Here’s a pic from Wednesday’s flight, of the “Twist Falls” I wrote about yesterday.
6790 Twist Falls
We need to get back when there’s full sun on it sometime soon, while it’s still flowing so strong. When it’s really going strong, I think this is the one that flips several times on the way down. Wonder if anyone’s found a way to reach it without mountaineering equipment.
Whether flying or wandering the area by car, bike or on foot, there’s no place like home for us.
1999 Back Toward Home
When we first moved here “for a year” over a decade ago, the modest place we rented was in the area included in this pic from Stearn’s Wharf, in a ‘hood some locals called Monteghetto. As you can see, be it ever so humble it was still a great place to call Home. We used to walk this area called East Beach often, and until moving into our even more modest place with a view of the hills thought we’d always prefer ocean. Now we just go there occasionally as with this visit a few days ago, and whatever the mode of transport we are at least equally drawn to the hills and mountains.
6776 Twist Falls Trail
For example, we want to try out the trail(s) from a hairpin turn on Gibraltar Road, East to a waterfall I’ve been calling Twist Falls lately because it hits a rock part way down and the ribbon of water flips over in a twist as it bounces. The falls are at the upper-right, and the road is out of frame to the left. Could be just game trails, but they do seem traveled enough they might be safe for us to hike before the scrub burned in the fires re-grows.
The horrific fire that swept through the Botanic Gardens area left some homes untouched, and in the months since some have been or are being rebuilt. Some like this have been removed with only traces remaining.
6758 Traces of Home
On the other side of the Gardens, two other homes are in different stages.
6766 Traces of Homes
I feel contemplative looking at places like this. Imagining family memories, hopes and dreams swept away in an instant by a river of fire into the sea of Change.
There is a quiet garden that many Santa Barbarians don’t know of, with miles of trails through rock, tree and river among a wide variety of interesting native plants.
6755 SB Botanical Garden
We had lived here a while before a friend told us of the free path on the hillside above the Garden. That’s it to the right of the road, running up the right side of the pic. The main buildings are in the middle, and flowing down the shady canyon on the left is a maze of quiet trails that are our favorite part of a visit. There’s even a small grove of majestic redwoods that seems to have survived the wildfire of a few years ago. Here’s a better look at the paths of the upper free trail, which is across the road from the Botanical Garden proper.
6748 Upper Garden
Seems to me there used to be a few more trees there, but I’m glad quite a few are there still. At the top of the first photo you can see the small rectangular building in this next pic.
6762 Spiral Shelter
Looks like a great place to shelter on a hot day, and we’re looking forward to getting a closer look sometime soon because it’s new since our last visit a few years ago. Last up is another angle on the main buildings, revealing what we hope is a “new” public cafe on the deck with tables sporting green umbrellas.
6764 Garden Cafe?
Maybe we can at least take a picnic to enjoy there, perhaps overhearing botanists talking about the latest exotic species in the Garden.
Could anyplace be nowhere, or is paradise arrayed everywhere around and within us? My answer as you’ve guessed, tends toward the latter. 🙂
There’s a place locals call the “bridge to nowhere” that has a lot of somewhere about it for us.
6737 Bridge to Somewhere
It crosses Highway 154 just North of Foothill/Cathedral Oaks, and opens a world of adventure for those who go there. The formal name is Salvar Bridge and it was presumably built in anticipation of housing development that (so far) hasn’t happened. When wildfires have scorched our mountains, helicopters and fire crews have used the short road as a staging area. Hang gliders launched from the mountains land there. Radio control model plane enthusiasts gather there to fly their cool toys. At the top (North) end, hikers and bikers have used it for years as the entrance to the area locally known as the San Marcos Foothills. Because it’s a bit above town and open, sunsets there can be especially spectacular when the whole dome of sky lights up to overwhelm the viewer unimpeded.
6737 Cycle Jump Closeup?
This closeup cropped from the bottom (South) end of the short road seems to reveal a spot used for jumping with bikes. We didn’t see it last time there a few months ago, so maybe it’s new. Looks like concrete or something similar has been put on part of it, and they turn around on the dirt next to the intersection at the top-left of this closeup. Below is a snap of the whole area taken a moment later as we passed. Though it’s hazy due to looking more in the direction of the late afternoon sun, it gives an impression of how wonderful it is to walk these hills. Maybe contemplating the opposite of nowhere as each step brings us closer to someplace quiet within.
6739 San Marcos Foothills
John & Anne Wiley 
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