On Trail of Flowers, He’s Out Front : A Retirement in Full Bloom

As a young man, Milt McAuley dreamed of becoming a forest ranger. It was a dream that was interrupted by World War II, and he wound up as an Air Force pilot. But, over the years, he never lost his interest in plants. And these days, now retired, McAuley spends his days up to the ankles of his hiking boots in flora and fauna of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Whether he is flagging a new trail for the State Conservancy, repairing a trail washed out by the recent rains, or leading a freshman group on its first wildflower stroll, McAuley, in his short pants, hiking boots and Austrian hat, looks as if he’s having more fun than anyone else.

The author of five books on the Santa Monica Mountains and an expert on the history and wildflowers of the area, he has devoted his retirement years to teaching, writing, building trails, leading hikes and identifying the plants of this unusual mountain range.

The hikes and wildflower strolls he leads have long been popular courses at both Moorpark College and the Learning Tree in Canoga Park, where he is on the staff.

Wildflower Season

The wildflower season lasts from February to June, depending on the weather, and McAuley will lead strolls every Sunday this month.

“A hike,” he explained, “is six or seven miles with few stops, while a stroll is only two or three miles with many opportunities to discover a tiny flower or admire the view.” He adds with a grin, “We started the strolls to accommodate the half-fast walkers.”

McAuley provides each hiker with a magnifying glass to carry around the neck. “We try to limit the groups to 25 so that everyone can have an opportunity to learn to identify the plants we discover. If they only learn to identify poison oak, that’s something,” he said.

McAuley began hiking as a young man in Oregon when he served on the staff of a Boy Scout camp. He pursued his interest during military duty in Japan and Labrador.

Back in the United States, he served as an adviser to a group of Explorer Scouts, leading them on a hike up La Encantada, a peak in Baja California. And he has made frequent trips down the Muir Trail in the High Sierras.

Sierra Club Members

When McAuley and his wife, Maxine, settled in Canoga Park in 1962, they became active Sierra Club members. “I quickly discovered that the Santa Monica Mountains were little used, and I felt they deserved more attention,” he said.

His curiosity sparked an interest in the history of the area and, with his customary thoroughness, he began a systematic study, reading everything he could find on the subject. “I took a class in library research and started digging through old newspaper files and talking to old-timers in the area.”

Today he shares what he has learned with hikers as they pause at the ruins of a mountain cabin in Malibu Creek State Park.

“This is the Mott Adobe,” he announced one recent Sunday, “or what’s left of it. Herbert Hoover once stayed here while he was President and fished from that small stream.”

Later, the group stopped for lunch on a high and windy hill with a spectacular view of the sparkling Pacific. McAuley recounted how this land, part of 22 miles of Malibu shoreline, once belonged to the Ringe family.

Lunch and history lesson over, the group continued over the trail, which leads through verdant valleys guarded by silent oaks.

‘I’m the Trail Sweep’

Maxine McAuley often accompanies her husband of 47 years on his hikes. “I’m the trail sweep,” she said, referring to the person who makes sure the slower walkers don’t get lost.

“This is one way of being together without fighting,” she said with a laugh. “With 25 hikers between us, we only get to say hello on the switchbacks.”

In all the years they have been leading hikes, only one person has been seriously hurt--suffering a sprained ankle--and only one ever got lost.

“It was me both times,” said Kathy Iverson. A Canoga Park resident who has been a regular participant on McAuley’s hikes for six years, Iverson said, “But the incidents were several years apart.”

This wildflower season, McAuley hopes to correct some popular impressions. “The public has a perception of California wildflowers as 12 acres of poppies out in the Antelope Valley,” he said. Though acknowledging the poppies’ beauty, he wants everyone also to be aware of the more than 100 varieties of wildflowers right in their own backyard.

McAuley’s fifth book, “Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains,” (Canyon Publishing Co., Canoga Park), catalogues those flowers with color photographs and descriptions to help identification. It also advises on the flowering season of the various plants.

McAuley uses the earnings from each book to produce the next.

When he’s not hiking, McAuley is often hard at work on his next book, which will provide details on more than 50 wildflower trails in the mountains: how to get there, what to find there and the best time of the year to go. The book should be ready for the 1987 season.

McAuley has another, more long-range goal: “I also want to make the mountains available to handicapped persons, especially those in wheelchairs.”