Thru-hiking is a getting more popular and why not? Who can resist the challenge of self-sufficiency living on foot for miles and miles and getting out of the urban setting for days on end! All while being immersed and up close to nature unlike regular trips, even for an outdoorsy person. Definitely something I find attractive! Until the day I’m on the trail for a continuous hike though, the next best thing has been doing a thru-hike in parts: the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains, a 67 mile route from Pt Mugu to Santa Monica.

Our local leaders are putting on two series for the trail, one on Fridays, the other on Saturdays. Both series split the whole length into 8 parts. Want to see more? Follow along with me: Parts 1 and 2 previously done (see blog posts), and now Part 5. Wait, what happened to 3 and 4? No worries, I missed these on the Friday series but will make them up on Saturdays!

Just one word describes this segment: BLOOMS! It’s impossible to predict a wildflower peak at any given place in time but some would be expected this being the first week of May. However, it seemed EVERY conceivable plant that could bloom was doing so this hike!! From the minute we started there were flowering plants all around. Just to name a few? Nightshade, and monkeyflower in the parking lot and most of the rest of the way. Bush daisy and yucca not far beyond. White, pale and darker purple ceonothus all along the way. Spikes of hot pink salvia, red Indian paintbrush and big patches of blue dick were spotted. Even the chamise was blooming (I don’t think I’ve ever seen chamise bloom). My amateur botanical knowledge was depleted.

A special treat was seeing dozens of Mariposa lilies in bloom. There are many sub-species but all are tulip like and many are classified as species of concern (populations declining). The ones in bloom on Part 5 were white with a distinctive brown spot inside. 

See you next time on the blog trail story!