Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Spaghetti Camp
(expect water from first rains through March). After a moderate
0.1-mile ascent beneath shady oaks, madrones, and pines, you'll arrive in camp.
Spaghetti Camp (9.1 miles, 3620') also marks the junction with the
Skinner
Ridge Trail
(which leads west 6.3 miles to
Bottchers Gap
) and the Ventana Trail
(which leads south 8.4 miles to Ventana Double Cone). Camp is flat and can easily
accommodate two tents. The nearest reliable water source between December and
March is upper Danish Creek, 0.1 mile along the Big Pines Trail, while during dry
months (May through November) you may have to hike as far as Pat Spring, a mile
along the Ventana Trail.
From camp the Ventana Trail crosses oak- and pine-clad slopes, skirting mounds
of fallen snags and woody debris. You may surprise quail, woodpeckers, and band-
tailed pigeons along this little-used trail. Half a mile later you'll reach an unmarked
junction with the previously described shortcut spur from the Big Pines Trail.
Continue half a mile farther past the unofficial camp to a major saddle and four-
way
junction
(10.1 miles, 3770') with the westbound Pat Spring Camp Trail and east-
bound Pat Spring Trail.
See
TRIP 38 Ventana Double Cone via Ventana Trail
for a description of the re-
maining 7.6 miles from this junction to the summit of Ventana Double Cone.
SIDE TRIP
You can save yourself time and energy by taking the shortcut toward
Pat Spring
Camp
(8.9 miles, 3340'), which leads 0.4 mile to the
Pat Spring Trail
. The shortcut
spur is on your left, 20 feet from the Big Pines Trail sign. It begins as a narrow
trail that descends southwest 0.1 mile across the creek's upper headwaters (9 miles,
3290'). Fifty feet farther the trail climbs from the gully to the
Ventana Trail junc-
tion.
Look for the inconspicuous
VENTANA LOOKOUT TRAIL
sign posted on a tree
trunk and turn left.
One hundred yards eastbound on the
Ventana Trail,
you'll reach an
unofficial
camp,
just off the trail on your left. Shaded by large pines and madrones, the first site
is perched alongside the south branch of Danish Creek, though it's often dry by late
spring. The second site lies just above the creek on the opposite bank. Together the
sites can accommodate a half dozen tents. If this stretch is dry, you can either head
back to the last creek crossing or continue on the Ventana Trail and camp closer to
Pat Spring.
Onward, you'll make a gentle 0.1-mile-ascent to a minor saddle and the easily
missed four-way junction with westbound
Pat Spring Camp Trail
and eastbound
Pat Spring Trail (9.7 miles, 3770').
