My sister, Kristi, and I signed up for a hike in the privately held land of the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. The hike was six miles, three up and three down. The first three miles were all up hill and it took us about two hours to get to the top. We gained about 1000 feet and the views were spectacular.
To start we drove to the back of Irvine Regional Park and then down a gated road a mile more. The Fremont staging area is right next to the Irvine Lake dam. It was interesting to see the back side of the lake as the damn has grass growing on it so it is nice and green instead of concrete looking. Right off the bat we walked next to a giant pile of coal that must have been there for 100 years. The coal is low grade and not very good. The surface mine at the top only was around for a short period in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
obligatory shoe shot in the "creek" crossing
uphill
Kristi hiking into the blue
yucca
coal deposits at the surface mine
looking down on the back side of Irvine Lake
wildflowers
Orange County weather station at the top
looking southeast
I recommend this hike for the views alone. Also, this time of year has got to be the best. A few months from now this will all be brown and showing the semi-arid state we live in. Enjoy!
