Santa Margarita Road Turn-around Point
Santa Margarita Road starts out as a paved road, becoming a dirt road spur, then a trail before disappearing completely. The map doesn’t differentiate this progression which might explain all the traffic we saw recently. Also, a turn-off onto the dry riverbed appeared recently closed. The drivers of the four-wheel drives may have been used to making their way through the area in the past. This day they drove in and soon after drove back out, the drivers looking apologetic. Further on, several trucks passed us although the road was rocky and washed away in parts.
We encountered a pick-up truck turning around in this section. The driver asked if we’d seen his dog. We heard the dog later but didn’t see him. Hopefully that meant they found each other, especially since we didn’t see the dog wandering around later.
Shadows across the Santa Margarita Road
Shadows dapple the road not because the trees had lost their leaves in autumn. They are oaks with lots of dead branches. Otherwise, they looked quite healthy, just wild and unpruned. Perhaps this is typical of live coast oak in drought conditions. What this means to the health of the trees or the forest is unclear. The dead branches did make photogenic patterns.
Small Boulder on Santa Margarita Road
More obstacles on the road that didn’t deter the truck traffic. Honestly a very small boulder but visually arresting and something for little ones to practice their balance. The terrain was just ragged enough to keep us on the road and amplified the impact of everything located on it. The boulder was now a real point of interest for the kids, both having to jump on it walking each direction.
