Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People are complicated. Love is not.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Stand up, dammit!

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – BigJimSlade – Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike

On The Road – BigJimSlade – Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike

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BigJimSlade

With all the rain California got this year, people are looking for poppy superblooms. But rather than drive 2 hours to a famous-for-poppies location, we stayed local-ish (45 minute drive, 50% longer on the way back thanks to beach traffic) and did one of our favorite hikes: up the steep Chumash Trail (I think there are several trails called the Chumash Trail, so don’t assume this is the only one) to Mugu Peak, into La Jolla Valley (not related to the La Jolla near San Diego), and back along a fire road that runs along a ridge above Sycamore Canyon, and finally down the Ray Miller Trail back to our car. There used to be a trail that would take us to Mugu Peak from this parking spot, but that washed out after fire and rain maybe 8 years ago, so now we walk the first 2 miles along the highway and Pacific Ocean until we got to the Chumash Trailhead, which is right across from the Navy’s shooting range, the back of which says “Seabees Can Do”. Another peak across the way has a bunch of communications equipment on top.
Besides being pretty, flowers have struck me as neat/incredible engineering with great shapes and textures, sometimes just about perfect, and their folding and unfolding like natural origami.

Here are 2 places to go for flower ID: one and two.

It was a bit hazy, so I didn’t bother with the big views, but you can see the area by clicking around in google images.

On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 9

The Mariposa Lillies are out :-)

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 8

I like when their curving petals overlap like this.

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 7

The striking purple and white always pleases me.

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 6

These are a bit rare, but they do show up specifically around the top of Mugu Peak, and are just so pretty.

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 5

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 4

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 3

The poppies were mixed in with a lot of grasses, and, in this case, lupines.

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 2

The Morning Glories are very popular with the bugs. And sometimes with spiders that catch the bugs. Here a little spider has nabbed a slightly smaller fly.

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike 1

With these sorts of pictures, I feel like I should be working for Hallmark.

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On The Road - BigJimSlade - Happy Spring from the Mugu Peak to Ray Miller Trail hike

I like when sunlight is coming through the petals and you can see where they overlap by the shade they cast.

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Reader Interactions

16Comments

  4. 4.

    AM in NC

    Wow! What beautiful flowers you have out there. I love ours here too, but it is happy-making to see different blooms. We really live in such a beautiful country with such a diversity of landscapes and attendant flora and fauna.  Thank you for sharing these!

  9. 9.

    Anyway

    Is it Sunday? Garden thread? jk – these are beautiful. Love flora-watching while on a hike.

  11. 11.

    MelissaM

    The ones in #4 look fake like you’d buy at Michael’s, and I think it’s the little jagged edges that do it for me!

    Ironically, we were just in that area a couple weeks ago. Family we visited in LA have a beach house up in Oxnard (next to the Navy yard.) We didn’t do hiking but now I know what to ask for next time we visit. It was a lovely area.

  12. 12.

    The Moar You Know

    I have a massive patch of poppies right beside the freeway that’s closest to my home.

  14. 14.

    StringOnAStick

    I absolutely love Mariposa lilies, a wild flower so wild it is nearly impossible to cultivate into your home garden; part of its charm.  Thanks for the lovely photos!  I was doing some research in them and surprised that there are so many varieties in the wild, mostly in CA.

    We lived in the Central Valley when I was a young kid; I’m probably a plant obsessive thanks to collecting mushrooms with my parents inside a CA poppy superbloom.  They get a starring role in the native landscape I’m almost done planting here in central Oregon.

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