Almost Everything Loop
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Getting There
Turn-By-Turn
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Description and MapThe hike begins on about a ½ mile access trail that descends at about a 5% grade into a small valley. It's a single track dirt trail that alternates between open grasslands and shady forests of Oak, Bayberry, Redwoods and a few Madrone. Fro the most part the forests predominate. Toward the end of this trail there is a small bridge across what I assume is Peter's Creek. Mostly a seasonal creek there was some standing water around the bridge (surprising in that this observation is from a drought year, 2014).
Turning right onto Peter's Creek Trail the forests, with basically the same type of vegetation, starts to predominate with only brief open spaces of small meadows. The trail here is a single lane service road and parallels the creek in the bottom of the canyon. It seems fairly flat, though checking my GPS data I discovered it is about a mile or so of a 2.5% grade. Even on a hot day the temperature in this section is considerably cooler. On the day of my hike I spotted a finagle of Finches and a jam of Blue Scrub Jays (just made those flock designations up;) and heard several other species making noise in the tops of the trees. The last ½ mile of the trail is a series of switchbacks that scale one side of the canyon wall with about an 8% grade. The Redwoods thin out here and the Oaks a Bayberries take over. Making a hard right onto what I think is Ward Rd., the terrain opens up being mostly open space with tall grasses and spotty patches of Oaks. There are some nice views of a deep interior valley with a lower pass that opens out to the coast (I think) and possibly a view of the ocean (the coast was very foggy the day I hiked this). after a short .1 of a mile Ward Rd. veers of to the left and I am unsure of the name of the trail at this point but just head straight to Hickory Oaks Trail. A short stint on Hickory Oaks Trail continues with much the same mostly open space but there are a few more spots of shady Oaks and also the same valley view. After about a ⅓ of a mile the trail merges with Ward Rd., just head straight and you'll be fine. The total descent on these two trails to Ranch Spring Trail, a real gem, is around ¾ of a mile of a fairly steep 9.8% grade. Be aware that you do have to double back on this trail but only to were Ward Rd veers to the left, about ⅓ of a mile. It's well worth the effort for the beautiful Ranch Spring Loop Trail that it leads to. Turning right onto Ranch Spring Trail you enter a wonderful .9 mile loop that basically heads down into a small valley and then returns up back to the Ward Rd. The entire trail is shaded by a dense Redwood forest so, even though the trail is about the width of a service road, it is covered in pine needles and leaves giving a very rustic feel. Peaceful, quiet, isolated are a few adjectives that spring to mind. While it is a loop the first entrance you come to on the Ward Rd. is not marked well. There is a post mostly hidden in the grasses but no sign on the post, however the second entrance is well marked so no worries about finding it. Descending on the second junction trail is a 6.6% grade and then the returning leg is a pretty steep 12% so if you prefer to descend steep grades rather than ascending them, you might want to keep an eye out for the post on the right side of the trail. Once back to Ward Rd head left back up the hill and stay on Ward Rd when it veers of to the left. After an initial down hill stint the trail heads back up the hill to the Peter's Creek, Ward Rd., Long Ridge junction you were at before. Initially in a shaded forest this thins out as you reach the summit. Once at the junction take the Long Ridge Trail to the left. The first ½ mile is a single wide service road and pretty much follows the contours of the top of the ridge, so mostly flat with some ups and downs. It's all in open grass land with the same valley view described earlier. At the ½ mile mark the trail changes to a single track and takes a meandering up and down path through the same type of forest cover that the rest of the hike has gone through. The only downside to this section of the trail is that it parallels a paved road fairly close by, fortunately it is sparsely trafficked. There is a cut-off point about midway that takes you back to the flat part of Peter's Creek Trail. I haven't hiked it yet but it's actually a tenth of a mile longer but it looks like it should cut out a few extra inclines and a couple short rough declines, one 9% grade and the other a 15% grade. The continuation of the Long Ridge Trail here is a bit hard to find, just keep heading straight across the little clearing and you'll see it. Right after this intersection the trail cuts through a small grove of manzanita which is kind of striking in that it is the only manzanita I've seen in this OSP. Long Ridge Trail ends at the Access Trail just turn left and head back up to the parking area. Alternate Route Turn Points and DescriptionsThere are several alternate trails, most deadheads, that I have yet to explore. More on that later (or get out there yourself and check them out and shoot me an email with your observations and you just might see them posted here!).
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Elevation Profile
Note: This elevation profile has some inaccuracies in it as I had a GPS malfunction on this hike and the track stopped recording about ⅔ of the way through (OK, I should have put in fresh batteries!). I had an old track from a shorter hike that overlapped and managed to kluge the two together but there where some spots of obvious weirdness. For instance, at one point it looked like a scaled about a 50 ft. vertical cliff face and I guarantee you I'm no mountain climber. Anyway, I whited out those weird spots in this image. Overall I think it still gives a good idea of the elevation for this hike. I'll update it the next time I do this hike.