May 25th – Alamos Canyon
Sixteen hikers met at the Simi Valley Sanitation Department parking lot this morning. It was a clear and cool morning, unusual for late May. After crossing Easy Street and the railroad tracks, we continued north up the gated Los Alamos Canyon Road to the official trailhead, about a half mile up the hill.
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We decided to do the lollipop loop in a counter-clockwise direction; the first leg skirting the western side of the nearby landfill. At the terminus of the loop, one of our regular hikers remarked that the area to the north looked much like the grasslands of Africa, as seen in so many TV shows and movies. None of us would be surprised had we seen lions, elephants, or wildebeest in the distance. We began the second half of the loop, heading south and up a hill offering us a fine view of western Ventura county. Finally descending down a wooded canyon, we returned to our cars the way we came. It was a perfect local and relatively short hike for Memorial day weekend, with 4.75 miles total and 500′ of with elevation gain. As in previous hikes this year, many wildflowers adorned the trail. We saw Purple Sage, Indian Pink, Sticky Monkey Flower, Chaparral Yucca, Deer Weed, White Sage, Black Sage, Chalk Live-Forever, Spring Vetch, Elegant Clarkia, Golden Stars, Golden Yarrow, Heart-Leafed Penstemon, Santa Barbara Locoweed, and Bladder-pod.
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May 4th – WildWood Park Loop
10 hikers met at the Wildwood Park trailhead. Our hike started on a cool and foggy morning. We climbed to the top of Mount Clef Ridge, via the Santa Rosa Trail. From there we dropped down on the Shooting Star Trail to the Lower Santa Rosa Trail. The climb was steep back up to the ridge on the Lizard Rock Trail.
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From there we dropped back down past the Hill Canyon Sewage Treatment Plant, where we continued on to Skunk Hollow where we stopped for some much needed rest and lunch. Next was Paradise Falls and then on to the Lynnmere Trail, where we followed the stream, finally reaching Lynn Road and the parking lot. It seemed like it was quite a distance, with a lot of up and down, at 9.65 miles and about 1,900′ of total elevation gain. Thank you for an excellent job leading the hike today, Goldie! The wildflower display was better than it had been for many years in Wildwood Park. In evidence was Chalk Liveforever, Cottonwood Tree, Parry’s Phacelia, Creek Monkey Flower, Black Mustard, Prickly Pear Cactus, Bush Sunflower, Morning Glory, Conejo Buckwheat, Purple Sage, Black Sage, Turkish Rugging, Bladder Pod, Yellow Mariposa Lily, Catalina Mariposa Lily, Sticky Monkey Flower, Indian Pink, Peninsular Onion, Golder Star, Golden Yarrow, California Everlasting, Lacy Phacelia, Bush Mallow, Microseris, Datura, Spring Vetch, Curly Dock, Wild Rose, Milk Thistle, Chaparral Yucca, California Poppy, Chamise, and several others.
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