The trailhead for the Backbone Trail to Sandstone Peak is less than a mile past the Circle X Ranch on the Yerba Buena Road. After borrowing some sunscreen from another hiker in the parking lot, I headed up the trail. The trail rises about 1100' in about 1.3 miles to Sandstone Peak. There is very little shade but plenty of great views.

The best views are from Sandstone Peak (which is not sandstone at all, but volcanic rock). Here I met up with the guy I borrowed the sunscreen from, as well as two other hikers who were headed in the opposite direction. After hanging out and talking for a while, "Sunscreen" brought up the warnings at the trailhead about this being cougar country, so we decided to hike together since we were both going the same way.

Heading west on the trail, we continue along the ridgeline past Boney Peak and Inspiration Point before turning north where the trail intersects with the Mishe Mokwa Trail. This trail comes down off the ridge, continuing north and then east, providing a scenic loop back to wards the trailhead.

As we continue along this trail, the vegetation becomes less "desert-like" and more lush. This section of the trail is also in the process of being widened a bit. We continue east til reaching Split Rock (pretty much what the name implies), located in a wooded area along a stream -- good place to rest/eat, which we did.

Heading southeast from Split Rock, we quickly come upon Balanced Rock, another rock with an aptly chosen name. However, Balanced Rock is much more impressive: how this huge rock has never fallen from this perch in an area along the San Andreas Fault is beyond me.

As we continue, clouds and mist rolled in from the ocean to the south. Despite this, there are great views into the canyons to the north. We continue on until reaching Backbone-Mishe Mokwa connector trail. We go right to the parking area. "Sunscreen" looks at the clouds and debates his original plan to head to the beach befoore heading home. I thank him for the companionship and head on out to Topanga State Park for my next hike.

From the Circle X Ranch, I headed down to the Pacific Coast Highway and back east to Topanga State Park, which is embedded in the eastern side of the Santa Monica National Recreation Area. Arriving at the Trippet Ranch area with less than three hours of daylight left, I realize I won't be able to make it to both Eagle Rock and the Santa Ynez Canyon waterfall, so I decided to head for Eagle Rock by way of the Musch Trail.

About 15 minutes up the trail, as I was coming out of an "tunnel" where I was thinking that the branches overhead would make it tough for the horseback riders who seem to frequent the trail, I had my encounter with a cougar.

All this time (which probably only lasted a minute or so), the cat remained motionless in the same spot, staring at me around some brush. I never looked away and wasn't sure what to do. The thought then occurred to me that 9 times out of 10 when I try to get a picture of an animal or bird in the wild, it always moves or takes off before I can get a shot. And since I really wanted this cat to leave, I began to reach behind me for my camera. Sure enough, he turned and slowly slipped off to the left.

I stood there for a few minutes not sure what to do. I didn't know if it had taken off or possibly only moved a few feet back into the brush and was waiting for me. I didn't really want to go back, but I didn't want to go forward either. I grabbed a softball-sized rock from the side of the trail and tossed it into the woods just beyond where the cat had been sitting. Then I grabbed another and tossed it a little deeper. Nothing.

Right about then I heard voices on the trail behind me. I waited a minute until a man and a woman came around the bend. I told them about the encounter. We moved on together (I never thought at the time to look for tracks) and after about 5 minutes, I moved on by myself towards Eagle Rock.

I continued up the Musch trail to the Eagle Springs Fire Road (Eagle Junction) and turned left for the last half mile up to Eagle Rock. As I headed up, I heard loud, spirited singing, though I couldn't make out the words. A minute later I passed an Oriental couple coming down the trail - a Japenese love song perhaps? I rounded another bend and saw Eagle Rock sticking out like the bow of a ship. As I continued , I saw a guy standing on top of the point just to the left of Eagle Rock with his arms outstretched and bellowing out something in the opposite direction. A minute later, after the last switchback, this guy came galloping down the trail followed by his buddy, who was wearing a plastic King's crown. Once around the switchback they let out a couple of whoops. Eagle Rock appears to have quite an effect on people.

By the time I reached Eagle Rock, it was late in the afternoon and the sun had slipped behind some clouds. Interesting formation with some little caves as well. The hike down on the Eagle Springs Fire Road was a staedy descent through grassy fields with flowering plants bushes (it was early April) along the way.