By Eric Leach, Staff Writer
Sunday, May 15, 2005 - SIMI VALLEY -- When a group of volunteer nature enthusiasts formed the Rancho Simi Trail Blazers in 1992, there was only one public trail in the area.

Now, a dozen wind through the hills, offering spectacular views of Simi, San Fernando and Conejo valleys -- even the ocean and the Channel Islands.

The Trail Blazers has more than 100 members and sponsors hikes and work parties open to the public four days a week.

They are planning to join thousands of others across the United States June 4 to celebrate National Trails Day, and also are planning a number of new excursions to expand the club's activities over the next couple of months.

"The Trail Blazers started out building the trails, and now they maintain them," said Mark Gilmore, who began volunteering several years ago.

"I started out not being able to hike two miles, and now I can do 20. I can't tell you how good I feel."

Gilmore said he wants to take advantage of his new position as hiking chairman to set up some unusual and adventurous trips, including one June 18 to Santa Cruz Island, where the Simi Valley hikers hope to see dolphins and whales, if they're lucky.

On June 23 the Trail Blazers are going to walk to the beach eight miles downhill via Sycamore Canyon from Newbury Park to Point Mugu, where they will have some cars waiting to bring them back home.

"I want to try to get more interest going in the club, so I've tried to find some hikes we haven't done before that will be a lot of fun," Gilmore said.

The group is planning to stay overnight Aug. 6 on Mount Baldy at the Mount San Antonio Ski Hut at an elevation of 8,200 feet.

"Even the view from the outhouse is spectacular. ... All you need to bring is some food and your sleeping bag. We can cook our food on the hut's wood-burning stove," according to the writeup in the Trail Blazers' May newsletter.

The group is a volunteer arm of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District.

It schedules regular hikes on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Simi Valley area, including the beginners hike on Tuesdays in the hills between Wood Ranch and Thousand Oaks.

"It is our most popular hike, in Long Canyon," said Gilmore. "We get about 10 to 12 people on average, and at times we've gotten about 30."

Because it's a beginners hike, people sometimes say they have been sent by their doctors to get exercise.

"Once they get in better shape we encourage them to come on the Thursday and Sunday night hikes, which are moderate to strenuous. I got involved with the Trail Blazers in order to improve my physical condition and was an absolute rank beginner. I could barely make it, but I slowly worked my way up, and now can keep up with anybody. The more I hiked the better I felt," Gilmore said.

The three-mile Long Canyon hike starts Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in the Wood Ranch Trailhead parking lot at Long Canyon Road and Wood Ranch Parkway. It rises quickly up a hill with views over Simi Valley and then Thousand Oaks, with the ocean and islands visible on a clear evening. Along the way there are fossils embedded in the rocks.

"It's a little tough when you go up the first part," said Doreene Morgan, who joined the group at Long Canyon for the first time recently. "But it's a kind of mind-blowing experience to see this kind of nature close to home. You wouldn't even know on the other side of these rolling hills there is a city."

She and other hikers expressed interest in joining the trip to Santa Cruz Island on June 18.

"I'm excited about it," said Ursula Christie, a longtime member of the Trail Blazers. "I used to dive off Santa Cruz, but I've never been ashore. I'm sure it will be something different, something special."

Arlene Altshuler joined the Trail Blazers 1994 and helped build a number of the trails in the area, learning about wildflowers along the way.

This spring has been one of the best for flowers, said Altshuler, who said some of her favorite areas are around Corriganville at the valley's east end, Mount McCoy at the west end and the Chumash Trail in the hills to the north.

"We get all different types of people," she said. "Some just want to hike, some are interested in the flowers, some the geology and the history. They can learn about all of those things."

"The main reason the trails around Simi Valley are as nice as they are now is because of the Trail Blazers," said Colleen Janssen, a liaison between the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District and the volunteer group.

"They aren't in this only for fun and fellowship, but it's also with a purpose. They want to keep the trails open and available for the community. Our trail system is pretty incredible, and when you go on a hike, the hike leader is usually knowledgeable."

Most of what the Trail Blazers do is free and open to the public, although the trip to Santa Cruz Island costs $42 for the boat trip.

Subscribing to the Trail Blazers newsletter is $10 a year, but free copies and maps of some of the Simi Valley area trails are available at the park district headquarters at 1692 Sycamore Drive.

One of the Trail Blazers' first and most active members is Mike Kuhn, a retired Simi Valley environmental planner who is working on a book containing some unique information on the geology and natural history he has learned about the area.

Kuhn said he loves to share his knowledge, and contributes stories to the Trail Blazers' newsletter and Web site, at www.simitrailblazers.com.

He said one of the city's goals has been to keep the hills relatively free of urban development.

"I love it here," said Kuhn. "I'm going to live here for the rest of my life. I think that people who come to Simi Valley like mountainous topography and like hills. I think they come here to live because of the natural setting, because we are surrounded by hills."

Gilmore said as much as the hiking, he enjoys the people in the Trail Blazers.

"The bottom line is that there are genuinely good people in the club, and you can't help but enjoy their company. They are very friendly, very welcoming."

National Trails Day, billed as one of the largest celebrations of America's outdoors, is held on the first Saturday in June across the nation

The Simi Valley Trail Blazers plan to meet at 8 a.m. June 4 in the Corriganville parking lot at the end of Smith Road off Kuehner Drive at the east end of Simi Valley and work on trails until about noon.

Eric Leach, (805) 583-7602 eric.leach@dailynews.com

IF YOU GO: The Rancho Simi Trail Blazers has hikes and trail-maintenance parties scheduled four days a week, plus special weekend excursions listed in their newsletter available at www.simitrailblazers.com or at the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District Headquarters at 1692 Sycamore Drive in Simi Valley. Information on the American Hiking Society and National Trails Day is available at (301) 565-6704 or www.americanhiking.org.