Ray Miller Trail at Pt. Mugu State Park in Malibu

Views from the Ray Miller Trail at Pt. Mugu State Park.

The Ray Miller Trail is located in the La Jolla Canyon section of Pt. Mugu State Park in Malibu. The trail is named after Ray Miller, "Guardian of the Canyon," who was the first official California State Park Camp Host, having volunteered from March 1, 1979 until his death on April 28, 1989.

Monument to Ray Miller on boulder in the La Jolla Canyon Day Use parking lot.

On its own, the trail is 2.7 miles each direction, taking you from the base of La Jolla Canyon to an overlook of the Pacific Ocean that provides sweeping views towards Mugu Rock on the west and Sycamore Cove on the east.

La Jolla Canyon sign in need of repair in September 2015.

The trail looks harder than what it really is in my opinion. The elevation gain is close to 1,000 feet over the 2.7 miles, but none of the climbs are particularly steep.  The trail zigs and zags its way up as you take in views below. You will love this trail. Many people I know say this is their favorite trail!

Single track trail all the way up, but the surface is pretty good overall. Can get slippery when wet, however.

After you reach the overlook, you continue on until you reach the Overlook Fire Road at the end of the trail (there's a sign). At that point, you can turn back or you can continue on the fire road going either north towards the La Jolla Valley Fire Road, or south towards Sycamore Campground.

Views are in abundance most of the way up this trail. This photo was taken in September 2015, in the midst of a four-year drought. It will green up in the winter.

This is the sign indicating you're reached the endpoint of the Ray Miller Trail, where it intersects with the Overlook Fire Road. Explore the road going both directions if you have time (and are carrying water), as there's plenty of views in all directions.

At the bottom of La Jolla Canyon is a group campground.  

La Jolla Canyon is located at 9000 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Take PCH south/southeast from Los Posas Road in Camarillo. Takes about 30 minutes to get there from the center of Thousand Oaks via either the 101 or via Potrero Road in Newbury Park. It is located just east of Mugu Rock and near Thornhill Broome Beach.

You can park in the La Jolla Day Use Parking Lot (as of September 2015, $8 for day use; $7 for seniors), or you can park on PCH and walk in. Dogs and bikes are not allowed on this trail, though horses are. It can get pretty hot up here in the summer, so be careful and bring plenty of water and wear sunscreen. 

The La Jolla Canyon Trail, accessed adjacent to the Ray Miller Trail, has been closed since January 2015 due to mudslides and rain damage. However, you can access the beautiful La Jolla Valley from the the La Jolla Valley Fire Road.

More information about Pt. Mugu State Park

Other local hikes and trails

New Eateries Coming Soon to the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County as We Enter 2022

Here we are in mid-December 2021, 18 months into the coronavirus pandemic and looking forward to good tidings in 2022. Here’s a compilation of some of the new local eateries that opened in the Conejo Valley and surrounding areas in 2021 and eateries that are anticipated to be opening soon in the new year.

New Eateries That Opened in 2021

• The Waffle Experience Newbury Park opened in June

• California Fish Grill Thousand Oaks opened in July

• Sweetgreen Westlake Village opened in August

• West Tasting Room Thousand Oaks opened in July

• Ma-Kin Vegan Sushi Agoura Hills opened in July

• Azuki Boba & Tea Westlake Village opened in September

• Chakaa Tea Cafe Newbury Park opened in September

• Viet Kitchen Newbury Park opened in October

• Maru Kitchen Westlake Village opened in June

• Nick the Greek Souvlaki & Gyro House Westlake Village in March

• The Bamboo Room Westlake Village opened in June

• Honeycup Coffeehouse & Creamery Newbury Park opened in August

• Valentino’s Take & Bake Pizza Thousand Oaks opened in October

• Pokitomik Thousand Oaks opened in November

• Cork Dork Wine Bar Westlake Village opened in May

• Angry Ferret Brewing Moorpark opened in late spring

• Country Harvest Camarillo opened in November

• Itala Bakery & Cafe opened at The Oaks in July

• Loru’s Cafe opened at the Camarillo Premium Outlets in November

• Sweet Lady Jane Bakery opened in Calabasas on November 11th

• Drive-through Starbucks on South Westlake Blvd opened in October

• M on High Street in Moorpark opened in late October

• Country Harvest Moorpark opened in June

• Naughty Pine Brewing Co. Westlake Village opened in late summer

• Wingstop Thousand Oaks opened in April

• Everbowl Westlake Village opened in June

• Eddie’s Grill Ventura opened in April

• Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers Oxnard opened in March

• Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen Agoura Hills opened in January

