VALLEY WEEKEND : OUTINGS : JAUNTS : Nature Walk Explores Beauty of Soka Campus : Mary Montes leads the 90-minute family treks once a month, educating kids and adults about plants, animals and history of the idyllic area.
The kids who tag along with Mary Montes on her nature walks at Soka University near Calabasas might stumble across anything from deer tracks to gopher holes to the plant with that oh-so-cool name kids love--the sticky monkey flower.
Montes leads these 90-minute family walks once a month on the secluded university campus, tucked into the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu Creek State Park.
She’ll be out there Saturday, binoculars around her neck, for a walk that starts at 9:30 a.m. Called the Junior Environmental Walk, it’s free and open to kids of all ages, even the stroller set. But adults, who must accompany the children, won’t be bored.
Although the campus is in Los Angeles County, half the families drawn to these monthly walks are from the Conejo Valley. For many, it’s their first visit to this small, park-like campus. Taken with the spot, they come back again to picnic or stroll the grounds.
In fact, it’s the idyllic location of the 200-student campus that has placed it at the center of a legal battle during the last three years. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has tried to condemn part of the language school’s property to use as parkland. The school, affiliated with Soka University near Tokyo, has fought the seizure.
But the walk Montes leads is a world away from the courtroom. At the outset, she might let the kids have a hands-on look at some deer antlers or a hummingbird nest, woven from spider webs.
Montes, an engineer and mother of four, heads across the 680-acre campus, pointing out sights along the way, like the sycamore tree with its spotted trunk.
“If you’re lost in the woods and looking for water, go for the sycamore tree,” she advises, because it grows near streams.
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She touches on the property’s history. In the 1920s, razor magnate King Gillette built the 25-room mansion that is the heart of the campus today. Pioneer film producer Clarence Brown owned it from 1935 to 1952, planting trees, flowers and shrubs from all over the world. For years it was a seminary, then another university. Soka bought it in 1986.
Montes leads the group down the campus’s long entrance road, lined with eucalyptus trees. To parents, it might look familiar. It served as the entrance to Tara in the movie “Gone With the Wind,” longtime neighbors report.
Kids will be more interested in the big white splotches that Montes points out on the ground beneath the eucalyptus trees: a sure sign that owls have been perching on the branches above.
And by examining pellets the owls regurgitate, they’ll learn that the birds swallow their prey whole.
But the high point of this walk involves another bird. A dozen swans reside in a picturesque pond on the campus. When people approach, the males ruffle their feathers and scurry across the water to protect their families. The swans, which mate for life, were brought in by Soka six years ago.
From Montes, a docent more than two years, the kids learn the difference between native and exotic plants and trees. The school plans to restore much of the campus to its native state.
Montes shows them the big heart-shaped leaves of the catalpa tree and the boat-like leaves of the coast live oak. She lets them scramble for walnuts under the black walnut trees--only to find that the squirrels have probably beaten them to it.
If the children are old enough for a bit of a trek, she extends the walk up a dirt road along a ridge for a mile or so, where the view of the campus and mountains is striking. Along the way they look for animal tracks and learn about the Chumash Indians who lived and hunted in this region. They might stop by a sage bush and hear how the Chumash would put sage in their mouths so that deer wouldn’t pick up their scent.
The walk ends where it starts: at the parking lot next to the botanical center and garden, just past the entrance gate. During the year, Soka University offers other walks on the campus, including bird watching, evening owl watches, fitness walks and wildflower walks.
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DETAILS
* WHAT: Junior Environmental Walk.
* WHEN: Saturday, 9:30 to 11 a.m.; second Saturday of the month.
* WHERE: Soka University, 26800 W. Mulholland Highway, Calabasas.
* COST: Free.
* INFORMATION: (818) 880-4649. Reservations recommended.
* FYI: Children of all ages welcome, but must be accompanied by an adult. The grounds are open to the public daily, so families might want to include a picnic or hike.
