day- a lone backpacker heading out to Pine Valley for the weekend.

Another trip to South Ventana Cone (and then on to Ventana Cone) can be found here.