Mission Pine Basin

Mission Pine backcountry in the San Rafael Wilderness.

Hell's Half Acre on the Cachuma Saddle Road

Hell's Half Acre

Walking the ridge road.

Left the Road and started on the trail to Mission Pine Spring Camp,the destination for my 1st night.

The BeFree water filter. It's so easy to use, why not filter now?

Getting dinner ready, using the Bush Buddy store this trip since fire restrictions have not been turned on yet.

The trail junction and camp in Mission Pine Basin. The point where I joined the Santa Cruz trail and decended the ridge into the Santa Cruz creed drainage.

The camp at Mission Pine Spring is very nice indeed.

Good water from the spring.

The real Mission Pine basin camp located on the northwestern corner of the meadow.

The Santa Cruz creek trail down to Coche creek was in good shape. I could not find Coche camp so I stayed at Kellogg. No one has been there in awhile judging from grassy weeds growing in the fire pit, but still a serene spot with good water flow in Coche creek.

The trail past Kellogg to Flores Flat was not passable, lots of downfall. Obvious Bear activity at this camp that included what looked like a place to sleep, leave some scat, and tear up the table.

The next night was at Mission Pine Spring again, then back to the trailhead with panoramic views of the Santa Barbara backcountry.

A great trip into an area I have not been to and water was not an issue because all the springs are in great shape.