Backbone Trail Thru Hike Day One: What Did I Get Myself Into?

On February 6, I set out to start my 70-mile thru-hike of Southern California’s Backbone Trail (BBT). I grew up in the Santa Monica Mountains, so hiking this trail all the way through had been a dream of mine since I fell in love with hiking in my early twenties.

While people do thru-hike the BBT, there is very little information on doing it in its entirety online, and there is no official guidebook, so starting out that morning, I only had a vague idea of what to expect. The trail spans the Santa Monica Mountains from Will Rogers State Historic Park (Eastern Terminus) to Point Mugu State Park (Western Terminus).

I started at the Eastern Terminus and was officially heading Westbound (WeBo?).

 

An Immediate Ascent

Since there is no BBT guidebook, I knew mileages and campsites along my WeBo route, but my knowledge of elevation gains and terrain was super limited. Because of this, I was unaware that my warm up for my thru hike would be a pretty immediate ascent from the Terminus until Temescal Ridge. It had been a while since I’d gone on a backpacking trip, so the weight was definitely affecting my speed and as I reached the first “summit” of my hike, after a site called “the bridge,” my thoughts were a chorus of, “What did I get myself into?”

I was only 2 miles into a 70 mile trek and already struggling. I had to remind myself that this was normal–I just wasn’t used to the weight–and keep walking.

The flats in between ascents were a welcome reprieve. The terrain was narrow in parts, but solid, although some sections were very overgrown with grasses and plants from the recent rain.

Summiting Temescal Peak

Temescal Peak was my first (and only) true summit of the hike. The summit is reached via a small spur trail, but it was a small mountain I’d never summited before, so I lugged myself and my pack up only to sit in the wind at the top and almost have my fruit snacks blow out of my hand. I was just under 7 miles into my 10.5 mile day.

The Hub and Eagle Rock

The Hub is a spot on the BBT where a bunch of different trails spur off of. It has a little shelter, bench, and a pit toilet on trail. Reaching the Hub was a huge deal to me because I’d gotten there on day hikes plenty of times. It meant I was in familiar territory, if only for a minute, and that brought me a sense of relief.

Eagle Rock is only about 1.5 miles from the Hub. It is uphill, but this section, around the Hub and Eagle Rock, is one of the BBT’s characteristic fire road sections, which means the ground feels solid, even though it’s steep! I stopped to take in the view at Eagle Rock, and then headed downhill toward Musch Camp.

Flush Toilets on Trail?

On the way to Musch Camp I had my first creek crossing of the whole trail. I was honestly surprised to see water at all, but it was only there due to the recent Southern California rain. It brought me a lot of peace of mind though, because it meant that if I couldn’t find purified water access, I might have natural sources I could filter throughout trail.

Musch Camp is a first come first serve hike in camp in Topanga State Park and it’s the only official campground that’s actually on the BBT. Because the National Park Service doesn’t recognize the BBT as a “complete” long distance trail yet, camping is illegal outside of designated campgrounds. This made planning a bit harder, and forced me to go specific distances between campsites, rather than simply stopping when I was tired, or found a good site to stay the night.

Musch Camp cost me $7 and had access to flush toilets, picnic tables, and a water spigot. Fires there are illegal, and it is a one mile hike to Trippet Ranch, which was my first stop on day 2!