hike to ellwood

 

I didn’t know that there’s such a wonderful hiking route near Santa Barbara (but I certainly can expect that there are wonderful places here, after all, it’s Santa Barbara). We started from San Nicolas Hall, and together we walked to the bluffs of campus point. I’m very familiar with this path for I’m a big fan of UCSB’s beach and I go to the beach whenever I feel like to. But that’s all, I had never ventured further into north of our beach. When we passed the cliff, we reached the other part of our beach where I had never set foot on and few people were there. That part of the beach has a broader view of the ocean and when I was there I felt like I was completely embraced by the ocean.

Nearly by the end of the beach, we walked to DP through a metal stair connecting the beach and DP. I thought that was the end and I got bored, but I kept going with the group. The place where we eventually arrived proved that all our walking was worth it. By the end of DP, where I usually wouldn’t go in normal days, we entered a small entrance into a mud path leading to somewhere I didn’t know. And so we kept walking. What eventually unveiled to me was yet another beach which leads to a forest like height. Unlike the cliff besides UCSB beach, where we arrived was a higher ground, where we can have a grander view of the ocean and the other side of the beach.

However for some personal reasons I couldn’t go on with the group to unveil the final destination, Ellwood. But I happened to be a gloomy day and the sunshine is not perfect, it gave me reason to come back later in the future and see for myself what is in there that gives it the reputation of butterfly reserve.