Expecting to hike Gaviota Peak near Santa Barbara tomorrow, we were looking for something a little longer than yesterday’s 2.8 miles but not something too strenuous – we settled on the Mariposa Trail in the Irish Hills south of San Luis Obispo, from which we could reach a summit called Morro View that would hopefully live up to its name. At about 3+ miles with 800 feet of elevation gain, it looked to be just the ticket, on paper at least. The trailhead was easy enough to find on Prefumo Canyon Road, although we zoomed past the parking lot and had to drive another couple of miles on the narrow road just to find a place to safely turn around. The small parking lot had only one space left, yet, despite the obvious presence of other hikers, we did not see a soul the whole trip. The broad trail headed east across the canyon floor for a few hundered yards before steepening quickly into a beautiful grove of old oak trees. We switchbacked onward and upward through the forest as the trail gradually narrowed to a single track rutted by mountain bike tires – the Mariposa Trail must be popular with cyclists as tracks are everywhere. We left the oaks high above Prefumo Canyon, emerging into heavy brush and bright sunlight. The trail was quite rocky in this area, although the grade had moderated substantially. After turning south and west around the shoulder of a ridge, we came to a junction with the Durata Overlook trail, which led eastward to the rounded summit of the ridge we had just ascended. The overlook did not seem too far away, and indeed we reached it within a 1/4 mile or so. The views were awesome – eastward we could see all the way to Caliente Mountain that overlooks New Cuyama, and Morro Rock and the ocean were visible to the west. In between were the entire chain of morros that separate Los Osos and Chorro Valleys, and to the south we could see Morro View and the trail we would use to reach it. We took some pictures and retraced our steps to Mariposa Trail, turning left and quickly gaining altitude as we went. A bit further, we came to our junction with Morro View Trail, which we took as it led us further south up a steeper slope to the higher ridgeline beyond. At the top of the ridge, the trail turned due east and terminated abruptly at a sign reading “End of Trail” – that was apparent enough. Having enjoyed the views further down the hill, we were somewhat disappointed with the view from here – we were further back into the Irish Hills now, so our perpsective into the valley below was lost, and even the expansive vistas east and west seemed more limited from this angle. Still, we snapped some more photos, drank some water, and found a small cave near the summit that looked like more intrepid souls than us had ventured into on prior visits. We headed back down, intending to take a steep shortcut down the Bog Thistle Trail, but Jane’s feet don’t always do so well on steep downhills, so we ended up staying on the Mariposa Trail all the way back. Our day wound up being a little more than 3.6 miles, and our moving average speed was 2.7 mph, a bit faster than yesterday’s average. In all, this was a nice hike with beautiful views, but next time we’ll likely skip Morro View and explore some of the lower canyons served by the Mariposa Trail.