I feel obligated to state once again that Peak a Week is really just a weekly hike. Many of these jaunts will not include any gain of elevation. Case in point, our week 7 outing to the Los Osos Oaks (Sunday, May 5).
This would be a great place to bring paints or pens. It’s a place that is lovely to simply be in. (See Joe Linton’s Los Osos Oaks Pieces for examples.)
But hiking… That’s a tough one. The trails are poorly marked. Steve and I found ourselves backtracking quite a bit… And we never actually “got” anywhere (not that we needed to… the paths seemed to meander to nowhere, gradually petering out to nothing.). The trails are also poorly maintained. Poison oak boarders long stretches of path, reaching its evil tendrils into the trails, so consider wearing long pants.
That said, it was quite pretty. I’d go again.
I love black sage. This year has been an exceptional year for the flowering of the black sage — the season seems to have lasted longer and the blooms are prolific. Huge stands of sage covered in lavender-colored spikes. And the scent. When it gets hot, the scent gets more intense (I’m not sure why). I find myself walking a path — either on a hike, around campus, or even on my walk home — and suddenly surrounded by the strong smell of black sage.
The blooms are just starting to fade now, and I think the green of the sage will dull a bit, too. Soon these will just be big, green-brownish bushes, so I make a point of really taking in the blooms and the scent right now.
I think that the fairy tale tree was alone worth the venture.
*trees
I agree with you. What I don’t convey here are the birds and the breeze. You can hear both at all points in the hike. Very sweet.
Ta for the map – big, wild, scary, gorgeous. But now you’ve encouraged me to get greedy – a hand-drawn doodly map showing the highlights (that mass of scary fairyland tree, a cartoon Steve etc) and audioboo of the birds in the breeze. Just because I know you’d do this So Well :)