Broken wrist notwithstanding, it was time for a back-to-nature adventure; this time a seven plus-mile, four-hour walk.
We drove up to our local mountain to the beautiful and historic town of Julian to hike the Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve, East End. The Cedar Fire in 2003 caused some damage that’s visible in a few burnt out trees, but most of it was spared.
To get to the starting point from Julian, drive two miles north on Farmer Road to Wynola Road, jog briefly right, and turn left to remain on Farmer Road. Continue 1.2 miles north to the Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve staging area on the left.
Start heading west, alongside the upper reaches of Santa Ysabel Creek, on the Kanaka Loop Trail. This part of the trail doubles as a segment of the unfinished Coast to Crest Trail, which will ultimately stretch all the way to the coast at Del Mar. It would be so cool to hike that one day.
Right away you’ll notice cattle — as in COWS — grazing on the grassy hillsides overlooking the creek. Another not-quite-natural occurrence is the appearance of large flocks of wild turkeys. The 20,000 or so turkeys now roaming the Julian-Cuyamaca area descended from an initial population of about 300 that hunting enthusiasts animal murderers introduced in 1993.
I forgot my camera in the car, so here’s my embarassingly poor rendering of the cows and turkeys we saw.
Artist: Princess Rosebud …Don’t I draw like I’m five-years-old? Obviously, both sides of my brain are not evolved equally. It’s a good thing I don’t shop like I draw.
We saw sycamores, black oaks, and blackberry thickets. It’s a very active site for mountain lions – prints were everywhere along with a lot of coyote and mule deer scat.
The cows have an amazing playground; why they chose to sit in the middle of the trail along the entire route and either give us dirty looks or cause us to walk into the brush to get out of their way or in one case, CHASE US, I have no idea. They are VERY large and appear malevolent as if they know how big they are and were laughing with each other at my FEARFUL screams of “Go away, go away, shoo, shoo, get out of here, you stupid Cow!”
Geez, we don’t even eat meat, so they should have been extra nice to us, don’t you agree?
If I had my camera, I would have taken pics like this…
Other people’s pics
It was a beautiful hike, not too strenuous for my still-healing broken wrist, and we decided to drive the few miles into Julian and walk around like tourists. Julian is an old mining town and is quaint and cute. We went into a one hundred year old soda shop and had a yummy sarsaparilla.
Now I have my camera again.
We gave this guy a few dollars for his animal rescue, ‘cos his little mini-pony was adorable.
We love Julian! Oak Glen is closer to us, but we try to make the trek once a year. Fun!
LikeLike
It is just so quaint, right? I’ve never been to Oak Glen, where is that?
On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 8:20 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
Oak Glen is up above Beaumont. There are a bunch of apple farms. We like Riley’s Farm; they grow raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, plus flowers, pumpkins and heirloom apples. There’s a nature preserve up there as well. http://www.rileysfarm.com
LikeLike
Oh, it looks beautiful! I’ll show hubs and maybe one day we could have an adventure up that way!
On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 8:32 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
Oh, I think that all sounds and looks just lovely! Wish I had been with you for this hike.
Love the itty bitty pony!
LikeLike
come out to socal and let’s go hiking!
On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 8:28 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
I LOVE avocados! And your drawing?????? Awesome! Ya make due with what you’ve got. If you would’ve taken the camera, you wouldn’t have used it. Glad it was good!!
LikeLike
I always wished I could draw but it wasn’t/isn’t one of my talents, ha ha. It’s my inner child…LOL
On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 9:13 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
Back in the early 80s, my husband and I stayed in Julian for a weekend break, driving there from Pasadena. We really enjoyed it and I can see it’s still the same charming, pretty little town it was back then. We missed being chased by cows, but maybe if we go back, we’ll be luckier next time?
W.
LikeLike
Cows are BIG, nuff said. You wouldn’t want to be chased by one! And some of them have horns, too! Glad to know you enjoyed our mini-mountain town back in the day.
On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 9:15 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
Great trip. And what a crazy good deal on the avocados! And I love your drawing. I totally get what you are trying to convey. 🙂
LikeLike
Please tell me, what was I trying to convey? I notice I still put smiles on all my animal pics exactly like I was 5. I really am NEVER gonna grow up. (Did that turkey gobble neck kinda look like one of your vag pics??????)
On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 9:28 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
LOL on the turkey neck. You were trying to convey that you saw cows and turkeys and that animals are good, which they are.
LikeLike
Yes, of course that’s it! Duh dumb me. Animals are good, even if they’re chasing you and laughing about it.
On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 9:42 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
My mom loves Julian! I’ve never been, but she goes whenever she visits friends in San Diego. PS, if I draw a turkey it usually involves tracing my hand, so I think your drawings are great.
LikeLike
Ha ha, I was gonna trace my hand but it didn’t work right. Too funny. Julian is beautiful in the snow.
