Hiking the Southern Los Padres (Old Old Old)
These are old hiking/backpacking photos from the Southern Los Padres National Forest. I usually carried a camera (Rollei 35T or Nikon FM) in the 1980s. I did not (for the most part) take pictures in the late 1960s or 1970s. In general, the rougher the routes and the more difficult the route finding, the fewer shots I took (a huge mistake, in retrospect). These are scans of Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides and a few Kodacolor prints. I estimate that I have less than 20% of the photos I might have had if I had not lent slides and neglected to retrieve them and if I had been more diligent archiving my photographs. If I find more interesting material I will post it. I find I am more bothered by the loss of some of this record (Lower Sespe, Big Narrows, Madulce Cabin [Madulce has been found], for instance) than the loss of my vinyl LP collection (Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Creedence, to name a few). Ultimately, I am simply a homesick Los Padres expatriate; in fact, there is an amazing generation of adventure and trail scholarship in process in the Southern Los Padres. I refer the reader to these sites: craigrcarey.net, Ventura County Canyoneering, Jack Elliot's Santa Barbara Adventure and the David Stillman blog. Also peruse the outstanding continuing work to establish the Condor Trail through the Los Padres.
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At Potrero Seco in 1983. I recall Don Victor Valley as a weird place in a very non-rational way that I will not try to explain. OK, I take that back a little. Let me put it this way: I have been to Sedona, which by some is considered to be a nexus of some sort of alternative reality. To be sure, the Verde Valley of Arizona is an interesting place. But I hiked some of the canyons around Sedona, including Boynton Canyon. What I can say is this: Don Victor Valley; now that place is weird.
