Snowy Ohv to Seven Pines Part deux

Dropping into the Snowy Creek Drainage

Alright here is the rematch. If you have been following my blog than you already know a few weeks ago I attempted to make a run from Hungry Valley to Seven Pines Camp, however that day did not work out quite as planned and I never made it out of the lower now closed section of Snowy Ohv. Here is that write should you need to get caught up: Snowy Ohv (19W04) Lower Re-route part 1  

Since I already went into great detail before about the lower section I will skip that here. To briefly recap we again parked in the Hungry Valley SVRA Park at Aliklik Campground. This round I was joined by my old scuba buddy Jeff Wright, and I must say I was very impressed Jeff can put down the miles and is a great trail buddy. I foresee many more trips with him on the horizon. From the map at the bottom you can see we left the park through what I called locked gate number 1, headed south up the hillside and dropped into the Smith Fork. From there located the old closed section of Snowy  and followed that to the junction with Piru Creek. This is where my journey ended last time and this new one begins. The easiest way to get onto the now maintained section of Snowy ohv (19W04) from here is to cross Piru creek, go straight a short distance and just to the left or east of the creek spot a faint use trail that will lead you up and onto Snowy. After crossing piru this all happens fast in a little over .1 mile you should be on the motorcycle trail.

View looking back at the Smith Fork after climbing onto Snowy OHV

Once on the trail you immediately get an outstanding view looking back into the Smith Fork and Piru Creek Drainage from where you came. It is there that I believe could be the sight of some historical significance and possibly holds the key to why the route starting point was moved from Hungry Valley over to the now Kings Campground. The hardest part of the route begins here while 19W04 is well maintained and super easy to follow it is a grind. The trail ascends sharply up and onto the ridge for just over 1800 feet of elevation gain over the next 2.5 miles before dropping into into the Snowy Creek drainage. Once atop the views along this section of the surrounding peaks and back into Hungry Valley are incredible see photos below.

Alamo Mountain

Looking Back at Hungry Valley

Around the 4.5 mile mark you start the descent to snowy creek. Water flow in Snowy was very low but enough to filter could be obtained from small pools here and there along the creek. It did however live up to its name as there were numerous snow patches on the banks.

Snow along the banks of Snowy Creek

At the 5 mile mark the valley opens to a wide flat where you come upon a Guerrilla Camp. Complete with rock fire pit and small cooking grate. Along the outskirts of this site were numerous piles of rocks and what looked like old stone retaining walls. I wondered if this was some sort of Cabin site in the past.

 Guerrilla site on the flat 

A half mile further south we arrived at our first Planned destination The Baker Cabin site. It was here that a mining Cabin was constructed in the 1800's and may have passed through multiple ownerships throughout the years before it met its full demise in the 2006 Day Fire. It was reported that after the last owner died sometime in the 1980's that heavy vandalism was already beginning to take place. 

1960's image of Baker Cabin Courtesy of "The Beard" Craig R Carey

1983 Image of Baker Cabin courtesy of The Los Padres Expatriate Hiker

Baker Cabin Present day December 2018

I feel privileged to have finally made it here and got to bear witness of the remains. However it saddens me to see what has become of this once great historical site. The ruins are strung about everywhere stretching down to the creek and into the mountain range along the back side. Piles of sheeting, rusted equipment and numerous old cans can still be found. My favorite pieces were the wheelbarrow and the shot up gas gan. We even found an old steel tackle box by the creek.

 Ruins From Baker Cabin

After leaving baker Cabin we continued our accent along the trail following Snowy creek in a south westerly direction. At this upper elevation the landscape really begins to change, Pines and Cedars become more abundant replacing the heavy chaparral and brush below. At about the 6.6 mile mark look for the junction of Snowy (19W04) and Big Cedar Creek Trail (19W05). The remains of this old trail sign below mark the spot.

What's left of the junction sign at snowy and Big Cedar creek

Big Cedar Creek trail is no longer maintained or recognized on current forest service maps. From here the old Trail will eventually lead you up Big Cedar Creek and to the junction with Buck Creek trail (18W01). You can most likely conclude from studying the older maps that this was once the most plausible route to get from Stewart Mtn to Cobblestone Mtn.

1967 LPNF Map showing Seven Pines Camp and the Big Cedar Creek Trail

Follow Big Cedar creek trail about a quarter mile from the junction with Snowy and you arrive at Seven pines Camp. Like so many other Camps in the Los Padres this is another one that is no longer maintained and has fallen off current Maps. 

Seven pines Site number 1

The trail runs right through the center of this large camp site. The first site to your right closest to Snowy creek has rock fire Pit and the remains of the old stove. Here the creek was flowing nicely with water easily obtained. Just past site #1 on your left was site #2

Seven pines Site #2 

Here at the second site a downed tree has crushed the stove and fallen right through the fire ring. It appears someone placed part of the stove 15 feet over in the center of the clearing. It would be of benefit to move the fire ring over as well. Just across from here the Pit toilet still sits up against the brush and makes a fine bench.

Just southeast of site 2 is another large flat area which probably at one time was a third site. There is no fire pit here now, Right next to the flat is the stove graveyard for the many that were once here at Camp. From the photo below it appears someone dismantled and dumped everything at this location

Seven Pines stove graveyard

I found Seven Pines Camp to be really nice and in a beautiful Location. I doubt many hikers use this spot. Most likely it gets occasional use from the OVH riders Travelling Snowy. Although it will probably never happen I would love to see some rehab done here and the camp put back on the map along with Big Cedar Creek Trail. The canyon is an amazing part of the forest. From the Snowy junction Big Cedar was very easy to follow into camp and I would imagine getting up to buck creek would be similar. Now is a great time for hikers and mountain bikers to Travel Snowy OHV as the seasonal closure will ensure no motor traffic. Expect a long day from Hungry Valley our mileage total was just over 14 out and back and there is a lot of elevation Gain. The mileage would be shorter if you started at the Upper Buck creek trailhead from Stewart Mtn after the gates open back up from the seasonal closure. Regardless of how you get there just go you wont be dissapointed. I have included my GPS track and KMZ file for download and the map has all relevant waypoints.

Download GPS Track (GPS Units)

Download KMZ File (Google Earth)