Garland Ranch Regional Park
700 W. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley
372-3196, www.mprpd.org
You’re intrigued by the stairs on the trail. Some hearty soul before you hauled out the lumber and sculpted it into earthen steps; wherever they lead must be worth it, so you follow them into a dank maple canyon. El Niño has Garzas Creek gushing. You navigate the slippery plank set across its banks. Then, encouraged by sunshine, you corkscrew up 2,000 sweaty feet to the ridge named for 19th-century Carmel Valley farmer Richard Snively. When your heart rate finally slows, you realize you’re on the glorious rim of the Santa Lucia Mountains. On top of it all.