Day Hiking Through the Seasons

Many have sung praises of Southern California's Mediterranean climate. Relentless sunshine, winter and summer, is how the climate is usually stereotyped. But the semi-tropical stereotype holds true only in coastal regions and only at certain times of the year. There is nothing Mediterranean about the climate of the Mojave Desert or the San Jacinto high country. In Southern California's backcountry, seasons arrive with clarity and distinction. Day hikers can find trails that are "in season" in every month of the year.

Winter brings snow to mountains in the Angeles, San Bernardino and Los Padres National Forests. Rain visits the coastal lowlands. Deciduous trees and shrubs lose their leaves. Some animals hibernate or become torpid.

But winter doesn't mean an end to all of nature's activities in Southern California, particularly in the lowland valleys and deserts. January is a fine time to take a beach hike, to visit shores laid bare by minus tides, or to see what treasure winter storms have cast ashore. In February, the desert begins to bloom. February and March, last of the winter months, are often looked upon by many Southern Californians as the first months of spring. Day hikers are guaranteed solitude in these months. High country trails are covered with snow and those on the lower slopes are muddy going.

Spring comes early to Southern California. Even the chaparral, so dull gray in other seasons, looks inviting. Ceanothus covers the lower slopes of the Santa Barbara Backcountry, the Santa Monica Mountains and San Gabriel Mountains with its dainty white and blue blossoms. In March, the giant coreopsis on Anacapa Island grows wild. As spring temperatures increase, flowers in the hotter Colorado Desert diminish, but those in the higher Mojave Desert arrive with a flourish. In June, the flower show moves to the high country of the Transverse Ranges. Lemon lilies appear streamside and lupine everywhere. Flocks of birds go about the business of building nests, laying eggs, raising young.

In summer, snowmelt-swollen creeks water emerald-green meadows. Scarlet-stemmed snow plant emerges in the pine forests. By August, even the highest peaks have lost their mantle of snow and day hikers can stand atop their summits and sign the hiker's register. A beach hike in the middle of summer is a pleasure. With the sun on your back, the surf at your feet and miles of beach in front of you, summer seems endless.

Autumn has its critics and its fans. Some say there's little use for a day that begins with frost, becomes hot enough to sunburn your nose by noon, and has you shivering by sunset. Wiser heads, those attached to day hikers no doubt, believe autumn is the best of all seasons. The high country is crisp, but still inviting, and desert washes have cooled. Autumn colors oaks, dogwoods, willows and sycamores in the Cuyamaca and Palomar Mountains with reds and golds. There's enough color change to satisfy even the most homesick New Englander.

^ top