• O’t Bistro Asian Comfort Food Thousand Oaks opened in March

• Agoura Wine & Beer Co. opened in January

• Furn Saj Bakery Calabasas opened in May

• Drive-thru Starbucks at Janss Marketplace opened in January

• Burnin’ Mouth Nashville Hot Chicken in Oxnard opened in January

• Dave’s Hot Chicken Port Hueneme opened on December 10th

Eateries That Are Anticipated to Open in 2022

• The Stand to open at former Pitfire Pizza Westlake Village location in early 2022

• Black Bear Diner Ventura to open in January 2022

• Encore Kitchen & Bar at the Palm Garden Hotel Newbury Park to open in 2022

• Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken Thousand Oaks in the spring of 2022

• Phil’s Restaurant Thousand Oaks

• Parma Pizzeria to open 2nd location in Agoura Hills

• Denino’s Pizzeria & Tavern Thousand Oaks is “coming soon.”

• Caribbean Haven will be opening soon in Thousand Oaks

• Rose’s Garden Bar in Calabasas

• Amy’s Drive Thru Thousand Oaks

• Barney’s Gourmet Hamburgers in Calabasas

• Clean Juice Superfood Cafe in Agoura Hills

• Mai Thai Kitchen in Newbury Park

• El Sancho Loco to open Westlake Village location in 2022

• Mad Era Brewing Co. Simi Valley we sure hope opens in 2022

• Crumbl Cookies Westlake Village

• Salsa & Beer Calabasas - not sure about the timing

• Harold’s House of Omelettes - closed but we thought they will be reopening - status TBD

Eateries That Closed in 2021

• Jessica’s Cafe in Camarillo (now Country Harvest)

• STACKED Thousand Oaks announced they would not be re-opening after 18 month closure

• Red Robin Thousand Oaks also announced they would not be reopening

• 101 BBQ Hut Thousand Oaks closed in the summer

• Draught’s Restaurant & Bar closed in August

• Le Pain Quotidien Calabasas closed in May

• Flame Broiler Newbury Park closed permanently

• Fierce Ave BBQ Newbury Park opened and closed in 2021

• Lemonade Restaurant Westlake Village closed in February

• Mimi’s Cafe Thousand Oaks and Ventura closed in February

• Mali Cuisine Thousand Oaks

• Prawn & Basil Thousand Oaks

• Pitfire Pizza Westlake Village announced they would not be reopening after a long closure.

• Hunan Restaurant Westlake Village

• Mejico Grill in Agoura Hills closed after suffering fire damage in February

Other New Businesses That Opened or Closed in 2021 or Plan to Open in 2022

• Five Below opened at Janss Marketplace in November

• Bowlero opened at The Collection at RiverPark in Oxnard in October

• K1 Speed Indoor Go Kart Racing Thousand Oaks/Newbury Park to open TBA date

• Agoura Farmers’ Market at Whizin Market Square Agoura opened in November

• The Disney Store at The Oaks Mall Thousand Oaks closed in September

• Office Depot Thousand Oaks closed in late summer to make way for a Grocery Outlet

• Burlington at Janss Marketplace Thousand Oaks closed in July

• Weekly farmers’ market opened at The Collection in Oxnard in June

• Wild Fork Meat & Seafood Market to open soon

• The Mighty Axe Thousand Oaks opened at Janss Marketplace in August

• Amazon Fresh stores coming at some point to Moorpark and Westlake Village

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Case Tallies and Deaths in Ventura County, California and the World (2021)

This page will be updated periodically with information on Ventura County area cases from www.venturacountyrecovers.org, U.S. cases from the CDC and global cases from the World Health Organization (WHO).

This post covers statistics in 2021. 2020 case tallies are at THIS LINK.

