Led by Tom Molloy and Jeff Johnson
Photo above: A circumhorizon arc appearing over the hills above the Palo Comado Trail on Earth Day.
By Jeff Johnson, story and photos
The trails we walked on in Agoura Hills took us under some enormous and ancient Coast Live Oaks and Valley Oaks. We were glad to have the shade because it was hot. Hot enough that we decided to shave a couple shadeless miles off the original route of the hike.
The 2023 wildflower show was happening here too. We noticed that we were seeing different flowers at the lower end and upper end of the hike. I saw some flowers and plants I hadn’t seen before.
Some of our trails followed streams that were still running because of all the rain this year. On one surprisingly stinky section of trail, Sierra pointed out a natural petroleum seep draining in the stream, turning the stream water milky and sulphurous.
Sierra also pointed out a circumhorizon arc — a scrap of rainbow in high altitude ice clouds. That was a happier sign for an Earth Day hike than the perpetual natural oil spill we had passed earlier.
Some of the flowers we saw by the trail
