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Hat Creek Cattle Company Bouldering
Routes in Hat Creek Cattle Company
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Blue Canard V2-3 5+ |
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Blue Duck V1 5 |
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McCrae Corner V3 6A |
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Newt V4 6B |
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No Pigs For Rent V8 7B |
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Show Pigs For Rent V9 7C |
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Vivendo V3 6A |
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| GPS: |
34.46851, -119.71313 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
| Page Views: | 6,589 total · 62/month |
| Shared By: | andy patterson on Aug 8, 2015 · Updates |
| Admins: | andy patterson, Mike Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer Ski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes |
Description
If the Skofield Park boulders have distant, socially reclusive cousins, then this is where they live. Hat Creek Cattle Company makes you believe that just about anything could be hiding beneath the canopy of Santa Barbara's flora and fauna.
On one of my many Rattlesnake rambles (which usually consist of me running up poison oak choked drainages), I stumbled on a nice collection of beautiful stones, nicely shaded by oak trees, and favorably appointed with flat landings. Very cool, said I. So I set to clearing landings, and climbing enough problems to fill a Saturday afternoon.
This is the wild-west of SB bouldering! Expect none of the conveniences of our most popular pebble-wrestling locales: there's a long approach (for SB standards), civilization seems to drift in to memory, and when the leaves rustle around you, you can't tell if it's the wind blowing through the oaks, or a mountain lion casing the joint. Completely awesome area, and gloriously secluded.
The bouldering development here represents just a smidgen of what's possible. Even further upstream lie some gargantuan stones, with lines begging to be climbed (more on those later!). Hat Creek Cattle Company is just the first, nascent gesture of some pretty rad creekbed bouldering adventures in this area. As with all SB bouldering, locals have to dredge historical information from a miasma of undocumented lore. I'll gladly relinquish my names and grades to those who may have gone before me, but I'm pretty confident I was the first soul to climb these problems. You'll understand when you go there; this place feels remote!
On one of my many Rattlesnake rambles (which usually consist of me running up poison oak choked drainages), I stumbled on a nice collection of beautiful stones, nicely shaded by oak trees, and favorably appointed with flat landings. Very cool, said I. So I set to clearing landings, and climbing enough problems to fill a Saturday afternoon.
This is the wild-west of SB bouldering! Expect none of the conveniences of our most popular pebble-wrestling locales: there's a long approach (for SB standards), civilization seems to drift in to memory, and when the leaves rustle around you, you can't tell if it's the wind blowing through the oaks, or a mountain lion casing the joint. Completely awesome area, and gloriously secluded.
The bouldering development here represents just a smidgen of what's possible. Even further upstream lie some gargantuan stones, with lines begging to be climbed (more on those later!). Hat Creek Cattle Company is just the first, nascent gesture of some pretty rad creekbed bouldering adventures in this area. As with all SB bouldering, locals have to dredge historical information from a miasma of undocumented lore. I'll gladly relinquish my names and grades to those who may have gone before me, but I'm pretty confident I was the first soul to climb these problems. You'll understand when you go there; this place feels remote!
Getting There
Okay, take a deep breath.
These boulders are not hard to GET to, just hard to FIND. Once you know where you are going, expect a hike of about 35-45 minutes, mostly on trail. From the Rattlesnake Canyon trailhead, head up the trail. After about fifteen minutes, you will cross a stream. Fifteen minutes later, right before Renaissance Man, you will cross a stream again. After passing Renaissance Man, you will cross the stream a third time. From this point, walk up the trail to where it begins to climb out of the creek-bed. You will pass a decent-sized boulder on your right that we call "The Warmup Boulder"(see pic). About one hundred feet past The Warmup Boulder, the trail makes a sharp LEFT switchback. Instead of following the trail, go RIGHT down the embankment and in to the stream bed (see pic). Yes, there is some poison oak, but it is easily avoidable.
Hike up stream bed about one hundred fifty meters (very approximate). You will come to a "clearing" of sorts, where the stream stones are white. Some of them contain a prominent vein of fossils. Past this point, walk another fifty feet, and look to your right. There are a jumble of small boulders. Scramble over them and you will arrive in a sort of courtyard of boulders. This is it.
These boulders are not hard to GET to, just hard to FIND. Once you know where you are going, expect a hike of about 35-45 minutes, mostly on trail. From the Rattlesnake Canyon trailhead, head up the trail. After about fifteen minutes, you will cross a stream. Fifteen minutes later, right before Renaissance Man, you will cross a stream again. After passing Renaissance Man, you will cross the stream a third time. From this point, walk up the trail to where it begins to climb out of the creek-bed. You will pass a decent-sized boulder on your right that we call "The Warmup Boulder"(see pic). About one hundred feet past The Warmup Boulder, the trail makes a sharp LEFT switchback. Instead of following the trail, go RIGHT down the embankment and in to the stream bed (see pic). Yes, there is some poison oak, but it is easily avoidable.
Hike up stream bed about one hundred fifty meters (very approximate). You will come to a "clearing" of sorts, where the stream stones are white. Some of them contain a prominent vein of fossils. Past this point, walk another fifty feet, and look to your right. There are a jumble of small boulders. Scramble over them and you will arrive in a sort of courtyard of boulders. This is it.
Classic Climbing Routes at Hat Creek Cattle Company
Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
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