Note that previously reported case counts are subject to changes and updates. We report initial case counts reported on these sites that in particular in the global stats change over time. For more accurate up to date counts at the global level, visit the WHO website at who.sprinklr.com.

Local area COVID-19 updates and news items are at THIS LINK.

Find Ventura County COVID-19 testing locations at www.venturacountyrecovers.org/coronavirus-testing.

View fullsize

Reporting changed from weekdays to weekly to 3 times a week in July.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Reporting changed from weekdays to weekly to 3 times a week in July.

View fullsize

---

---

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Eligibility for California Golden State Stimulus I and II Payments

A friend of mine who is in his 80s called me the other day asking if I knew why he received a check in the mail from the State of California. It was a check for $600 as part of the Golden State Stimulus II program. Here are the details.

Golden State Stimulus I Payments

First off, earlier in the year, many Californians received the Golden State Stimulus 1 payment, which was either $600 or $1200. Qualifications for GSS I were as follows:

• Must have filed your 2020 taxes,

• Must be either a CalEITC recipient or an ITIN filer who made $75,000 or less in California Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) in 2020.

  • A CalEITC (or California Earned Income Tax Credit) recipient is someone who in 2020 had California AGI of $30,000 or less and does not use the married filing separately filing status.

  • An ITIN (or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) filer is a taxpayer who is not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number.

• Must have lived in California at least half of 2020 and are a California resident the date the payment is issued.

• Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.

GSS I recipients received $600 if they were either 1) an CalEITC recipient or 2) were an ITIN filer and made $75,000 or less in 2020 CA AGI (if filing jointly at least one taxpayer must use an ITIN).

GSS I recipients received $1,200 if they 1) were both a CalEITC recipient and an ITIN filer and made $75,000 CA AGI or less in 2020 or 2) filed a joint return, were CalEITC recipients, at least one was an ITIN filer and made $75,000 or less in 2020 CA AGI.

More information about GSS I on the Franchise Tax Board website at www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/golden-state-stimulus/gss-i.html.

Golden State Stimulus II

The state expanded the program and started paying out additional stimulus payments in October, continuing through mid-January. The amount of these payments is either $500, $600, $1,000 or $1,100. Qualifications for GSS II are as follows:

• Must have filed your 2020 tax return by October 15, 2021.

• Have CA AGI of $1 to $75,000 and wages of $0 to $75,000 in 2020.

• Must have lived in California at least half of 2020 and are a California resident the date the payment is issued.

• Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.

Here’s what you get if you qualify and have a SSN:

• $500 if you also qualified for GSS I and claimed a credit for 1 or more dependents.

• $600 if you did not qualify for GSS I and did not claim any dependents.

• $1,100 if you did not qualify for GSS I and claimed 1 or more dependents.

• $0 if you qualified for GSS I and did not claim any dependents.

Here’s what you get if you qualify and have an ITIN:

• $1,000 if you did qualify for GSS I and claimed 1 or more dependents.

• $0 if you did qualify for GSS I but did not claim and dependents.

More information about GSS II on the FTB website at www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/golden-state-stimulus/gss-ii.html.

Restoration Work at Potrero Creek at Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park

For months, the National Park Service has coordinated, with the help of dozens of community volunteers and other organizations, native plant restoration at Potrero Creek at Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park.

The creek is home to a young native oak woodland, along with milkweed visited by monarch butterflies and various other native plants used by dozens of local birds, insects and other wildlife. Volunteers have planted hundreds of plants grown from locally collected seed and watered hundreds of oak trees along the creek. You can see their work in this video. It will be interesting to see how the landscape changes over the coming decades as a result of this work.

To participate in other restoration events, including current work being done at Paramount Ranch, visit the Santa Monica Mountains Fund event signup page at www.eventbrite.com/o/santa-monica-mountains-fund-15433390756.

OVER 60 LOCAL AREA HIKES AND TRAILS IN VENTURA COUNTY AND ADJACENT AREAS

The Conejo Valley Audubon Society Hosts Birding Activities Year-Round

Founded in 1968, the Conejo Valley Audubon Society (CVAS) is an active chapter of the National Audubon Society. CVAS's 500+ members are from southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County. The chapter's membership is primarily from the cities of Oak Park, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Simi Valley, Fillmore, Moorpark, Somis and Camarillo.

