Floral Delights Await Hikers

Walking the trail Thursday to Sycamore Canyon through tall grass interspersed with a rainbow of wildflowers, Mary Fegraus seemed to see every blossom: the yellow deer weed, the purple hyacinth and the splendid Mariposa lily.

But the dainty red blossoms on the California figwort charmed her most. “These are the ones that fascinate me,” said Fegraus, executive director of the Laguna Canyon Foundation. “Tiny little guys. They’re so delicate.”

Wildflowers are just one of the attractions awaiting hikers who will pay $20 Saturday to venture into a seldom-seen section of Laguna Canyon. The event will be part of a national campaign to raise money for parks and preservation of open space.

Organizers say this year’s March for Parks will include more than 1,000 hikes nationwide between now and Earth Day weekend, April 18 and 19. The program was launched in 1990 by the National Parks and Conservation Assn., which protects and preserves U.S. national parks.

Sycamore Canyon expeditions will also be offered April 5 and 19. The Rancho Mission Viejo Land Conservancy is also planning a March for Parks on April 19.

This weekend’s moderately rigorous three-hour hike in Sycamore Canyon will wind by the area’s sandstone outcroppings and recently restored natural lakes. Though people hike routinely in Laurel Canyon, which is across Laguna Canyon Road to the east, they are rarely invited past the barbed wire fence the protects Sycamore Canyon.

Fegraus said that last year’s March for Parks raised $6,000, which was split between Laguna Greenbelt Inc., an environmental group that co-sponsors the event, and Laguna Canyon Foundation. The money raised this year will be used to train docents and improve the park.

The hiking tours will begin at 8, 8:45 and 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Reservations are required. The $20 fee includes a T-shirt.

Information: (714) 855-7275.