9/27 - Dutra Ranch

 

This hike turned out to be longer and more tiring than originally planned, but we did find the connection between the Dutra trails and the trail up Vaca Creek which would allow for a variety of hikes with shuttles.

We started on the Feeder Tr from the gate by the stables on Dutra Rd off Franklin Cyn Rd. It is 3/4 mile up hill to the Sky Ranch Kiosk. We went directly up the hill to the bench and marker for the properties. Then we started the adventure part. Easterly from the viewpoint bench to the locked gate just past the old concrete pipes and then south on Tina Batt Tr to the intersection with Almond Tr, a single track thru grasslands with numerous valley oaks creeping up the canyons. About 1/2 mile from our eventual destination, the group split. Polly, Ulla and Lee headed back the way we had come; Geoff and Susan followed a cow path up a north running draw and met the road which had the locked gate (they went over it). Phred, Elaine, Ed, Linda and I kept on until we met the trail we had taken in spring of 2022 up from Alhambra Valley Rd and then returned the way we had come.

the red line is our route, the purple line Susan and Geoff's shortcut

Distances ranged from 4.2 to nearly 5 miles

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