Tag: hiking

leaves

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hondo canyon

‘Twas a grand day to hike Hondo. I spotted a new caterpillar, and learned more about it when I got home. The genista broom moth, Uresiphita reversalis, is light to medium brown with a dark spot on each top wing. The hindwings are yellow or orange with some brownish-gray shading toward the edges. Genista caterpillars feed on acacias, brooms (Genista spp., thus the common name) and lupines, among other species. They ingest and store alkaloids from their host plants, which make the worms bitter or even toxic to mammals, birds and some insect predators. So don’t try eating them!

arroyo hondo

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arroyohondo

We didn‘t know anything about Arroyo Hondo Preserve before we showed up at the gate; we just saw it on the map and decided to hike there. We were unaware that entry was by reservation, on only two weekends a month. By a stroke of luck, it happened to be one of the right weekends, and they graciously let us in.

This place is a delight! We hiked for a couple of hours, with Allie following her nose (“Smell that? Sulphur!”) to hunt for a hot spring. I don’t know who killed the great blue heron, but their wildlife cam shows several possible suspects.

Due to the construction of a fish ladder under the 101, Arroyo Hondo has one of the only creek populations of southern steelhead trout along on the coast. This is definitely a place to return to.

Phrynosoma blainvillii

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Alli and I explored a back route into Topanga State Park this morning, then hiked the familiar and much-loved Musch Trail. (Who was Musch? I’ll have to ask Suzanne, she’ll probably know.) We spotted a Blainville horned lizard close to where I saw one (my first!) last year. Nice!

BB13

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A & I returned to the Backbone Trail after more than a month’s break, and hiked the penultimate and longest section. It was so pretty, especially between Tri-Peaks and Sycamore Canyon. We had Chamberlain Trail to ourselves; it seems that only thru-hikers go there, as it isn‘t a convenient loop or out-and-back hike. I’d like to return with my birding binoculars; I *think* I saw my first Phainopeplas.

Lampropeltis californiae

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Spotted this handsome striped reptile out on the trail. The California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae) is endemic to the western United States and northern Mexico, and is found in a variety of habitats, including woodland chaparral, grassland, deserts, marshes, and even suburban areas. It is non-venomous, and kills its prey by constriction.

Wild California kingsnakes are typically encountered at a length of 2.5-3.5 feet (76 – 107cm), though they can grow larger. This one was smaller, maybe 18 inches / 45cm long.

Eriodictyon crassifolium

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Yerba santa (“holy herb”) is a hairy perennial shrub that‘s found in chaparral and coastal sage scrub, most often at higher elevations. The very aromatic leaves are lance-ovate to oval, 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 inches) long, with a scalloped margin. Soft woolly hairs grow on both sides. In traditional medicine, it has been used to treat respiratory infections. I don’t often hike in the highest parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, so it was a treat to get up there and encounter this plant growing in profusion along the trail yesterday.