We'll continue my journey down the coast on the California Missions Trail and you're invited to come along. This will be a long, 12-mile stretch, and we will have considerable beach walking at low tide. Ensure you have comfortable shoes since we will be on our feet for most of the 6+ hours. We will start in Carpenteria, where we stopped last Saturday, and hike to Mondo's Beach.

MEET:

We will meet at Mondo's beach at 11:50 am since there is free parking at this surf spot. Then we will carpool back to Carpenteria at 12:00 and start hiking back to the cars we leave behind. Please be punctual.

We will meet at on the edge of the road at the west end of Mondo's beach, where Makos Surf Camp meets. The exact location on Google Maps is here:

https://goo.gl/maps/KvQoszxDnVkPPa5M7

After carpooling to downtown Carp, we'll hike to the beach and walk along a lovely, bluff-top trail to the seal sanctuary and the Carpenteria Bluffs Nature Preserve. This stretch of the walk is very beautiful and we'll stay away from the highway until we get to Rincon Point. Since it will be low tide, we should be able to walk on the beach most of the time, but we might need to walk on the bike path or railroad tracks for short stretches.

The miles will rack up as we pass La Conchita, Rincon Island, Oil Piers Beach, Hobson Beach, Rincon Parkway (where all the RVs are), Faria Beach and finally Mondo's Beach. We'll try to keep a good pace of about 3 mph for hours, but we will slow down when walking on the sandy beaches.

Only come if you can stay on your feet for 6 hours with minimal stops. If you need to drop out, you can call a ride or a rideshare. Some people had trouble with Uber last week, so make sure you're app works if you need it.

At the end of the hike, we'll drive to Carpenteria and eat delicious Thai food at the Siam Elephant.

https://goo.gl/maps/ktvULKByTbq2Wjr89

BRING:

Minimum of two liters of water and snacks to have along the way. There will be few places to get water and minimal bathrooms on this route. The weather is predicted to be in the 50s and 60s and breezy on the beach, so dress in layers and be prepared. No pets, please.

Sunset: 7:20 pm

Did you see this webinar for the new guidebook called The California Missions Trail (CMT)?

https://youtu.be/07Mu5M9WAmA

The SB County Trails Council, which hosts this Meetup Group, had a webinar with the author Sandy Brown. The CMT is 802 miles long and goes to all 21 Missions from San Diego to Sonoma. The trail is so appealing to me that I'm going to start section hiking it and I'm inviting others to come along.

If you know more about the guidebook for the California Missions Trail go here:

https://sbtrails.org/california-missions-trail-guidebook-launch/

The guidebook is also available at these locations:

Santa Barbara Mission Giftshop

Santa Barbara Historical Museum

La Purisma HSP Giftshop

Ventura Mission Giftshop

Chaucers Book Store

REI CoOp