On Sun, Aug 4, 2013 at 2:48 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
Really enjoyed this one. Years ago when in San Diego, we heard wonderful things about Julian and were all set out to visit but that was interrupted. It’s been on our wanna visit list for a while, now after this even more so. Hugs to you!
LikeLike
Hugs back, and do visit! We don’t have a whole lot of historical towns down in SoCal — Julian is adorable, if a bit touristy!
On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 8:22 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
Yum!! Guacamole!! I always liked Julian. And no trip is complete without a piece of apple pie with cheese melted on top… it sounds weird, and, well, it is kind of weird, but it’s what you are supposed to do while you are there. Did you do any wine tasting? There used to be a little shop up there that had one of the best Pinot Noir’s I’ve ever tasted… Witches Creek … something like that… their logo is a black cat…?
LikeLike
I have a personal prob with anyone else’s apple pie, even Julians! My pie is so far superior (not bragging, it’s my mom’s recipe) that once you have mine, you’ll never be able to eat another pie again! Ask my neighbors, I’m famous ’round here. No wine tasting, but we passed a couple of places. We’re a militant no drink no drive family so those kinds of fun things aren’t possible for us. Witches Creek actually is a huge store here in Carlsbad just down the street from us!
On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 2:11 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
Hmm, maybe I’m getting the two places confused, or maybe the little shop I remember expanded to Carlsbad. Either is possible.
I understand the No drink/drive rules. That’s a good one to have.
I’m not much of a pie person anyway, I was just pointing out that the pie/cheese thing is something you are supposed to do while you are there when you are being a tourist. 😛
LikeLike
Understood. I’m a pie snob! http://www.witchcreekwinery.com
On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 2:35 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
It’s been a circus here,R.Sorry I missed that you broke your wrist and hope you are mending well.
Only YOU would see a cow as malevolent! (A bull, maybe.)
Hope all is otherwise well!
LikeLike
you should have seen the way he/she looked at us! thought we were intruding on his properly.
On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 8:04 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
You were!
LikeLike
What a beautiful place and glad you had wonderful hike…Sounds like a great day! 🙂
LikeLike
Bad cows! Hope your wrist is feeling better. I think the reason I ended up with a bit of a permanent disability with mine is because I broke it on Friday, had the x-rays on Friday, but the radiologist didn’t read them until Tuesday. Up till then I was told it was just sprained, so I didn’t have a cast for the first 5 days!
LikeLike
Did you have a real cast? I only have a rigid removable one.
On Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
I had what they called a half-cast which could be removed if needed but because I got mine so late I never removed it during the 6 1/2 weeks! Left me with this tiny little nub of a baby finger when it came off (which returned to normal after physio) & had to have physio for 6 weeks. Now I have this little lump on the inside of my wrist where the tiny bone tip came to rest. Mine was my right hand (my dominant hand), which hand is yours?
LikeLike
Mine’s left hand. Wow, you sure had a lot of problems with yours, poor you! I did it on a Sunday but didn’t get xrays until Tues, I wasn’t sure it was a break but it hurt so bad I knew it was worse than a sprain. I saw the little piece that’s chipped off.
On Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 12:09 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
I saw the x-ray & the little piece that chipped off too! It migrated into my wrist while I was in the cast, so when they took off the cast it was there. Because mine happened at work, I was on Workers Compensation & it was Workers Comp who determined I would be partially disabled for life. Hubby still has to help me with my bra clasps because my wrist just doesn’t bend right anymore. I still have problems carrying anything heavy with my right hand. The worst though, was typing with 1 hand because I took no time off work but was under strict doctor’s orders not to use my right arm (I also bruised the bone on my right elbow). I ended up losing my job over it all.
LikeLike
How horrible for you to lose your job and all and it still hurts. I can’t bend my wrist to do my bra either, I turn it around, clasp it in front and then slide it back and put my arms through the straps. I hope my little broken piece hasn’t migrated anywhere! I’ll get another xray after we come back from yellowstone.
On Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 12:44 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
My wrist doesn’t hurt all the time, just every once in a while when I try to do something I used to be able to do & it’s not strong enough anymore. Unfortunately, I have this huge breasts to contend with, so turning my bra around doesn’t work well for me because the breasts get in the way! It’s a pain to be old, floppy & disabled! 🙂
LikeLike
I don’t have big breasts, so I guess that’s why it’s easier for me HA HA HA! Now I can say there’s one good thing about being less than buxom!
On Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 1:03 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
I want to go find where the San Diego River starts because it’s somewhere around there.
LikeLike
I think Jerry Schad talks about that in his hiking books. It would be cool to see it.
On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 10:10 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike
He does. That’s how I found out about it, but the only time I went searching for it, I was unsuccessful. That was 15 years ago.
LikeLike
Maybe easier to find in a rainy year? I sure do miss Jerry S. What an awesome guy with a real love for the outdoors.
On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 7:31 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
LikeLike