Tuesday night I attended a 3-mile hike at Orchard Hills, which is less than a 10 minute drive from my home. This hike is not open to the public unless you sign up for a volunteer docent led hike organized for certain times of the week. Orchard Hills is part of the over 50,000 acres Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks.

What makes this hike special is that you actually walk around a working avocado orchard.

We had an unusually cloudy day on Tuesday, which resulted in the sunlit, flower covered hills to pop even more. I loved so many of the pictures I took that I decided to post a lot. I hope you don’t mind it.

During the hike we encountered many wildflowers; some I knew already, like the (here invasive) Mustard and Lupines, but the Owl Clover (pink) and the Black Sage (white) were new to me. The docents who walked with us were very knowledgeable about the area and shared lots of information.

During parts of the hike we saw one of the ever-growing Irvine housing developments. This one here is so new, that only a few houses have occupants.

We reached the parking lot just after the Sun set over the Pacific Ocean. This was a very nice, enjoyable and photogenic hike for me. I’ve already signed up for a few more events.