It was around 11a when I had driven my Miata to 
the trailhead parking
in Hazard Canyon. There is an 
equestrian campground located here and
it appeared quite popular. The initial hike up Hazard Canyon is on an old ranch
road, the continuation of the dirt road I had driven in on. The section to the
campground is maintained, but beyond that it is gated and no longer maintained
for vehicle traffic. The chapparal-covered hills were freshly green from ample
spring rains, and the 
flowers were starting into their bloom. It was
not yet
full season for the poppies whose color had given the park its name, but it
was a delightful day all the same. The weather could hardly have been more
cooperative for hiking.
At a 
trail junction half a mile from the trailhead, I took the single
track Manzanita Trail which follows more closely the drainage up
Hazard Canyon. This soon led to the junction with the Hazard Peak
Trail where 
a runner caught up and passed me. Not appearing on the
7.5' topo map, this 
trail appears to be a more recent creation. There
are periodic 
benches and other 
ammenities along the
route that was sponsored by the mountain biker's association. As the name
implies, the trail leads to the summit of Hazard Peak in about a mile. Half a
dozen 
mountain bikers
came by in several groups as I was making my way to the
top. Poison oak is plentiful in the area, and care needs to be taken not just
in cross-country travel (discouraged in the park) but also along the trails. I'm
not sure that all the mountain bikers were aware of the poison oak as they sped
by, some of them surely brushing against the stuff. Live and learn...
I reached 
the summit before noon, finding a spacious clearing at the
rounded
top with a number of wooden benches to relax on while taking in the views. One
can see north to 
Morro Bay and 
Morro Rock, 
east
and 
south to more of the surrounding hills, and 
west to the
Pacific Ocean. A group of hikers were
nearing the summit from the trail up from the west side, so I left before they
arrived to allow them to have it to themselves much as I did.
I headed back down the Hazard Peak Trail to just before the junction with the
Manzanita Trail. Here I took an 
old trail
shown on the topo map heading east
towards the park boundary. The trail was likely closed due to the erosion that
has left deep gouges in the center of it. I didn't realize there was a reworked
alternate route (that switchbacks and has better water diversions to avoid the
erosion problem) until I found the 
East Boundary Trail a short while
later. By
12:30p I had reached the 
fenced boundary
at the east end of the park. Where
the trail continues south following inside the boundary, I headed east through
the tall grass and 
brush, over a fence, and into the adjacent property
where 
a herd of cattle were milling and grazing around
a small pond.
From here my route followed a roughly west-east ridgeline along grassy ranch
roads that are still serviceable but little-used. