Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Following the ridge up a gentle grade, you'll soon begin a steep half-mile descent
south to a minor
saddle
(5.8 miles, 2250'). The route crosses forested slopes of oaks,
pines, and madrones, the latter distinguished by deep red flaky bark that peels back
to expose a smooth orange trunk. Past the saddle, the trail skirts waist-high brush, as-
cends 0.2 mile west to a 2525-foot ridge summit, then quickly descends to a saddle
within earshot of Danish Creek.
From here you'll begin the second largest climb on the Big Pines Trail, first
across dry slopes covered in thickets of manzanita, ceanothus, and chamise and
then beneath dense madrone canopies. Again, watch for profuse amounts of poison
oak—thankfully, the last concentration of this toxic trailside companion en route to
Ventana Double Cone.
The steep ascent ends after a few switchbacks, emerging
amid chaparral brush atop a 3097-foot
ridge summit
(7.2 miles).
From the summit, the trail begins a gentle descent that branches away from the
roadbed within 0.1 mile (7.3 miles, 3020'). While orange flagging marked this turn on
my hike, it remains an easily overlooked left turn through a narrow stretch of scrub
oak, bay, and ceanothus thickets. If you miss the turn and continue along the roadbed
50 feet, you'll reach a maze of narrow overgrown deer trails that lack the packed tread
of the well-established Big Pines Trail.
From the turnoff, you'll descend south past steep slopes with numerous deadfalls
and encroaching brush to a minor saddle, then descend farther to another minor saddle
(7.8 miles, 2980'). From here the trail ascends through shady hardwood forests past
scattered young pines a few hundred yards above Danish Creek's gurgling headwa-
ters.
Over the next 0.2 mile the trail narrows between fire-scarred pine snags, a target
of industrious woodpeckers, which excavate their nests in spring in large snags. You'll
follow the contour to a nearby
gully
(8 miles, 3220'), home to a small granite-lined
creek between December and March. A few yards farther you'll cross another sea-
sonal tributary and clamber across a tangle of downed debris. The trail passes a third
seasonal creek (8.1 miles, 3260'), climbs beneath the remnants of a pre-Basin Com-
plex pine forest, crosses a grassy bowl, and in 50 yards reaches the
Big Pines Camp
Trail junction
(8.8 miles, 3350'). After the 2008 Basin Complex Fire, little remains
of the camp, and the trail is deemed challenging at best. From this junction, the main
trail continues straight and contours southwest 0.1 mile to another junction (8.9 miles,
3340'). Here you'll find a shortcut spur toward
Pat Spring Camp.
Fire destroyed trail
signage, but with a watchful eye you can spot carved into the sign assurance of Pat
Spring and the Ventana Trail.
If you skip the recommended shortcut, you'll continue west on the Big Pines
Trail, climb briefly, then cross a seasonal tributary, the nearest water source to
