Wandering further afield

Yesterday was sunny and clear and I decided to ignore my orthopedist's advice and hike south of my neighborhood about one mile to the Deane Dana Friendship Park, entering at the uppermost level on the east side.  The park is 123 acres of rambling trails, great for distance views (and walking dogs if you have one).  On most of my prior visits it's been dry and dusty.  Signs warning to be on alert for rattlesnakes have usually kept me from wandering far.  But yesterday it was green and the grassy areas had been recently mowed so I wandered further afield.

View of the dirt trail I followed headed toward the south side of the park with a view of the ocean in the distance

Several homes abut the top of the park, offering a view of a few back gardens, only a couple of which had much to interest an avid gardener.

This one had succulents mixed in with citrus, Brugmansia, nasturtiums and lots of blooming African daisies (Osteospermum sp.)

This one first attracted my attention because of the block terracing of the steep slope and the sculpture (of a coyote?) attached to the landing.  I only belatedly noticed the two dogs who'd appeared as I encroached on their territory.

The weeds were growing like crazy along the trail, interspersed with wildflowers just beginning to bloom.

I've no IDs for these

I noticed more greedy snails than flowers in this area of the park.  Masses of them, like those shown in this photo, covered some plants.

As the path climbed, I could see more of the ocean view on the south side of our peninsula.

As a wise garden blogger once said, there's always an agave

View of the south side of the peninsula

I reached a sign indicating that habitat restoration was in progress beyond this point so I turned around and went back the way I'd come, moving in the direction of the Los Angeles harbor.

You can just see the break for the Port of Los Angeles in the upper left section of this photo

A large area was newly mowed

I came across more signs indicating restoration work in progress and found what appeared to be a newly installed observation area.

You may note that there was another sign warning of rattlesnakes too

From a distance, I'd thought this was a tunnel but it proved to be a seating area

I couldn't find anything on the restoration initiative on-line beyond a Facebook notice of a planning meeting last November; however, a sign indicated the possibility that the restoration work may be focused as much or more on removing problem plants than on introducing new natives suitable to our coastal scrub ecosystem.

This is the so-called "Terrible Ten" identified as posing problems for the survival of our native coastal scrub plants

The new observation area was nicely done, although I was a little surprised to find that it pointed to the surrounding hillside and not the harbor.

Native buckwheat, already in bloom, was planted around the observation/seating area

The seats were nice but, curved for the comfort of behinds, they were also filled with rainwater

Signs explaining the focus on preservation, conservation, education and restoration efforts

My guess is that the metal post on the left is intended to hold a binocular at some point in order to better view the hillside (right) when the restoration work is complete

The view of the harbor from the park showed detail not usually evident in the photos I take from my backyard.

A closer view of the Vincent Thomas bridge from San Pedro to Long Beach

View of entrance into the Port of Los Angeles

I turned around and headed out the park the way I'd entered rather than rambling down the hill into San Pedro below.  It'd have taken me two or three times the amount of time to get home via the other route.

All in all, it was a pleasant walk.  I'll go back in a month or so to see if the wildflowers manage to survive the voracious snails and to assess the progress of the habitat restoration project.  The pedestrian trail along the major road that led back to my own neighborhood is pleasant enough in its own right.

Opuntias, agaves and other succulents, as well as Pelargoniums and trees line the pedestrian path

Our neighborhood's entrance succulent garden wasn't looking bad either.

The rain's done a great job of pumping up and filling out the succulents

There's yet more rain headed into our area Sunday into Monday but it's expected to be relatively light this time.  Our rain total for the year-to-date (counted from October 1, 2018) is 18.40 inches, some 23% above the "normal" level for Los Angeles (14.93 inches) and 474% of last year's pathetic total of 3.88 inches.

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party