Sponges on a vine? This Central California trip may surprise you
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By Rachel Schnalzer
Design and illustrations by Jade Cuevas
Good morning, fellow travelers, and happy Earth Day 2021. 🌎
Over the last year, record numbers of people have found solace in nature, from the United States’ vast national park system to the comfort of their backyard or neighborhood.
In this edition of Escapes, you’ll find several adventures that will bring you closer to nature. One will test your mettle by challenging you to a 67-mile trek — divided into eight day hikes — while another will have you marveling at sponges grown on a farm three hours from L.A.
Have you discovered a favorite outdoor destination this year? Let me know, and I’ll feature it in an edition of Escapes.
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✨ No wildflowers this year? Catch a different sort of flower field in Paso Robles
The “Field of Light” in Paso Robles is back — this time with a sister exhibition called “Light Towers,” recently captured by Times photographer Francine Orr.
I was dazzled when I first visited the “Field of Light” in 2019, a lifetime ago. The 58,800-plus lights, gently oscillating from green to purple to orange and back again, felt like a hidden treasure — and I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Dhaval Patel, another Angeleno visiting the exhibition, told me that his friend asked him not to tell anyone about the “Field of Light” for fear of word getting out.
Now, the exhibition’s new “Light Towers,” made up of more than 17,000 illuminated wine bottles, serve as both an enhancement and a nod to Paso Robles’ wine industry. Make a weekend out of a trip to the exhibition by visiting a few vineyards while in town. I recommend stopping by Tablas Creek Vineyard, open for outdoor flight tastings by reservation.
Tickets to see the “Field of Light” and the “Light Towers” are on sale through June.
🧽 See sponges growing in Nipomo
Nature is full of quirks and surprises, not the least of which are heirloom luffas, grown on vines at Luffa Farm in Nipomo.
Although the farm’s luffas look like the classic loofah sponge you buy in a store, the difference is striking. Most loofahs are abrasive, but Luffa Farm’s products are soft and gentle, its website explains.
If you’d like to see luffas up close, stop by Luffa Farm between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays for an informal tour. No reservations are needed, but you’ll be expected to wear a face covering and keep six feet from others.
⛰️ Explore this 67-mile trail in 8 day hikes
Does hiking L.A.’s 67-mile Backbone Trail in one shot sound too daunting? No worries — you can tackle the trek by breaking it up over eight challenging but doable day hikes.
Assistant Travel Editor Mary Forgione recently wrote a guide to eight day hikes in the Backbone Trail as part of our ultimate guide to hiking in L.A. Hikers begin at the Ray Miller Trailhead, west of Malibu in Ventura County, and finish at Will Rogers State Historic Park, with sweeping views of the Pacific and the Westside.
The land’s Indigenous significance cannot be overstated. “Exactly where you are standing, Indigenous people have been living for tens of thousands of years,” Ralph Waycott, who has guided people on the trail for 17 years, told Forgione. “Our society has been here 250 years.”
Interested in hiking the Backbone Trail? Take a look at the National Park Service’s site for more information.
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🌾 Find peace and quiet at a nature preserve
Off-the-beaten-path nature preserves offer an escape from crowds that have packed national parks and campgrounds throughout the pandemic.
In a recent story, Forgione describes five little-known nature preserves not far from Los Angeles. The preserves, which include the Santa Margarita River Trail Preserve, home to one of Southern California’s last free-flowing rivers, and the woodsy Volcan Mountain Wilderness Preserve, provide places where the public can enjoy nature for free.
Make sure to pack in (and pack out) a snack and water, because visiting a preserve is different from a trip to bustling Yosemite Valley. “No stores,” Landon Peppel of the Wildlands Conservancy told Forgione during her visit to Wild Wolves Preserve in Bakersfield. “All we sell is nature.”
For more nature coverage, be sure to sign up for Forgione’s newsletter, The Wild.
📰 What I’m reading
- Here’s when your favorite California attractions will reopen, courtesy of Times travel writer Christopher Reynolds and assistant travel editor Mary Forgione.
- Struggling to make a campsite reservation in California? Forgione has advice for you.
- Far-northern California offers a “more gothic version of sunny, coastal California,” Marisa Meltzer writes in Condé Nast Traveler. Read about her road trip here.
- Love animals? In the Boston Globe, Diane Bair and Pamela Wright explain what not to do on your next vacation.
- A backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon allowed John Briley to introduce his 12-year-old son to adventure. He wrote about their four-day, 27-mile trip in the Washington Post.
- “Spun-out Teslas on snowy roads. Cabins bought for cash, sight unseen”: Bay Area residents are moving to Tahoe and many locals aren’t happy about it, Rachel Levin reports in Outside Online.
- Glacier National Park is instituting a temporary ticketed entry system for visitors who want to drive its popular Going-to-the-Sun Road. Here’s what you should know if you’re planning a trip to the park.
- “Return the national parks to the tribes,” David Treuer writes in the Atlantic.
💻 Can’t adventure IRL? Here’s one way to expand your horizons
Get to know the birds of Bonaire, a small Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela, on Earth Day with a peek at the island’s yellow-shouldered Amazon parrots at the Echo Conservation Center.
The video is available on Bonaire Tourism’s Facebook page. You can also tune in Thursday, April 22, at 1 p.m. Pacific time to chat with experts from the Echo Conservation Center to learn more about the parrots and how people can help protect the species.
📸 Photo of the week
🎸 Road song
“Red Eye” by Kid Cudi, featuring Haim, is for anyone dreaming of plane trips in the West and beyond. Safe and happy travels this weekend. ✌️
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