Getting restless for the natives

Many people say we don’t have seasons in Southern California. They just need to open their eyes to subtle changes. I love to go back and hike the same trail several times a year to see the seasonal nuances. From October to June, I lead a six-mile loop hike for the California Native Plant Society along Stunt High Trail and into Cold Creek Canyon Preserve.

Starting on Stunt Road in the Santa Monica Mountains, the trail descends to a riparian area where water runs year-round and coast live oaks and California sycamore frame the path. There are wonderful reflections of tree trunks and overhead canopies in some of the standing pools.

In spring, delicate pink farewell-to-spring (it’s the last thing to bloom in spring, hence the name), Chinese houses and bright blue larkspur (though I didn’t see larkspur this year) dot the grassy area.

As the trail gently climbs for the next three miles, you walk through chaparral where tough shrubs called chamise mix with lots and lots of wooly blue curls.

On the upper part of this trail, two species of manzanita grow: one with a fuzzy leaf that feels like sandpaper (eastwood) and the other with a smooth surface (big berry). Once you pop out of this segment of the trail, the walk continues for a short distance on Stunt Road to the entrance of Cold Creek Canyon Preserve, where you enter an Alice in Wonderland-type place.

In spring, flowering ceanothus forms an arc over the trail, like a garden path.

Many years ago, an old hermit lived and farmed in this area. There are some remnants of his residency. He cut an entrance hole into a rock formation and used it as a shelter. The shelter even had a roof at one time. Farther on you find a burned-out Dodge truck (circa 1942), where wood rats have built a nest inside and sticky monkey flowers have taken over the truck bed.

At the first stream crossing, stream orchids bloom in April and May. That is something wonderful to see. You don’t think these mountains could produce an orchid, but there it is. Generally, they are 1 to 4 feet tall, with three to 10 flowers per stalk barely a half-inch long.

Unlike the stream orchid, the shy Rein orchid is relatively rare, but it may be found occasionally in recently burned oak woodlands. I saw it in this area after the 1993 fire.

Farther down the trail is a 15-foot rock facade with a small waterfall, a real treasure. There’s Venus maidenhair fern on one side and dudleya embedded in the rock opposite. Before heading back to Stunt Road, the walk hugs steep slopes covered with Western bracken fern and giant chain fern.

At the exit, there’s a locked gate. As a leader, I can let you out; on your own, you’ll have to walk all the way back or get the lock combination from the Mountains Restoration Trust ([818] 591-1701).

The particulars

Where: Hike along Stunt High Trail and into Cold Creek Canyon Preserve in the Santa Monica Mountains.

What: If you go with a docent (check events at www.lacnps.org/events.html), it takes about four hours to flower-browse the six-mile hike with an elevation gain of 1,000 feet.

How: From the Ventura Freeway, exit at Las Virgenes Road and head south. Turn left onto Mulholland Highway, then right onto Stunt Road. Go 1.1 miles to the Lower Stunt High Trailhead on your right.

Back story: A cabin built by brothers Harry and Walter Stunt in the Cold Creek area in 1885 was destroyed by fire in 1993. Their homestead, approved in 1889, was signed by President Cleveland.