Love the Tequepis Trail! I marked it as “minor obstacles” and until you top out at the base of the peak ascent, it really is a great, well maintained trail. But that final push up to the peak is a beast. We opted to put a few extra steps into the mileage and descended on the fire road, which loops back to the Tequepis Trail, in order to avoid any spills descending. You can follow this road over to Santa Ynez Peak if you wish (see photo).

We started early and the marine layer was really thick. We eventually came out above it at the top of the trail, but views in all directions were basically clouds, which was actually pretty cool. On the way back down, the marine layer started to clear out and we had nice views of teh back country mountains and Cachuma Lake. It warmed up quickly and we actually were grateful to hit the shade as we neared the creek. The water crossings were pretty easy. Although flowers weren't at their peak, the pitcher sage, paintbrush, monkey flower and more were still vibrant. Some bugs, but not too bad. I took poles and didn't really need them on the actual trail, just to get up to the peak.