CVAS hosts monthly programs at the Western Foundation for Vertebrate Zoology (aka Camarillo Bird Museum) and frequent birding field trips throughout the Conejo Valley and Ventura County. Recent trips include the Conejo Botanical Gardens, Santa Clara River Estuary, Hill Canyon, Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa, Oakbrook Regional Park and others.

CVAS volunteers also consult with local residents interested in converting their yard into a native plant based oasis to help attract birds to your yard.

For more information about CVAS, visit www.conejovalleyaudubon.org.

When I Pass Away Will My Social Media Presence Be Here to Stay?

Social media is still in its infancy. Facebook became available to everyone 13 and older on September 26, 2006. Twitter was launched for public use on July 15, 2006. LinkedIn was launched on May 5, 2003. But as the years pass, we will all eventually be faced with the question of what to do with our social media presence after our time is up.

Final Farewell and Facebook

Do you want to stay on Facebook after you die? No? Well, perhaps the easiest solution is to give someone you trust your login information and have them permanently delete your account when you die. This can be done by clicking the account menu at the top of your Facebook page, pick Account Settings, click Security in the left-hand column, then click "Deactivate your account." Or perhaps more officially, make this request in your will.

The current Security Settings screen in Facebook as of December 2013

If you haven't planned for your afterlife Facebook page, your immediate family members or executor can still submit a special request to remove your account. Facebook will require a death certificate or other proof to do so.

Or you can also simply do nothing and continue having your presence be shown in Facebook. A good friend of mine passed in 2013 and his page is still up and running. In fact, many of his friends posted happy birthday messages on his page later in the year.

Lastly, your family, friends, even co-workers may make a Memorialization Request by submitting the deceased's email address and proof of death. The requestor reports the information under penalty of perjury. Facebook will not provide login information for the deceased's account.

When an account is memorialized, Facebook keeps the account information static. Friends can still post to the deceased's page (subject to the account's privacy settings). When a Facebook Timeline is memorialized, it does not show up in others' pages as a friend suggestion and birthday reminders do not appear for the account.

Facebook indicates that a new Timeline may not be created to memorialize a deceased person, though others can create a Page or a Group for that purpose.

Six Feet Under Instagram

Instagram is owned by Facebook and thus their policies regarding deceased users is similar. You can request that a deceased Instagrammer’s account be memorialized if they passed away. But if you are an immediate family member of the person, you can request that the account be removed. Instagram will require proof of death for the former, such as a link to an obituary or news article. You’ll need additional information such as a birth/death certificate to remove the account. Click here for info.

Terminal in Twitter

Twitter is a bit different than Facebook in that if you are inactive (i.e. no logins or Tweets) for 6 months, they may permanently remove your account due to prolonged inactivity. That pretty much will take care of your Twitter account.

That said, or Tweeted, as the case may be, a family member or executor of your estate may also request that your Twitter account be terminated. This is done by contacting Twitter. You may be asked to provide the deceased's user name, death certificate, the requestor's driver's license or other Government-issued ID and a signed statement.

And of course you could share, before your final breath, your login information with someone you trust, who in turn can go to your Settings/Account, then scroll to the bottom of the screen where it says "Deactivate my account" and be done with it.

LinkedIn Through the Out Door

Someone I'm connected with in LinkedIn passed away several years ago. I still see her profile in there, which to me is a bit depressing and sad. Recently LinkedIn reminded me of her "work anniversary" even. Unlike Twitter, LinkedIn does not remove an account with prolonged inactivity. And unlike Facebook, LinkedIn does not have a "memorialize" feature where you can post comments to the deceased's page.

What LinkedIn does have is a feature for members to complete a form to report a colleague, classmate, or loved one who has passed away so they can close that person's account and remove their profile. So unlike Facebook and Twitter, non-family members can make a request to remove your profile in LinkedIn. I completed the form for the acquaintance who passed away, including a link to an online obituary. Six hours later, I received an email from LinkedIn indicating their account has been removed.

If you're reading this article, I'll assume you are still alive. Thus, you might as well check out the CVG Twitter page at twitter.com/ConejoJoe and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ConejoValleyGuide.