Chasing the Super Bloom
Activity: Day Hike
Date: March 22, 2019
Huntington Beach, California
4 1/2 miles, 2 1/4 hours in duration, less than 100’ in elevation change, rated Easy.
There has been a lot of press lately regarding the wildflowers in Southern California because of the unusually wet winter we have had. It mentions places like Lake Elsinore, Joshua Tree, and Death Valley as having what they are terming a “Super Bloom”. While looking for information regarding the phenomenon it mentioned other places with an abundance of wildflowers, and it made reference to Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve right near where I live in Huntington Beach. I had experienced this hike once or twice, but that was a decade or so ago. So it was about time I laced up my hiking shoes and checked out my own back yard, Huntington Beach’s wetlands and start chasing the “Super Bloom.”
This is a delightful little hike right across from Huntington Beach’s Bolsa Chica State Beach. The wetlands of the ecological reserve are home to many species of birds, I saw a few lizards, and even a squirrel. The trail works it’s way across the wetlands to a hill which is covered with wild grasses, the tips gently swaying in the ocean breeze, sprinkled with different wildflowers. But your full attention is captured by the large field of yellow that did not disappoint when searching for wildflowers and I was certainly surprised to see so many. So it appears that Huntington Beach has it’s own Super Bloom.
