Diamond Valley Reservoir, July 21, 2019

Yes, same story: No time to blog!

This was my most recent hike, so I obviously have many that I'll need to finish. I even have photos uploaded for a few of them, but many more to go.

My brother's a bass fisherman, and my dad likes fishing, too I used to fish, have not, for, well, probably 12-15 years.

But my mom recently passed away, so I figured it's important to keep my dad busy, even if we do it in our own way. So my brother texted me on Saturday night (yeah), and asked if I wanted to go fishing with them, tomorrow. Or, alternatively, if I wanted to hike. Early start, but I said yes.

Diamond Valley Reservoir (Riverside County) is about 13 miles east of I-215. You'd probably exit at the same off-ramp as for Mount San Jacinto College, in Menifee. And, yes, like practically every other college or university in the area, I applied there, once. Even interviewed. But kind of bombed the second interview. Oh, well.

Back in March and April, the place was being overrun with people, wanting to partake of the "superbloom." But, of course, by now, that's ancient history. Very few flowers were blooming on his mid-July day. High was forecast to be in the lower 90s, which is actually pretty good for this time of year. Some wind, but not too much. Decent hiking weather, though it would still be easy to overdo it and get dehydrated.

I carried a quart of Gaterade Zero and a 1/2 liter of water. That was enough for the distance I planned.

There are basically three trails at Diamond Valley Reservoir (well, they call it "lake," but, since there's a dam involved, and the water is stored by the Metropolitan Water District, it's a reservoir, by definition). Trail 1 is a short "Wildflower trail," which was closed on the day I visited, although there weren't any wildflowers there. Trail 2 is the North Hills Trail, which starts down outside the park's gate, near Domenigoni Parkway. It's about six miles long, and runs the length of the hills, north of the reservoir. Trail 3 is the Lakeview Trail, and runs the circumference of the reservoir: 21.8 miles. It's open to foot and bike traffic. You'd have to walk a short portion of this trail to access the Wildflower trail.

I get the impression that most foot traffic heads in a counter-clockwise direction, west, from the marina. Going that way, there are four portapotties and several pop-up shade tents along the first four miles of trail. There are also convenient signposts that have the mileage each way to get back to the marina.

I started out not knowing how far I was going to go, but knowing there was no way I'd have time to do the whole trail. Indeed, I'd have preferred to walk among the more natural surroundings of the North Hills or Wildflower trails. But there's no access from the Lakeview trail to the North Hills Trail, and as I noted previously, the Wildflower trail was closed.

The lake was actually pretty empty. Or, more precisely, it's such a huge lake that even with dozens of boats out there, you'd typically only hear a handful at a time.

It being summer, the bloom was over, and the wildlife was mostly probably in the shade. I saw a very few lizards, a very few butterflies (just cabbage whites, I think, and some waterfowl. The terns were active, and I saw a few catching small fish out of the lake.

Big water, and pretty scenic, if otherwise dry. Mount San Jacinto, far off to the northeast. Rolling hills all around.

Not sure how I would have enjoyed the superbloom, had I come, then. I'm not a big fan of crowds, and watching people trampling flowers to get selfies can be annoying. Would have been pretty, though.

Also, even avoiding the Wildflower trail, there's probably more wildlife viewing opportunities when it's not as hot, and definitely more comfortable. I may try to join them if they come fishing next spring, if there's a bloom, on.