Castle Peak-Cave of the Munits

This Saturday we are going to do a climb up a chimney cave in the West San Fernando Valley. That is right, no typos here, the Cave of the Munits!  The Cave is a 100-foot tall chimney cave. It has a hole in the top where you can see the sky and your maker, unless your maker is in the other direction. After we get out of Santa’s chimney, we will venture east toward Castle Peak where we will rest, have lunch and count the missing! The total hike is about 3 miles and it will take us about 2 1/2 hours to do.

**NOTE** this hike is not for everyone! Let me put it this way, if your first words were not “Baaa, Baaa”, if your nickname in high school was not “mountain goat” (not because of your looks but for your climbing abilities), and if you thought that Frodo’s trek to Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings was too hard, then don’t even bother setting the alarm the night before. Stay inside, keep snoozing and then have a good cup of coffee after you get up around 10 am.

We will be doing some climbing with our hands and knees, we recommend gloves to protect your hands and long pants to protect your legs, not only for the climbing but also for the bushes on the trail as well. Mountain hiking shoes will be better than sneakers. After we come out of the hole at the top, we will go up a steep rocky hill and follow the ridge going east to Castle Peak. We will then rest and have a nice lunch and a prayer for those who didn’t make it out of that cave. We will have spectacular views of the San Fernando Valley and a few surprises from nature like hawks and rabbits along the way.

We will come back down following an easy and winding trail that will give us beautiful views of the valley and the green scenery around us.

No Dogs allowed on this hike. Please bring the usual: plenty of water, snacks to share with the survivors and dress in layers since it might be cold and it is a bit windy up there.

DIRECTIONS:

Castle Peak Park— take the 101 freeway West to Valley Circle off ramp, take a right and go north about three miles to Vanowen (once you pass Victory Blvd look out for Vanowen), turn left (west) on Vanowen you will see on your left the Valley Circle Plaza, the entrance to the trail is less than 100 yards from the corner.  Park in the neighborhood and please be quiet since it is a residential area. Trail-head: there is a 20 foot wide metal gate at the trail-head.

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