Heart Break Hill & Madulce Potrero

It was kind of cheating, heading back into the Santa Barbara backcountry in June, when temperatures are normally scorching by this time of year.  But after record snows in the Sierra forced me to abandon an early-season backpack up there, I was able to nab a couple hardy hikers to do some exploring closer to home, with the intent of scouting out some possible longer trips in the area.  After a long drive over some punishing dirt road, we found the canyon quite dramatic - remote, all to ourselves, a moonscape of post-fire recovery interspersed with mysterious old-growth groves of oaks and spruce that were miraculously untouched by the area's 2007 fire.  Late season wildflowers greeted us at every step, but so did loads of prickly cattails and weeds gone to seed.  When the trail got brushy, it was mostly with wild roses - pretty when they're blooming, but a prickly nuisance much of the rest of the time. Not sure we'll be back to this neck of the woods, but it was definitely nice to see some new, strikingly different terrain and enjoy it with some similarly adventure-minded hikers.

Before a freeway was built in the early 1930’s, “Santa Barbara Canyon” was the route travelers took between the Central Valley and Santa Barbara. Now it’s just a quiet backcountry canyon that probably sees more footprints by bears than people most days, so let’s take a break from L.A.’s June Gloom to get some sun and scout it out!

The area was thoroughly scorched in the Zaca Fire of 2007, so the trail is probably in highly variable condition – clear in some spots, but quite brushy and hard-to-find in others. At nearly fourteen miles roundtrip and with 2,000 feet of elevation gain on a warm late spring day, this will be a strenuous hike suitable only for hikers in very good condition. We’ll cheerfully face the possibility of rattlesnakes, bushwhacking, ticks and poison oak - without whining! - en route to our destination: Madulce Potrero, tucked away in a high mountain meadow under Heart Break Hill and Madulce Peak. Plan on about 8 hours on the trail, with a return to civilization by 7- 8pm. Depending on our group’s willingness, we may reward ourselves with a post-hike beer and/or pizza at a colorful biker hangout near the trailhead.