By Jürgen Schrenk
Recently, the new Santa Fe Valley Trail, connecting the San Dieguito River Park’s Del Dios Gorge Trail with the Lusardi Creek Preserve, was opened to the public. The beginning of the trail took us through fields of Menzies’ Goldenbush (Isocoma menziesii var. menziesii).
Later other flowering plants became more common: California fuchsia (Epilobium canum ssp. canum; below).
Santa Barbara honeysuckle (Lonicera subspicata var. denudata), and mule-fat (Baccharis salicifolia ssp. salicifolia) (below).
When the trail climbed the ridge (above) towards the Lusardi Preserve, the drizzle turned to rain – so we turned around and took a side trail (below).
The lady fingers (Dudleya edulis) on our side of the river had somewhat easier footing (below).
On the other side, coast barrel cacti (Ferocactus viridescens; above) were clinging to the wall down to the San Dieguito River (below).
After we got back to the main trail (above), we enjoyed the healthy California barberry (Berberis pinnata ssp. pinnata; below) and decided to return next spring, hopefully to see more flowers.