Man versus mountain; a change in plans

NATURAL PERSPECTIVES

On Memorial Day weekend, we had three days in a row with no meetings,

appointments or classes. Yippee, we thought, let’s go to the

mountains. So began a weekend of thwarted plans.

Plan A was for me to load the car with camping gear early Friday

and head to Caspers Wilderness Park in south Orange County to secure

a campsite. Vic intended to join me after his evening class.

By the time I was finished with a morning appointment at Shipley

Nature Center and had the car packed, it was 11 a.m. A little voice

whispered in my head, “Call the campground. See if there are any

campsites left.”

When I phoned, I learned that the campsites were filled. Stupid

voices. Why didn’t they speak to me earlier? What’s the point of

having voices in my head if that’s all the better they can do? I

unpacked all the camping gear.

Plan B was a Saturday trip up the south side of Santiago Peak, the

highest point in Orange County. We planned to travel on backcountry

forest service roads to scout out birding locales. We have a Forest

Adventure Pass and a high-clearance vehicle, so we were set to go.

We drove up Ortega Highway to the access road for Blue Jay

campground. The surface soon changed from asphalt to gravel and

narrowed to one lane. That’s the good part of the road. We took an

obscure fork and headed up what is euphemistically called Main Divide

Road, an unmarked dirt slash cut into the side of a steep mountain.

I don’t know how the forest service has the nerve to call that

lizard track a road. We faced ruts deep enough to swallow a Mini

Cooper, boulders big enough to strand a Honda CRV, drop-offs steep

enough to scare the shorts off a snowboarder and long stretches of

road so narrow that a pregnant cow couldn’t get by. Vic said the

scenery was great. I had my eyes closed most of the time.

We bounced and climbed and crawled our way up the mountain. The

few times we met oncoming vehicles, one or the other had to back up

to the closest wide spot so one of us could pass. It was hard to

believe that this road was in the same county as the 12 lanes of

stop-and-go traffic that we had left an hour earlier.

About five miles in, we finally hit a stretch that we couldn’t get

up. The road was too steep, with too many loose rocks. I breathed a

huge sigh of relief as we turned back, but Vic was unhappy. He has

wanted to get to the top of Santiago Peak for as long as we’ve lived

in Huntington Beach. I guess it’s a guy thing.

Plan C was to drive up the north side of Santiago Peak on Sunday.

That side of the mountain is supposed to have slightly better

“roads.” But the phone rang and we had surprise visitors for the day.

On Monday, we packed a picnic lunch and drove up Silverado Canyon,

the north approach to Santiago Peak. But at the ranger station, we

saw a sign announcing that the gate was closed five miles ahead. We

had forgotten that the road is closed during breeding season of the

endangered southwestern arroyo toad. Although we support the road

closure, we were foiled again in our attempt to reach the

mountaintop.

We shifted gears, so to speak, and drove to the Ramakrishna

Monastery on Live Oak Canyon Road for a hike along their spirit

trail, then had our picnic at O’Neill Park. I stopped to photograph

the huge white flowers of seven-foot Matilija poppies. The fragrance

of sage hung on the air as bees buzzed busily past us. Blue

Canterbury bells complemented the orange and yellow hues of

monkeyflower. Orange County hills are a delight for the senses in

spring.

After lunch, we took the challenging drive up the unpaved ruts and

gullies of Trabuco Canyon Road. As we began our ascent, we passed a

car being towed out. Parts dangled from where it had bottomed out on

a rock. I was apprehensive, but fortunately we did not suffer the

same fate.

The road ended at a trailhead. While this wasn’t the highest point

in Orange County, it was high enough for us. We enjoyed the groves of

white alder, bay laurel and big-leaf maple along the creek, an

example of riparian habitat. These types of trees will be planted at

Shipley Nature Center, so we were pleased to have an opportunity to

study this plant community in its natural setting. (Restoration

workdays at Shipley are the first Saturday of every month from 9 am

to noon, with a free tour at 11 a.m. I’ll be leading the tour on June

7.)

To top off our Memorial Day weekend, we splashed in the creek,

found some California newts, watched a few birds and took more flower

photos. We’ll try Santiago Peak again when the toads are less

amorous.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].