Another May meeting of the district advisory commission meeting was held at the Santa Rosa Plateau, giving me another excuse to spend some time exploring this amazing reserve just west of Temecula. The reserve contains an interesting mix of landforms between granite boulder piles, basalt-capped mesas, rolling hills, expansive meadows, vernal pools, oak woodland pockets, and spring-fed riparian areas. It really feels like a forgotten part of southern California, as if preserved in a snow globe since the ranchero days before California was even a state. Even slight rises give far-reaching views over to the San Jacinto Mountains 40 miles away. The previous year I went on an ambitious 13.3 mile looping run of the plateau. This time I went for a 10.5 mile loop (2hrs18min) revisiting some of the previous year's highlights (the 1846 Moreno Adobe, the vernal pool boardwalk) while taking in some new landmarks (the highpoint of Monument Hill, the Transpreserve Trail, Sylvan Meadows). It was hotter and considerably drier than my previous year's hike but I was feeling good with my fitness and surprised at the dense patches of wildflowers given the dud of a year overall. I saw few groups of hikers overall as I had most of the place all to myself. I made good time overall, leaving myself with about an hour to drink electrolytes, have a snack, and enjoy some earned A/C in the nature center building before my meeting.
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