White clouds in a blue sky. Slopes of sage and chaparral give way to oak covered hillsides and grassy meadows. Great monoliths of slanted rock rise above placid green waters. Masses of white and purple blossoms are offset by dark green foliage. Wide dirt roads transition to flowing single track trails. Red earth dug from deep inside a mountain falls away in drifts to a velvety border of cottonwoods. Heavy rusted steel and fractured beams seem incongruous in these surroundings, yet there they are.
I can't speak for the true weekend, but on this Friday afternoon, the upper Santa Ynez River Valley was virtually abandoned. Sure there were some scattered campers at the campgrounds, and clusters of mountain bikers were beginning (or ending) their rides nearby but, further up, between the Red Rocks Trailhead and the Sunbird Quicksilver Mine were a grand total of two hikers, one deer, a colorful snake and, at the caretakers' house, one dog barking at that one deer. Idyllic if you ask me.
I kept the ultimate destination of the day's ride a secret from the mrs., a surprise that would only become obvious once it hove into view. When I inquired (at Gravel Bike California) about current conditions, the responses were nearly unanimous - avoid the low road, the river trail, a rocky unrideable quagmire. The high road had already been the predetermined choice of route based on some initial research, and the GBC info set it in stone. I was fine with that, and quickly came to realize that the scenery along the high road would be far more varied that the view afforded by the single perspective at the canyon bottom.
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| beautiful Spring |
The upper road starts out with a gentle enough grade, until reaching the top of the ridge overlooking Devil's Canyon and its view of Gibraltar Dam. From that point it rises up ridges and descends into canyons, and tracks deep up along the single true arm of the lake, Gidney Creek. After the trailhead, the upper and lower trails merge again at Devil's Canyon below the dam; at this junction the lower route looks perfectly inviting but, with foreknowledge of its impassibility further down, we made no attempt at it. Continuing along (Forest Road 5N18) the route comes to the maintenance area at the top of the dam then, a little further along, the caretakers' house, until reaching a junction at a big water tank sitting at the edge of a large meadow. This is the northern end of Gibraltar Road which bends and winds up and away to the right, eventually reaching Angostura Pass on East Camino Cielo and above the city of Santa Barbara. I would love to have made this climb, but as it would have doubled the distance and tripled the time, it wasn't going to be possible given the time we had available to us.(*Note to self - and anyone else making a multi-hour drive to get there - stay at one of the numerous nearby campgrounds along the river so you can get a full day to ride.)
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| chasing the woman in the pirate socks |
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| cool bike rack at the 5N18 / Gibraltar Road junction |
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| left to the mine, right to the pass |
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| Gidney Creek - road beneath the oaks, and single track up the other side |
Anyway, back to the junction: The 5N18 continues to the left, passing the gate and descending to the Gidney Creek arm of Gibraltar Reservoir. From this point the route is poorly, if at all, maintained as a road and in many places has been reduced to a single track trail. There are some absolutely massive rock formations along Gidney Creek so take some time to enjoy the views. Peaking back out again on the far side of Gidney Creek, the grade of the route once again settles down, passing along a heavily wooded hillside. Within a short distance the first view of the old mine building comes into view, but easy to miss if you don't expect it - the mrs. didn't, and it wasn't until reaching an overlook where the Forest Service kindly erected a bench, that she realized where we were going - "oh, I see where you want to go." And descend the last little bit to the mine remains is what we did.
We kicked around the perimeter fence for a while, found the make-shift "ladder" someone made the get over an into the dilapidated structure, decided against climbing over, walked out onto the extensive tailings from the mine, wondered what it must have been like to work surrounded by the multiple furnaces - HOT - and ate a little lunch.
Mining began at, what came to be known as the Sunbird Quicksilver Mine, in the 1860s when Jose Moraga discovered the reddish outcropping of rock which, he believed, might contain quicksilver (mercury). In its original form quicksilver occurs as mercuric sulfide (cinnabar), a reddish ore that can be crushed and heated to extract the mercury. Not ten years beyond Moraga's discovery, the Sunbird was employing up to four-hundred men to blast, boil and bottle the precious liquid. Legal battles, fatal accidents, suicides and, ultimately, the falling value of mercury, conspired to put the mine out of business. Never-the-less, the mines's owners continued to renew their permits with the Forest Service right up to 1991, ceding their last legal right to operate the mine.
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| red rock tailings and low water Gibraltar |
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| mine company truck |
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| furnaces and, I am guessing, the cylinders held the processed quicksilver |
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| furnaces and equipment |
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| dilapidated |
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| a line of rail ties lead from out on the tailings back to the building |
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| i thought it was a rather plain stripped snake until i noticed the red - beautiful. perhaps a red-sided garter snake |
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| and the bikes they rode in on |
After our bagel sandwich, we mounted up our bikes to return the way we came. It was only then, I discovered the hole in the fence, squeezed through for some close ups of the old ore cars and the Le Roi engine; the mrs. gave me grudging permission to descend the steep slope to the ruined building as well, but I gave in to her worries and settled for a few pics from up above. Back up on the road I stopped yet again for one last look down. When I turned around there was the gaping adit entry - I didn't see it heading down, being focused on the building instead, and would have missed it again if not for the coincidence of stopping right there. The Forest Service has the tunnel securely gated off, with a sign proclaiming it to be protected bat habitat, but you can walk up to it, gingerly walking over an iron grate covering some deep dark lower levels, and hoping it doesn't choose that moment to collapse.
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| Le Roi - the King |
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| lunch |
With more clouds moving in, the rest of the ride back was, if anything, even more spectacular. A great day's outing, and even better two or three day weekend. Incidentally, Adventure Passes are not valid at the parking area. You will have to purchase a special ten dollar pass at the kiosk, or from the campground host at one of the campgrounds. All I had was a twenty, so figured someone was going to get a big tip, but as we were leaving the "ranger" (and Ellie May) came by and gave us our ten buck change. Cool guy, and he was very appreciative and thankful that we had willingly paid to begin with. Also incidentally, beyond a certain point on the road in, there is a gate that gets closed and locked at sundown.
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| Gidney Creek single track |
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| Gibraltar Dam |
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| clouding up |
there was still time for dinner at Island Brewing in Carpinteria, plus a bottle to bring home. By the by, the food by Disfruta - get it when they are there. we've bought from them three or four times now and have never been disappointed. very friendly family business. And I still made it back by 9:30, in time for the nightly Sumo highlights show
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