Sweeping views, but at a steep cost

It’s a hard grind to the Top of the World, and not everybody makes it. But leader Howard Huang favors this loop trail he first pieced together as a Boy Scout leader years ago.

On a toasty September afternoon, the former U.S. Army sergeant leads me and about a dozen members of the Sierra Club’s Orange County Sierra Singles on a hike through a natural playground hidden by ridge-top homes.

Thirty miles of trails stripe the canyons and hillsides of Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park bordered by Laguna Beach to the west and Laguna Niguel to the east, mingling with open space, chaparral and live oak through the flanks and flats of the canyons.

The park is a scene of nostalgia for Huang and his son; the rest of us are here to explore some of the 4,200 acres of largely unspoiled oaks, sycamores and elderberry, as well as two year-round streams feeding a freshwater marsh. Though development encroaches on every side, the twisting topography of the canyons blocks most signs of urban presence, including the sounds of the city.

Huang’s loop starts at Canyon View Park and includes some dusty tromping on paths shared with cyclists, making the short trail segments closed to bicycles especially sweet. The Wood Creek Trail winds through live oaks, whose carpet of leaves mutes our footsteps. As we hike in the shadow of foliage, the temperature drops a few degrees and a breeze stirs. We spot some game trails and scare up a few deer. The creek, however, is barely a trickle and doesn’t run quite clear.

“In normal years, going through here is like listening to the symphony,” says Huang, 68, of Laguna Woods. The absence of abundant mustard and other wildflowers signal the land’s continuing thirst as the dry years multiply.

Huang fields questions from the group like a droll Scoutmaster accustomed to answering the same questions over and over.

“Is this creek water safe to drink?”

“If you are strong.”

“Is it safe to hike alone?”

“You only live once.”

His retorts are followed by snorts of laughter, which the group can afford because to this point the hike has been a stroll.

The real march begins up the Mathis Canyon Trail, gaining 600 feet in altitude with no switchbacks and exposed to the afternoon sun. The group holds weekly conditioning hikes that are designed to build endurance and boost group pace.

Today, however, not everyone makes it to the hike’s apogee at Top of the World. From this 1,036-foot high point, you can look down on the ocean a few miles distant and leer at motorists.

The descent affords wide views of Orange County and the Santa Ana Mountains bathed in a smoggy alpenglow. But you can’t gaze too long because Huang keeps everyone on the move. A misstep could twist an ankle because runoff has eroded parts of the original trail bed, leaving rough footing in places.

Carefully the singles troop back down. Three hours after we started, we cross the finish line to our vehicles, pooped from eight vigorous miles and more than ready for a Chinese buffet.

The particulars

Where: Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.

What: 8-mile loop trail gaining 700 feet along dirt trails and fire roads.

How: From the 405 Freeway, take Irvine Center Drive south, which becomes Moulton Parkway after a few miles. Turn right on Glenwood Drive and right on Canyon Vistas. Drive to the bottom of the hill and park on the street; walk through the city park to access the trail.

Back story: The late bookstore owner Jim Dilley first proposed creating greenbelts that would surround Laguna Beach in the 1960s after a visit to England. The parkland became a reality after one of the largest marches in Orange County history -- 7,000 people reportedly turned out -- was held to protest development of the San Joaquin Hills. Eventually the Irvine Co. agreed to sell thousands of acres to the city of Laguna Beach in exchange for the rights to develop elsewhere.

Where are you hiking now that super-dry fire conditions have closed many forest trails? Take us along so we can get the word out. E-mail takeme@latimes.com.