On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
BillinGlendaleCA
On the western edge of the Santa Monica Mountains is Pt. Mugu State Park. My father and I had hiked there several times when I was a teen and one of those hikes was from the Conejo Valley to La Jolla Valley. La Jolla Valley is in the southwest portion of the park, surrounded by hills that fall off to the coast in the south and to the Oxnard Plain and the Pt. Mugu Naval Base to the west.
The main trail in the park runs from the north entrance in the Conejo Valley down Big Sycamore Canyon to the coast. I attempted to reach La Jolla Valley last month via this route and ended up taking the wrong trail that took me to the northeast entrance to the valley but took enough time that I needed to head back once I reached that point. This time, I decided to hike up from the coast via La Jolla canyon to the valley. Upon reaching the trailhead, I found that the trail up the canyon was closed and I ended up hiking up the Ray Miller trail which heads up the side of the canyon to a fire road along the hills east of La Jolla Valley.
This time I hiked into the valley about a 1/3 of the way in, but turned back since it was beginning to get late and I had to hike back down to the trailhead where I was parked. My initial thought was that I’d take shots with my phone on the way up and then shoot with my regular cameras in the valley and the way down, but due to the fading light on the hike down I only shot a few photos in the valley and along the fire road at the top of the ridge.
There were lots of sunflowers along the Ray Miller trail.
California Poppies, our state flower.
Point Mugu and Mugu Rock from high above on the Ray Miller Trail(10x zoom).
Bonny Mountains and Sandstone Peak from the west.
Laguna Peak is part of the Pt. Mugu Navy Base. Prior to his retirement, my dad worked on the base and took me up there once.
As I entered the valley, there was a light mist, I turned around to see this bit of a rainbow off to the northern side of the valley.
Looking east down the main road through the valley to Bonny Mountains.
Same shot with my infrared camera using the 590nm filter.
War for Ukraine Update 35: Today Was Weird
eclare
Love the rainbow!
Baud
That’s a nice hike.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@eclare: Good thing I had the cellphone camera, by the time I’d gotten the regular camera out of the backpack, it would have been gone.
@Baud: It was nice, just a bit longer and more hilly than I’d anticipated. This past weekend my hike to me to Hollywood’s version of Korea.
Raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: When I hiked there I could envision the chopper coming that valley in MASH
WaterGirl
I often pick my favorite photo for the featured image, but this time I had a hard time choosing.
Jager
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
The last time I did that hike, my grandson and I saw a King Snake’s tail sticking out of a rattler’s hideout. My grandson was 16 at the time and he had to stop and wait for me several times. My wife picked us up and we ate at Neptune’s Net. A cold 805 sure tasted good. Thanks for the pictures.
laura
That casual rainbow shot is beautiful.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Raven: The M*S*S*H production site is about 15 miles to the east in Malibu Creek State Park.
@WaterGirl: My fav is probably the IR shot.
@Jager: It’s really a nice hike, but a steady climb up about 1000 feet.
@laura: Thanks.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: My favorites are never the IR shots! So sadly, your IR shots are unlikely to be the featured image. :-) Unless you want to try to bribe me with good chocolate or black licorice!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: …or submit a serries that ONLY has IR shots.
stinger
Vast landscapes and intimate flower close-ups — all spectacular! What a great set!
StringOnAStick
I’m a complete sucker for any photo of wildflowers and of rainbows; very nice, thank you!
Twice in the last two winters I have seen a “snowbow” while driving up to go skiing. The sun rising behind us as we pressed west seems to be the required element, but I never saw one in all the years we living in CO and headed the same general direction. Here in the other CO (Central Oregon) it has happened twice; I’m assuming it is the greater humidity in the winter and probably lots of other nonobvious factors. Anyone else ever seen a snowbow?
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I see that you are a “sticks-only” kind of guy, no carrots. Harrumph.
SWMBO
Aren’t sunflowers the national flower of Ukraine? Good choice.
BigJimSlade
Nice shots! I know how hard it can be to capture the gradation of golds in those poppies! And I’ve never caught a rainbow there!