As I ascended close to 1,000 ft of elevation, I was looking down on the highway I drove on just an hour before. While there was no single spot with a 360 degree view, some areas really opened up providing decent visibility even on a cloudy day.
Wildflowers were still going strong in mid-May. I saw so many yellow flowers, it reminded me of the "poppy apocalypse" that I witnessed and became part of, as a traffic victim, in Lake Elsinore about a month ago. Although it's not the quantity of flowers, but diversity is what always fascinates me! As the terrain changed, so did the variety of different kinds of flowers. Of course, cactii are my absolute favorites! I even found one blooming in a color I have never seen on a cactus before.
The weather was nice a semi-cloudy (yes, I did invent this term as I was writing the sentence!) with sun peeking through occasionally. I was glad about that because as I ascended, the breeze picked up making it a bit chilly to walk on a flat surface.
There was not much wildlife, but in Bommer Canyon there was a herd of goats. I later found out that the Open Preserve uses them as natural lawnmowers! What a concept, huh? The goal is to minimize non-native plants that overwhelm the area and allow native plants to grow.
The last part of the trail goes through residential neighborhoods showcasing how much money these people have. I was not surprised seeing multi-million dollar gigantic houses on tiny properties. Their landscaping was quite impressive though. I wonder if there will be a point in my life when I could live in a neighborhood like that and whether I would want to do it anyway. As I passed the beautiful homes of Irvine, I wondered what kind of jobs the owners had, how many people lived in each house and whether their fancy cars were a representation of the American dream or just a cover for not having enough joy in their lives. Regardless, I did admire the neighborhood and enjoyed hiking the trails.
No comments:
Post a Comment