October Interlude: Roaming Hills and Cresting Waves

 Usually, if the past record is any example, i have only made the trip to Pt. Mugu State Park to ride up and down the canyon roads or along the brows of those rounded coastal hills on one mtb or another (though the more distant past, which now seems as murky as the sky over the ocean when the late day fog rolls in, also included an occasional long distance road ride from home). Indeed, the vast majority of the folks met outside the immediate campground (including two of the local mountain bike patrol) area yesterday were cruising along on mountain bikes. There is little wonder in that, as the park is a terrific place for a morning or afternoon spin. One guy was so enthusiastic about his experience on the Woods Canyon Overlook Trail, that he couldn't help but yell out his pleasure at least a couple times during the descent. 

The sycamore's are showing the season, not that the changing leaves are their best feature, but the willows and especially, California Black Walnut have those bases covered. If you pay close attention, you might spy the last bloom of the native bush mallow whose nearly see-through petals are very botanically sexy. Beyond that you might also spot the only blooming lupine, roadside, and will certainly not miss the morning glory which bloom in many places. What you might not want to come across is the momma mountain lion and her two new cubs, of which the mountain bike patrol informed us. 

Being afoot, we only strode in to the three mile point, which is right were the Woods Canyon Overlook Trail comes down to the main road up Sycamore Canyon. A picnic table in the shade there seemed like a good spot for lunch, and we could watch riders come down the bottom switchbacks - not a single one overshot the last turn to find themselves piled up in the poison oak mass growing there. Pt. Mugu is always a nice place to spend some time and, when you are done with the canyons and hills, you can walk under the bridge (assumed the tide is out) and check out the tide pools there alive with sea anemone, crabs of various type, and cell phones someone lost in the surging water. 

big

the mottled bark of the sycamores may be more interesting than the changing leaves

oaks and black walnut too

lupine

lunch

sycamore leaf

bush mallow

anemone

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barnacles maybe, i don't think i have ever seen them massed like this though - weird

crashing

If you were wondering - it is true, dogs are not allowed outside the campground. When we arrived, we asked the ranger and he said that technically dogs are not permitted on the "trails" (presumably this includes the main "road" up the canyon bottom) but that...  yada, yada - so as to not get anyone in potential trouble, i will leave the rest of what was said to your imagination. We decided that what was said was enough to go ahead with the hike, though we limited it to the main "road."

I most definitely need to get back there on my mountain bike, but will most certainly have to spend the whole day, because that rush hour afternoon / evening traffic was completely miserable - from Pepperdine U all the way home, the speed was rarely over thirty-five, and usually far slower.