San Clemente State Beach

San Clemente State Beach appears to be geared towards beach camping and picnicking. There are ample camp sites and summer camp programs for the family as well as covered picnic tables along the bluffs with ocean views and breezes. Getting to the beach from the parking lot is a steep climb down. The experienced beach goers roll their gear along in wagons or loaded down strollers.

Today I got in touch with my “hobo” side. There is a trail that starts along Calafia Beach (San Clemente) and follows the railroad tracks into Trestles Beach in San Diego county (north of San Onofre and Camp Pendleton). I parked at San Clemente State Beach which is in the middle of the trail, mainly because I still have a few days on my state beach park pass, and headed south. I can now say that I have walked to San Diego (county).

The trail is sand and gravel and is about 4 feet from the train tracks. On the other side of the tracks are beautiful beaches. The track crossings are well-marked and one can get back and forth pretty easily (depending on how tired one is from walking in the sand). I estimate that the walk from the state beach to Trestles was about a mile one-way. Going north, it seemed possible to follow the tracks up to the San Clemente Pier and then to end the walk with a bucked of assorted fried sea creatures and cold bubbly beverages.

Metamorphosis

Several weeks ago, a large number of black spiky caterpillars came out of the community open space, climbed up the house and formed their chrysalides. I have been watching them closely and, on Friday, the butterflies started to emerge. While this weekend was more about relaxing on the patio with a G and T instead of exploring new trails, it was an incredible experience to be able to sit in the yard and watch the butterflies.

This was my first experience with emerging butterflies. I learned several things: (1) it takes about 30 seconds for them to break out of the shell (leaving little time for removing a lens cap or the flash to recharge), (2) it takes several hours of hanging upside down for the wings to unfold and ‘fill’ before flying and (3) the butterfly ‘drips’ bright red ‘stain’ while unfolding, leaving the patio looking like a horror movie set, post-axe murderer.

If you want to see the entire life cycle of the mourning cloak in Orange County, check out Peter Bryant’s website. He has managed to capture the cycle from egg to butterfly and the mob of caterpillars is hysterical (at the very bottom of the web page).

Jeronimo Open Space, Mission Viejo CA

Jeronimo Open Space parallels Jeronimo Parkway between Olympiad and Arbolitos (the next major cross road is Marguerite Pkwy). There are 2 paved trails, an upper trail and lower trail, that straddle Oso Creek and are each about 1 mile one-way. The trail is well-used by the locals for strolling, dog walking, running and casual biking. If you are driving in, there is street parking at Pavion and Jeronimo, along Pavion Park. If you are bringing kids, Pavion Park has nice playground and grassy areas for running down little kid ‘batteries’.

The open space runs through established neighborhoods and there is a lot of human and dog traffic. I have not seen many ‘beasts’ along this trail but there has been some recent habitat restoration activities. Hopefully, wildlife will follow!

Sienna Botanica

“No Dumping, Drains to Ocean”, “Make a Splash, Curb Urban Run-Off” are the messages found in our South Orange County neighborhoods. Run-off water from our homes is full of nutrients from landscaping, pet waste, oil and other urban contaminants that drain directly into the creeks and then to our beaches. Every year, beaches are routinely closed due to the high levels of pollution caused by urban run-off.

Wetlands serve to act as a natural biofiltration system to protect the ocean however most of the wetlands have been destroyed by being ‘tamed’ into cement riverbeds for flood control or dredged for marinas. Several communities have been successful in recreating marsh-like systems for capturing run-off to naturally filter and clean the water before it is released into the watershed. Today, we rode along Sienna Botanica, a smaller man-made natural biofiltration ‘riverine’ that uses plants and soil to filter urban run-off in Ladera Ranch community.

A great walking/running/casual bike riding trail runs along the riverine on Sienna Parkway. My favorite part of the trail was the ‘frog park’. In tribute to the many frogs that live along the stream, dozens of frog statues were placed around the park and trail. I have also attached a picture of one of my favorite native California flowers: the matilija poppy.

Santiago Oaks Regional Park

The Historic Dam Trail (above)

The Historic Dam (do you see the turtle?)

This is a bit late in posting due to the fact that the trails left me a bit traumatized (and sort of angry and not wanting to relive the day). This was possibly the most difficult 5 miles in my mountain biking life and I can now add another trail name that I will avoid moving forward: Mountain Goat Trail.

Santiago Oaks is a wilderness park that is part of Orange County Regional Parks. Admission is $5.00. The park has a nice picnic area with grills and a newly opened nature center. The trails are hike/bike/horse and I think that I would prefer hiking around this park. The steep trails, erosion (deep ruts and cracks) and deep powdery dirt made riding really difficult. I ended up pushing, carrying and pulling my bike at least 4.5 of the 5 miles up and down pretty steep hills. I would have also been happy to see a trail that had been updated with the closed trails (not that I am bitter or anything...).

Wildlife spottings: Anise Swallowtail, Mariposa Lily and possibly the grim reaper

Ladera Ranch Trail

Today we rode on a ‘new patch of dirt’ in Ladera Ranch. Park at Wagsdale Park located at Cecil Pasture and O’Neill. It seemed that the “public” restrooms were only accessible with a Ladera Ranch key card. The trail itself is about 2.5 miles one-way and is a series of hills (be prepared to pant) that ends up with a great view of San Juan Capistrano and the ocean. The trail is crushed granite, separate from the road and runs through the Ladera Ranch neighborhoods. At the top of the mountain there are some additional trail options. On this trip, we turned south and took the trail back to Antonio Parkway on the back side of Covenant Hills. The first public street along Antonio is O’Neill and, if you take it, you can get back to the park. This made a great loop.

After the ride, I would also recommend stopping at Taco Mesa at Crown Valley and O’Neill for chips and homemade guacamole on the outside patio.

Other than disturbing a large group of turkey vultures, there wasn’t too much in the way of interesting wildlife spottings. The association had recently mowed the hills for fire prevention so I am thinking that the snakes and ground birds moved out to the surrounding mountains.

Laguna Niguel Regional Park

Now that I am back from vacation, I decided to ‘ease’ back into my exercise routine and spend this morning roaming around Laguna Niguel Regional Park. I have never been there before and my expectations were surprisingly exceeded. The park is nestled between La Paz and Alicia Parkway in Laguna Niguel and consists of paved and dirt trails suitable for relaxed walking and biking, a stocked fishing lake, grassy picnic areas, several wildlife preserve and habitat restoration project areas, tennis and volleyball courts and playgrounds. The park entrance is on La Paz and Aliso Creek and day parking is $5.00. For the fisher-people on your list, there are rental boats available in addition to shore fishing picnic areas. Fishing day permits are available but seem a bit pricey for a family day.