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Page Revised: 8/22/08 |
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Available Site Reviews Point Mugu State Park Circle X Ranch Solstice Canyon |
Date of Review 8/21, 8/7. 8/16, 8/9, 8/4, 8/2, 7/30. 8/2. |
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What's Blooming photo gallery: http://www.researchlearningcenter.com/bloom/bloom.htm |
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This late in the year it can be hard
to find flowers except in the more sheltered nooks and crannies. The heat also makes these same sheltered
areas, often with shady groves of trees, a more pleasurable hike. Both the morning and the evening can be very
pleasant and will often reward us with more encounters will wildlife as well
(animals are smart about the heat.) The flower hunt may now be more of a
challenge but also more rewarding when some elusive treasure is found. Summer is also a time to inspect the many
different forms that fruit and seed capsules can take, some of which are
quite interesting if not beautiful in their own right. By the way, don’t forget that your dog
is much less able to deal with the heat than people are. Every year people
kill their dogs on our hot summer trails, and we do mean literally kill them dead. If you are feeling hot your poor pet could already
be approaching heat exhaustion.
–ed. |
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Point Mugu State Park |
Blue Canyon and Old Boney Trails |
Date: 8/21 |
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We hiked about a two mile section of
the Backbone Trail starting at the Danielson multi-use area and going east
and south. The trail segments included
were the Blue Canyon Trail and then south on the Old Boney Trail until its intersection
with the Chamberlin Rock Trail. We
started well before 7:00am which was near ideal since most of the ascent was
in the shade of the hills to the east. The beginning of the hike is down among the
trees along the dry creek bed but then ascends into chaparral and even some scattered
sage scrub. We spent a few hours at the top and then descended back down the
way we came. It was interesting to see
the difference in the mix of flowers blooming between the cool of the morning
and the noonday heat. Generally more
flowers are blooming later but there are some you will miss if you only hike
later in the day. Overall there were
less than twenty different species in bloom and not many of most of them, but
not too bad for this time of year. Highlights included California fuchsia,
telegraph weed, some cudweed aster, twiggy wreath plant, a couple of different buckwheat, narrow-leaved
milkweed, slender tarweed, a few cliff aster, bush mallow, mule fat, canyon dodder,
and even some very nice wild rose. –ed. |
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Circle X Ranch |
Sandstone Peak Trail. |
Date: 8/16 |
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We hiked up to Sandstone Peak from
the trailhead on Yerba Buena Road and then back down again. This is not the best trail for flowers but
the views are second to none in the Santa Monica Mountains. Indeed, many
people do this hike precisely because it offers a hike to the highest peak in
the mountains. There was a good breeze
blowing the day we did the hike which was fortunate since this trail offers
little shelter from the sun and can be a real scorcher on a hot day. Combine that with a long uphill ascent and
it may not be the best choice for your children or elderly parents on a sunny
day. Highlights included some rather nice
Tejon milk-aster, a few left-over red shank, a few cliff aster, twiggy wreath
plant, some mostly dried-up slender tarweed, cudweed aster, a few bush senecio, and a
couple of different buckwheat. We saw only about ten different flower species
in bloom and none in any significant quantity so this is not the trail if
flowers are your main interest.
