Walking Your Dogs Off : Peters Canyon Park: A Place for People or Pets to Ruff It

The Spanish called it Frog Canyon, or actually Canon de las Ranas, and you can still hear why. Then it was Golf Canyon, because it’s where the sport was first played in Orange County, back in 1899. That’s also about the time James Peters lived there, and in the barley farmer’s honor, today the area is known as Peters Canyon Regional Park.

We knew we were heading for horse country, only we didn’t have a horse. And so it was that my wife and I set out for a walk and picnic with our dogs, Hephzibah and Boney.

11:30 to noon: First stop was Mattern Meat & Sausage, where we planned to pick up sandwiches. The line was literally out the door when we showed up. We took a number and discovered a cornucopia of European delights.

We picked up a bottle of Hungarian wine rated five puttonyos-- not because it would necessarily go with our sandwiches but because you just don’t run into five- puttonyo wine every day. Nearby were matra gogosari-lecho-- red peppers in tomato sauce--and from Germany, fried herrings in mushroom sauce and kipper fillets in brine.

In the self-service freezer, specials included jaternice and hurka .

The former is Polish liver sausage with onions; the latter is Hungarian liver sausage with rice. In the bakery section were Baltic loaves (black rye, $2.25) and kommis (light rye, $2.35), while the deli offered cervelat (like summer sausage, $5.19 per pound), Toscana (Italian salami, $6.05) and lachschenken (raw cured pork loin, $7.99).

Order two half sandwiches and they’ll charge you for one whole ($2.65). I had half with Hungarian head cheese (it was orange with paprika) and half with blood tongue. My wife had roast beef on rye with Swiss cheese, but it was anything but mundane: Mattern’s shredded lettuce and mustard-and-mayonnaise “secret sauce” spruce up any sandwich.

Noon to 12:30: We spotted the trademark white horse on the roof and thought we’d quickly stop in for a couple of dog bones at the Feed Barn. Once inside, we found it hard to leave.

Tiny cowboy boots for infants start at $25; on hand were Size 2, but, said owner Norma Gustafson, they “start at aught.” Children’s videos included “National Velvet”; among kids’ books were “Cowboy Dreams” and “The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses.” Adults will appreciate “Cowboy Gear: A Photographic Portrayal of the Early Cowboys and Their Equipment.”

The shop carries Western clothes and all manner of bits and bridles, stirrups and snazzy leather and suede saddles. There are water-snake boots for as little as $50, but also ostrich boots for $750. “They’re a special kind of ostrich,” noted Norma’s husband, Curly. “Pointed toe, too.”

Large dog bones are available by the barrel ($1.50 a pound). We purchased two bones. (We found no treats to bring home for our kitty, Nightmare.) At the register were cassette tapes by Sons of the San Joaquin and “Waddie Mitchell, Buckaroo Poet.” “Those are real true Western,” Norma said.

12:30 to 2: Just inside the entrance to Peters Canyon Regional Park were an “Equestrian Parking Only” sign and watering trough. Boney and Hephzibah were not offended.

A bulletin board compared Africanized honey bees to their European counterparts. “Notice the family resemblance?” it asked. “The bees are so similar that only experts can tell them apart.” The board also offered advice on rattlesnakes: Be cautious around shaded areas; if encountered, give a rattlesnake distance and “respect.”

We started along the Lake View Trail. We paused at an observation bench that looked out across a field of purple flowers to the reservoir, along the shores of which herons and egrets can be spotted. Before reaching the eucalyptus groves at the park’s southern end, we turned up the East Ridge View Trail.

At the top of the ridge, with the reservoir behind us, we were rewarded with views of carefully landscaped Jamboree Road and the marching condos of suburbia on one side, the rolling lawns of equestrian estates on the other, the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station hangars before us, and beyond, the buildings of Newport Center and Catalina Island, huge as day.

We came back down the hill and enjoyed our picnic on a bench beneath a shady pine. It having rained recently, the dogs got duly muddy and were all the more blissful for it.

“Does this outing include an auto wash?” my wife asked.

2 to 2:30: It didn’t. But what it did include was a stop at Joy Self Dog Wash.

Avoiding both the backaches and clogged drains that often result at home, patrons at the “shampooch” are provided with apron, shampoo, towel, brush and comb, and raised tubs to put the dogs in.

A medium dog costs $8.99, with $2 off for the second dog; large dogs are $10.99, cats and small dogs $6.99. Grooming is limited to 30 minutes, blow dryer use to 15 minutes.

Hephzibah and Boney were each clipped into a leash called a “noose.” (No doubt because that’s how the dogs view it!) By simul-bathing the dogs, we were finished in under half an hour. Boney, who basically has a permanent flattop, looked fastidious as ever. Hephzibah, who has longer hair and went in looking like Pig Pen, came out decidedly bouffant.

3-Hour Tour

1. Matten Sausage and Meat.

4327 E. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 639-3550. Open Monday, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday to Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2. Feed Barn

4925 E. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 771-2233. Open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

3. Peters Canyon Regional Park

10500 Peters Canyon Road, Tustin. (714) 538-4400. Open daily, 7 a.m. to sunset.

4. Joy Self Dog Wash

3702 E. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 997-8860. Open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Parking/Buses

B: OCTA bus 54 runs east and west along Chapman Avenue; transfer to bus 55 to continue along Chapman Avenue to Newport Boulevard (but a walk remains).

P: There is a parking lot at each location.