I love serendipity. In this case, there was literally dipity-ing involved.  What’s a grotto without a dip? Just like a naked chip, I tell you!

My hubby and I had planned for weeks to hike to what is called “Knapp’s Castle” in the hills of Santa Barbara and we set out to do just that this morning.  We had directions and an iPhone and GPS….yet still, we had a bit of a detour whilst looking for the trail-head, and we were drawn to a completely different hiking route, the Santa Cruz trail.  What caught my attention was a creek we saw flowing

wildflowers-santa-barbara-california

Red Gone Wild!

generously over the road through the campground. “Let’s just check out this trail for a bit”, I suggested. Well, once we got out of the car, hit the trail with our pack and our new crazy rescue dog, Winston (trust me, this dog is working full-time on providing me with blogging material for his own series! lol) we were lured ever further up into the wilds of the arid yet wild-flower strewn oak canyons of this region.

And we were rewarded.  There were likely more than two dozen different varieties of wildflowers and blooming shrubs.  I spotted butterflies, moths, lizards, skinks, hawks, hummingbirds, flycatchers, phoebes, finches, wrens, and the shocker treat of the day…a wild turtle! I can’t recall ever seeing one in California and I am known as a “spotter”. He was swimming happily and freely in one of the glistening pools of the stream we hiked along.

santa-barbara-hills-california

Looks arid and dry, right? Hidden grottos await...

It was fairly hot today.  It was only in the low 80s (Farenheit for my non-Amurkin readers) but there was not much shade and the trail climbed upwards. My husband had thoughtfully weighted down my pack with over 2 gallons of water in the interest of my Team Mera training – haha – and I felt the exertion.  So…when we looked down the steep slope at a glimmering deep pool amongst some boulders down below, we decided to slide very ungracefully on our hands, feet and butts to the mini paradise awaiting us.

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” John Muir

gina-in-the-glorious-grotto

I suffer so...

We were greeted with a small waterfall cascading into the cool water and we of course had no respectable bathing attire with us.  We did the only thing one can do when faced with such a dilemma. We hiked up our shorts and waded in and got splashed on anyways by the streaming water and didn’t care one whit. Winston romped in with us and the warm sun quickly dried our soggy clothes on the rest of the hike. Castle forgotten.

wildflowers-santa-barbara-california

Puff & Stuff

If you enjoyed this post, savor more hiking tales here.

All Photos by G.Stark except the one of me, by P.Stark

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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

@libbytalks June 26, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Sounds like an absolutely beeeeeuuutiful day! What a find: a grotto with a waterfall! Better even than a castle! :) I love to read your blog Gina, your descriptions are so rich and pictures lovely. You have a good life! Enjoy! Luv, Libby

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gitanablog June 27, 2010 at 6:10 pm

Thank you soooo muuchly Libby dear! I love seeing your comments here and on Twitter…you grace everyone with smiles and it's no wonder you have cherished loyal friendships! I'll be hopping over to your blog to read soonly! :) Cheers and hugs, Gina

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JB510 June 26, 2010 at 8:32 pm

Aww… we saw waterfalls yesterday too!

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gitanablog June 27, 2010 at 6:10 pm

Ooooooo…pictures? Purdy please? :) Aloha! Gina

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JB510 June 28, 2010 at 10:42 am

There are few water fall pictures on my friend Sanam's blog My Persian Kitchen toward the bottom, great photos up top too!

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gitanablog June 28, 2010 at 7:16 pm

Hey hey John, thanks so muuchly for the link but, alas, it has an error message for me :( *pouting* You can Twitpic me one, too :D Cheers and hugs to you and the Goddess, Elena :) xoxoxo Gina

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JB510 June 30, 2010 at 11:12 pm

link works fine for me, did you click the link on the site or in a notification email?

goldeneagle July 13, 2010 at 4:32 pm

"wild turtle" hee hee. What, u have to turn and crawl away as fast as possible to avoid being gummed to death? Come up here and meet a _wild snapping turtle '<

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Gina SuuperG Stark July 2, 2010 at 8:48 am

Aahhhh grasshoppah it worked from the email notification rather than the one on here :) Thanks muuchly my friend! Huugggs to you and the Goddess! xoxox G

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