Quote:
Originally Posted by SOS
Do you know if you are allowed to drive up to the college, to take pictures?
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There is a guard at the gate, but his main purpose is to make sure that people hiking back to the pools don't park on college grounds (you have to park along Ojai Rd). If you tell him that you are there to take pictures of the college, and NOT to hike back to the pools, he will probably let you in. The most difficult part of the hike to the pools is the 1/2 mile path up the hill from Ojai Road to the top of the campus -- other than that, the path follows a river and is fairly flat (except for one segment with a couple of switchbacks). Therefore, A LOT of people try to talk their way past the guard to get to an easy start. The last time, I just asked the guard, "Where is the administration building?" and he let me go by, but then someone else stopped me in the parking lot when they saw me get out of my car and head out toward the trail. My guess is that on Sundays, you would have a tougher time getting past the guard.
On a hot July weekend, the pools and slides can sometimes get pretty crazy, especially if gaggles of teenagers happen to choose the same weekend to conquer what is otherwise a very serene place. I have never seen it get this way, mostly bumping into the Sierra club crowd on the trail, but I have heard stories of loud boom boxes and rude drunken teenagers (which is probably another reason they have a guard at the campus entrance).
I can't really recall any good photo spots on campus, at least from the parking areas where you could line up the SKYs and Solstice. The prettiest area might be the wooded area near the entrance to campus. If you want to get a photo of the cars on campus, I am guessing that they would oblige, especially if you called ahead of time so they could let the guard know you are coming.
