On This Spread, Mustard Is Tops

You might see bobcats, fox and even forest spirits at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, one of the most pristine wilderness facilities in Orange County.

9:30 a.m. to noon: Taming the Foothill Ranch area at all has been a difficult proposition from the start.

In 1885, farmer Dwight Whiting bought a 10,000-acre parcel of what was once Rancho Canada de los Alisos, a cattle ranch gone into foreclosure due to drought, but agricultural uses also proved unsuccessful over time. Developers seem to have gotten the upper hand since 1959.

The park was dedicated in 1988, and today more than 1,500 acres have been preserved as wilderness. (The park office and interpretive center are in the McFadden Ranch House, on a separate, 87-acre parcel next to El Toro Road just south of Cook’s Corner, a historic bar and Harley hog hangout at the intersection of Santiago Canyon and Live Oak Canyon roads.)

County wildlife is immortalized at the park entrance, near Foothill Ranch Marketplace, in a monument called “California Song” by sculptor John Edward Svenson. Two trails up Lower Borrego Canyon begin there, a few yards apart, one for horses and bikes, another for hikers, but the two meet almost immediately near a gate and a bulletin board.

Among announcements on the board: A deadly strain of hantavirus had been detected in a mouse trapped in the park in September, so avoid rodents. A mountain lion was sighted in December. And the Red Rock Canyon nature walk departs from the next bulletin board, 1 1/2 miles up-canyon, every Saturday at 9 a.m.

At the outset, homes on the hillsides are rarely out of view and provide a stark contrast with the forested canyon bed below, with stream crossings only occasionally facilitated by a man-made footbridge. Small sandstone outcroppings characterized by little schisms and arches are harbingers of larger formations to come. (For those on a bike or horse, this first leg is a one-way trail.)

At a barbed-wire fence, turn right onto Mustard Road, and a few more steps will take you to two picnic tables, Red Rock Trail and the next bulletin board. Unfortunately, the area was closed on a recent visit: “Great horned owls nesting/sensitive to human disturbance,” said the sign. (It’s since reopened.)

The possibility for dramatic views was by no means exhausted. The gentle, quarter-mile Cattle Pond Loop, for instance, leads, as the name suggests, to a pond; a summit with small sandstone cliffs provides a dramatic backdrop.

The loop rejoins Mustard Road. If you’re in shape, or want to get in shape, turn right and continue up Mustard Road (and I do mean up ), which is blanketed with mustard-colored flowers. Carry water.

You’ll be rewarded with a view across to the marketplace way down below, but if you continue along the ridge, you’ll come to a sign indicating another vista a quarter-mile up an overgrown path not shown on park maps. (Check in a little bird box at the gate near the entrance for maps.)

As you make your way through flowers more than head high, you can look down into the canyon, where a huge sandstone bowl has been carved out of the rock. But also be sure to watch the path itself: A Times librarian later told me she’s spotted several tarantulas basking on that trail.

According to park ranger John Gannaway, the park has “oodles” of tarantulas. They usually come out on high ridges in the early evening hours during summer--only to be greeted by the deadly tarantula hawk, and lucky visitors might witness what he described as the “ritual combat.”

At the top, about 2 1/2 miles from the start, there’s a picnic table. And what a view! There are canyons on both sides, in one direction sculpted sandstone bowls, cliffs and crags, and Santiago Peak, and in the other, in the flatlands beyond the canyons, the new Wal-Mart. What could be better?

If you’re so inclined, run back down. As you retrace your steps along Borrego Creek, there are any number of very nice stones and logs to sit and rest on. Which is where I came upon two forest spirits.

“I’m Sir Walter, and this is Queen Isabel,” said Walter Allen, 79, of Lake Forest. “And we live up to our names.”

“Walter’s the old man of the trail. He’s well known up here,” said his wife.

I told them about the owl nestings closure up-trail.

“Nobody takes care of me when I’m nesting,” Walter Allen noted with a chuckle. “Now don’t trip on the way down!”

Noon to 12:30: Limelight Java, just next door to the park entrance, offers 20 kinds of coffee, 10 kinds of tea and five kinds of biscotti . There’s also milk--”from a cow,” notes the menu, in case there’s any doubt--and Perrier with shots of flavored syrup.

Turkey and avocado, ham and Swiss cheese, or tuna sandwiches are $3.95; triple cheese or vegetarian delight sandwiches, $3.65, and Caesar, chef and tuna salads, $4.25. There are also bagels, pastries and desserts including cheesecake.

You can stop in at Limelight Java, have a cup of coffee and have them prepare a sandwich for a picnic, or go afterward for lunch. I had lunch, but if I’d known about that picnic table on top of Mustard Road, I might have done things differently.

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3-HOUR TOUR

1. Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park

Entrance on Portola Parkway near Market Place (between Bake and Alton parkways)

(714) 589-4729 or 858-0365

Open daily, 7 a.m. to sunset.

2. Limelight Java

26741 Portola Parkway, Suite 1-A

(714) 454-9574

Open Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

PARKING

Parking: There is free parking in lots at both locations.