–ed. |
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Circle X Ranch |
Canyon View Trail. |
Date: 8/9 |
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We hiked up Yerba Buena Road from the
little park office to the Sandstone Peak Trailhead and then back down by way
of the Canyon View Trail. The roadside
itself had very little in bloom along it, even most of the weeds having given
up for the year. There were a few
holly-leaved cherries ripe along the road and while sweet, they have so
little flesh surrounding their huge stone that I sample them mostly out of
misplaced optimism. The deeper pools
in the creek bed still have a bit of water in them and this has allowed some
flowers to keep blooming there beyond the time when they’ve quit
elsewhere. All together we saw less
that twenty different plants in bloom including the hold-outs in the creek
bed. Highlights include redshank,
annual paintbrush, white hedge-nettle, California fuschia, chalk Dudleyas, a
few bush monkey flowers, narrow-leaved milkweed, one or two bird’s
beak, twiggy wreath plant, a pretty spectacular display of dodder in full
bloom (and smelling sweetly), some slender tarweed, a few cliff aster,
scattered cudweed aster and some
narrow-leaved cattail . With the
exception of the red shank we did not see anything blooming in quantity so I
would call this a pretty poor showing. –ed. |
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Point Mugu State Park |
Fossil and Old Boney Trails |
Date: 8/7 |
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We hiked up the Fossil Trail and then
South on the Old Boney Trail for another mile or so. The lower part of the
trail is shaded and pleasant but once you get up above the trees there is
very little shelter from the sun. The
day was hot so we turned back after spending a while admiring the view. We saw very few flowers in bloom, fewer
than different ten species, and not much to write about at that. A bit of dried up larkspur, some twiggy
wreath plant, a couple of different buckwheats
(including the rather uncommon E.
cithariforme) some slender
tarweed, some California fuschia, and a few bush mallow blossoms. –ed. |
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Circle X Ranch |
Grotto Trail. |
Date: 8/4 |
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We took our time on a warm afternoon to
look carefully for flowers of all sizes and types. Even so we barely managed
to find twenty different species in bloom and none in any significant
quantity (although red shank could be seen blooming in quantity on the nearby
hills.) There are few highlights to report since a good many of the flowers
we encountered were of the “weedy” road-side variety like
mustards and thistles. Highlights include red shank, California fuschia,
scarlet monkey flower, heart-leaved penstemon, a few stray bush mallow, leather
root, some cudweed aster, a single morning glory blossom and some scattered cliff
asters. Even for deep in the summer this was a rather poor showing. On the
other hand the lack of flowers made it easier (for a die-hard plant watcher)
to focus on other aspects of hiking in these great outdoors. The isolation at
Circle X Ranch allowed me to imagine I was many miles from civilization. The
day was lovely and the scenery clear in the fresh coastal air. I heard and
saw many birds. There were frequent encounters with friendly lizards. I
stopped and sat down really enjoyed watching the multitudes of tadpoles in
the pools around the Grotto. –ed. |
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Solstice Canyon |
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Date: 8/2 |
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Recovery from the November 2007 burn is
going nicely at this site which reopened in late June. You’ll see new
growth all over, from many different kinds of monkey flowers (scarlet, bush
and creek) in or near Solstice creek, to clumps of new leaves and branches up
and down the trunks of the trees all throughout the canyon. Commonly seen were mallow,
chicory, morning glory and tarweed. Watch for occasional glimpses of canyon
and slender sunflower, pinks, white and purple nightshade, ashy-leaf
buckwheat and ripe elderberries. Up at the Roberts Ranch, non-native ginger
is in bloom. Rating: good. (Sheila Braden) |
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Circle X Ranch |
Mishe Mokwa Loop |
Date: 7/30 |
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I have never done this hike in
summer. I always figured that the flowers
would be done and it would be too hot to be comfortable. But I went with some friends in the
afternoon, went to Split Rock first and timed our walk to be done about
sunset. The biggest attraction was the red
shanks in bloom. What usually looks
like a hillside of light green puffs is now a hillside of white puffs. These are contrasted against the many dark
red seed pods that are more common on the slopes than flowers. The chalk-live-forever are in bloom and as
beautiful as they are bizarre. At
Split Rock, where there is still water in the creek, there is blooming
leather root, scarlet monkey flower and Durango root. A little ways further on there is a patch of
scarlet sequestered in the shrubbery with scarlet larkspur and heart leaf penstemon
keeping company. Additionally there is
a little cudweed aster, a few California buckwheat and slender tarweed still
blooming. It was a surprisingly
pleasant hike. (Dorothy Steinicke) |
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Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West Hillcrest
Drive 805-370-2301 |
If you
would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: or phone Tony
at 310-457-6408 |
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