Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Our Lord's candle, a semiarid yucca, thrives on rocky, open slopes where it blooms a
candle-like stalk of creamy white flowers in late spring.
Trip Description
From the gated trailhead at road's end (2090'), the broad
Santa Lucia Trail
leads
through open grassland to the east end of
Santa Lucia Memorial Park,
adjacent to
steep sandstone cliffs. You'll ascend a minor ridge, climb briefly northeast, and arrive
at a minor gap. Onward, the trail leads northeast past live oaks and open terrain. If
you're not bound for the summit but would like to take in some of the scenery, end
your climb atop the next ridge, which offers outstanding views.
Along the way you may notice the anomalous prickly pear cacti. Although
Juni-
pero Serra Peak
does boast unusual and rare plant species, this cacti is not endemic
to the
Santa Lucia Range.
Spanish missionaries brought the drought-tolerant species
from Mexico as early as 1769. Modern-day specimens probably derive from stock
planted by early settlers.
From the scenic ridge, you'll turn east and climb to a
saddle
(1 mile, 2350').
From this saddle, the route continues along an abandoned road to a dry creek bed lined
with willows and sycamores, the latter featuring bark that resembles a jigsaw puzzle.
In a few minutes you should pass a rusty
abandoned tractor
(1.4 miles, 2320'). On-
ward, the path narrows and gradually climbs to a junction with a
southbound trail
(1.6 miles, 2430'). Beyond this junction the trail climbs an unrelenting steep grade.
Dense brush encroaches on the trail as you enter a steep-walled arroyo canyon.
In winter and spring, a small stream meanders through the wash. Lining the channel
are large granite boulders, transported here during heavy floods that reshape this land-
scape about once every 100 years. You'll continue along a faint trail between two par-
allel washes before crossing the west wash (2.6 miles, 3170').
The steep route crosses a small meadow past heavy chaparral thickets to a second
sloping meadow. From here you'll switchback through head-high brush to a promin-
ent saddle and a junction with the north-trending abandoned section of the
Santa Lu-
cia Trail
(3.7 miles, 4170'), marked by a dilapidated sign that claims you're 2 miles
from the summit. You'll notice a faint trail leading east up the ridge. Fortunately, your
route switchbacks toward the ridge along a more moderate grade. From this point,
you're more than halfway to the summit.
Over the next 0.8 mile the trail tops a ridge, veers left past oak-clad slopes, and
crosses through dense manzanita thickets to a notable saddle. Turning east, you'll
skirt the north slopes and pass a junction with the heavily overgrown, abandoned
Junipero Serra Camp Trail,
which drops 600 feet in 0.4 mile to the site of the
former camp. Beyond the junction you'll pass enormous Coulter and sugar pines as
you climb toward a saddle between a ridge and the summit. Below the saddle, the trail
