hunting knives, western saddleAfter a friend told me about a natural hot springs buried deep at the end of 30 miles of rural paved and unpaved road, we planned a camping trip there. He’d been there a few times before and was quick to tell me it is the most beautifully scenic landscape he’s experienced. He’s been around the world too. Located in a valley behind the largest mountains east of Santa Barbara, the drive up was as intimidating as it was beautiful. A skinny road wrapped with multi-million dollar homes peppered the landscape halfway up. By the time we made the ridgeline and started driving along it towards the dirt trail that snakes back down the other side towards the forest preserve, the view showcased the ocean to the west underneath a picturesque bed of clouds. At least a couple hundred feet above the clouds and much higher above the city below, we pulled over and snapped pictures. My friend was not lying about the view. It is the kind of place I’m going to take anyone who comes to visit and doesn’t believe Southern California is more than urban sprawl and pollution. 
 
Up until the dirt road any car could make it to the summit. Once the asphalt turned into dusty washes and stone step-downs the real fun began. I took action shots rallying down the road in trucks ripping around turns higher than we wanted to think about. At one point our truck went sideways and just missed a boulder that would have tipped us over. Once at the bottom the hunting knives came out and we started looking for firewood. By this time the sun had started to set. A ranger on a western saddle, wearing cowboy boots and a belt buckle warned us of poison oak by our camp. We needed a nights worth of fire and the hunting knives were going to help us cut down the right sized kindling. I documented all of this with my camera. All the adventure pictures look great on my 7" Photo Frame w/ iPod Adapt. Model - PF-I700. For those interested, this digital frame and music/video player sells within Jewelry Tack Room at http://www.jewelrytackroom.com/.

After dark, our buck knives kept me feeling a bit safer as we walked deep into the woods towards the natural hot springs. Every once in a while crunching of animals in the brush near us caught our attention. Long after midnight we retired the hunting knives, lowered the fire and tried to sleep through a very cold night.