Re: Los Padres National Forest Announces Road Closure

I echo Paul's reply.

It's an "upside-down" hike like DCHS, meaning you go down and then up on the way out (after you're already tired). I'd actually thought it was closer to 3,000 feet of elevation loss/regain, but 2300 sounds like it could be right. Either way, it's a lot. By way of comparison, DCHS elevation loss/regain when hiking from Bowen Ranch is about 900 feet.

For future reference for anyone looking to hike from Cold Springs Flat to LC or BC, the elevation loss/regain is the same for both hikes. It's just that BC is a lot LONGER, because once you get down all that elevation to the relatively flat valley around the Santa Ynez river, you have much farther to go to get to BC vs. LC -- and they're in separate directions, so you can't plan on trying for BC and settling for LC if it turns out to be too much for you. At a certain point, you either go straight to go another 3 miles to LC, or right to go another 7 miles to BC.

I'll have to post a topo map of both routes to this forum at some point.