Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cends to a saddle and the
Lone Pine Camp Trail junction
(12.6 miles, 4300'). A sign
marked
WATER
points southeast along a spur on your left.
The spur descends a few feet past the remains of
Lone Pine Camp,
since re-
claimed by overgrowth and large fallen snags. In winter you'll find water less than
0.1 mile down a shallow gully from the junction, while in summer you may have to
descend cross-country several hundred feet to find the merest trickle. Don't expect to
find water from late summer till the first winter rains.
Beyond the saddle, the Ventana Trail climbs a series of moderate switchbacks
along exposed slopes blanketed in fragrant shoulder-high chaparral. Take in outstand-
ing views south toward Ventana Double Cone, which separates the Carmel, Big Sur,
and Little Sur River watersheds. Near the summit, vegetation switches to mature
stands of live oaks, madrones, and lone Coulter pines, distinguished from ponderosas
by their foot-long cones with hook-like scales.
Less than a mile from the peak, the narrow trail follows a granite ridge to a minor
saddle, then bypasses the north summit. Here you'll find the rare Santa Lucia fir, en-
demic to the northern Santa Lucia Range.
SANTA LUCIA FIR
Found both in deep canyons and perched high atop the Santa Lucia Range lives the
rarest and most narrowly distributed of all fir species, the endemic Santa Lucia fir.
The species' seemingly disparate habitats share one attribute: Each is relatively fire
resistant. For although the range is subject to periodic blazes, this fir has not deve-
loped resistance to fire.
Fossil evidence suggests that Santa Lucia firs were once widely distributed
throughout western North America. The tree thrived during the Miocene epoch (24
million to 5 million years ago), as the climate was much warmer and wetter than
today, including regular summer rainfall. But during the Pliocene epoch (5 million
to 1.6 million years ago), the climate began to cool, ushering in the ice ages of the
Pleistocene (1.6 million to 11,000 years ago). The fir could not withstand the colder,
drier conditions and thus retreated to milder climates amid the coastal mountains.
Ventana Double Cone supports a small, isolated grove of Santa Lucia firs, easily
identified by droopy, densely foliated crowns that extend from the base of the tree
with lower branches that nearly touch the ground.
From a saddle (14.8 miles, 4640') between the two summits, hike the remaining
0.1 mile to the main
summit
(14.9 miles, 4853'), capped by the foundation of a fire
lookout station and a logbook filled with the musings of fellow hikers.
On clear, fogless days, the views encompass all major peaks and watersheds
along the northern Santa Lucia Range. To the northwest, the Little Sur River drainage
crouches beneath the sheer marble cliffs of Pico Blanco. The Carmel River drainage
