Horse Thief Creek

Carrizo Canyon was closed. Boooooo.
There were trails in other directions, so after deciding which one to take, Diego and I headed west. That's when I noticed one of many "Dogs Prohibited" signs. I need to get an updated version of my hike book, because this hike was listed as Dog-Friendly. Not one to break the rules (or scare off those endangered Bighorn Sheep) we got back into the truck... I was a bit disgruntled and Diego was very confused.
Instead of wasting the day, we headed up Hwy 74 into the Santa Rosa mountains. Horse Thief Creek was our new destination, about 2.25 miles of ups and downs via the Cactus Springs Trail.

Right away we ran into an old dolomite mine. Abandoned things usually creep me out, but I figured any monster or zombie or combination of the two would be no match for my fearless Doberman.

I still did not have the nerve to approach the abandoned cars, simply because scary movies have imprinted me with assumption that there WILL be a skeleton at the wheel. I snapped my pictures and quickly made my way out of there.


Right after this sign was another sign that had nothing on it, leaving my imagination to come up with what it might have said.

The ecosystem up there is called Chapparal; a transition ecosystem between Desert and Forest. It was nice to look to my left and see my familiar desert plants, then look to the right and see some pretty heavily wooded areas. There was even a bit of snow visible south of where we were headed.

About 2 hrs later, we arrived at Horse Thief Creek. I munched on some beef jerky while Diego explored a bit. We also played fetch with rocks, because it's hilarious to watch Diego try to find the exact rock that I threw into the stream.

As we made our way back, I found a baby Gap hat near the Dolomite mine. My first instinct was to get freaked out by this, but after a little thought, I doubted the existence of a Baby Gap Ghost. I put it on Diego and he loved it, as you can see.

We managed to make it back before sunset. The entire hike took about 3 hrs.

We stopped at Vista Point on our way down the mountain. I'm not sure when they fixed it up, but it looks so much better now. It used to be a crappy gravel parking lot with beer cans everywhere. Now it has a new parking lot, a barrier wall, and this nice plaque. It's worth checking out if you ever pass by.

I'd like to return to that hike sometime and try my hand at going all the way to Cactus Springs. I'd have to be up and ready by like 7am... so maybe not. I'm just not that advanced yet.