Last weekend, I went out to see if I could find a Super (or at least fairly good) Bloom in Ventura County. I had heard about the hoards of "selfie" obsessed poppy peepers that have flocked to the Lake Elsinore area and was definitely not willing to endure that. I decided to see if I could find a less crowded alternative closer to home. The Acorn, our local weekly newspaper, offered several possible locations where California poppies and other wildflowers have been spotted in large numbers.
Saturday morning, I went to the first location, Rancho Potrero, just south of the Dos Vientos neighborhood in Newbury Park to see what I could find. As soon as I arrived at the trailhead, I could see patches of flowers off in the distance, and off I went. Alas, as I approached closer, the blooms turned out to be on private property, and I could admire them only from afar. Nonetheless, the hike was beautiful, with great weather and beautiful cloudy skies. There were more than enough wildflowers to enjoy and best of all, hardly any people!
On Sunday morning, my wildflower search started at the Conejo Canyons trailhead where I started down the fire road to the Hill Canyon Trail to connect to the Hill Canyon Trail and finally to the Peninsula Trail which runs roughly parallel to the Hill Canyon Trail and then reconnects with it. It was along this trail I was rewarded with a riot of yellow, gold and purple. I spent a good hour there taking photos (no selfies, though!) Then it was time to head back home. Hopefully next weekend, I'll get out and explore some more. Stay tuned....
