WHAT GOES DOWN WORTH GOING UP : CHORRO GRANDE TRAIL: TRUE TEST.

Byline: Brett Pauly

Ah, the best-laid plans.

I had hoped to share my recent discovery of a 5-1/2-mile downhill hike in Los Padres National Forest that makes a terrific fall outing. I consider it a real find anytime you stumble onto trail that allows you to work with the principles of gravity its entire length.

Alas, less predictable forces of nature put a premature - if only temporary - end to my tale and turned this piece into a weather story. You see, this week's storm that dampened Southern California forced engineers to close the gated backcountry roads in the National Forest, including Pine Mountain Road that leads to the upper head of the Chorro Grande Trail, the downhill treasure I hoofed a few weeks back.

The downpour, which dumped snow and more than five inches of rain on higher elevations, caught rangers by surprise. ``We're about a month early,'' said Terry Austin, a resource forester with the Ojai Ranger Station.

The district's back roads usually remain open until Thanksgiving, Austin said. And Tuesday's closure of Pine Mountain Road for safety and environmental concerns was the earliest in the five years that it has been gated through the winter.

Can ski season be far off?

Not really. Boreal Ski Area near Lake Tahoe opens Saturday. Bear Mountain and Mammoth Mountain plan to kick-start their chair lifts Nov. 8. And snow bunnies will arrive at Squaw Valley on Nov. 15.

But since we have a little while left before it's time to file the boards, boot up and step into the bindings, let's consider a training regimen. And what better way to gear up for skiing than an uphill hike? After all, the storm system is expected to clear up by today and trails will be dry in no time.

Back to the Chorro Grande Trail, only this time in reverse.

The route starts in a pinyon pine-lined canyon above Sespe Creek north of Ojai at an elevation of 4,085 feet. It crests at 7,160 feet on Pine Mountain, west of Reyes Peak - at 7,514 feet the highest in the Ojai Ranger District. (The 8,831-foot Mount Pinos, on the boundary between Ventura and Kern counties, is the tallest point in Los Padres National Forest.)

Chorro Grande Canyon's 3,075 feet elevation gain is certainly formidable. But, remember, my perspective was from the other direction. Suffice to say, hiking this footpath from bottom to top will be a bear. (Likewise, it's easier to hike downhill than to write uphill.)

If the 11-mile round-trip sounds daunting, tackle the first half or make it a camping excursion. Water can be found at Oak Camp two miles in and again from a gurgling fountainhead at Chorro Springs Camp at the 4-1/2-mile mark.

From the lower trailhead, hikers quickly leave Highway 33 behind and come to a burned-out section, where the remains of yucca plants looked like scorched pineapples. If the snow level gets any lower, you could have a real fire-and-ice dilemma. Give a primal yell or two to celebrate the isolation; the echoes that shoot through the canyon are riveting.

By the end of the first mile you will have crossed three creek beds (4,300 feet elevation). They were dry when I traversed them but might not be now. Explorers can look for a waterfall that is earmarked downstream on maps.

Chorro Grande means waterfall in Spanish and can also be translated as a bad case of diarrhea, which is not a good thing to have on this isolated trail. Turn back immediately.

As we merrily wafflestomped down the track our party touted Chorro Grande as the ``big doughnut,'' but that would actually be Churro Grande and nary a fritter, torte or cupcake was to be found.

However, you will run into plenty of scrub oak, manzanita, rabbitbrush, coffeeberry, curl-leaf mountain mahogany, white and purple sage, ceanothus (also called California lilac), false lupine (a yellow-flowered bush that is similar to ceanothus) and other chaparral vegetation. Streamside alders lead the way to Oak Camp (4,550 feet), which is shaded by interior live oaks and frequented by flying insects.

The trail follows the creek that is fed from on high by Chorro Springs for another half-mile, crosses the intersection (4,740 feet) of a dirt road that leads west and a hiking trail that heads east toward nearby Burro and Munson creeks, then zigzags uphill to the northeast.

According to ``Hike the Santa Barbara Backcountry,'' a sound guide to the southern Los Padres National Forest, by rooting along the creek north of this junction, trailblazers can spot the little flat used to shelter Three Pines Camp before it was washed out by torrential rains in 1973.

As you ascend - and it is here where the grade gets serious - grander views of Pine Mountain and its namesake Jeffrey and ponderosa pines open up in front of you. Behind, 5,660-foot Ortega Hill, the Matilija Wilderness and the Sespe Creek drainage make their presence more obvious.

Several long, steep switchbacks will direct you into intermittent sections of the pine belt (5,900 feet) and past several downed logs before revealing Chorro Springs Camp (6,425 feet).

The final mile push to Pine Mountain Road delivers powerful gusts of winds, wonderful Alpine smells and enormous clusters of pinecones.

When the road is open, hang gliders employ for takeoffs the ridge road that bisects the Ojai and Mount Pinos ranger districts.

Here, too, you might see how the destructive Western dwarf mistletoe has invaded Jeffrey pines and other conifers.

Rangers have begun a mistletoe suppression project along the ridge, pruning out infected branches and planting white fir, sugar pine and other native plants that are not susceptible to the harmful shrub. The road is blocked off with boulders in the wintertime.

IF YOU'RE GOING

To reach the lower head of the Chorro Grande Trail, drive 26 miles north of Ojai on Highway 33 to an obvious sign designating it as trail No. 23W05. Begin your adventure here. Climb as high as you can - it's all uphill - and return the way you came.

Camping is allowed year-round. Campfire permits are required and are available free of charge through Los Padres National Forest offices.

The route appears on the Wheeler Springs and Reyes Peak 7.5-minute topographic maps. For more information, including road conditions, fire restrictions or closures, contact the Ojai Ranger District at [phone].

Note: In the spring, when the dilapidated road leading to Pine Mountain Recreational Area (Road 6N06) is reopened, this can be a great downhill trek if you make it a shuttle trip. Park one car at the lower trailhead described above and have all hikers travel in the second car. Drive six more miles to Pine Mountain Road, turn right and drive another six miles to the upper terminus of Chorro Grande Trail, which is not clearly marked but begins at a gate on the road just beyond the last camping site in Reyes Peak Campground. Leave the second vehicle here and start the descent.

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Box: IF YOU'RE GOING (see text)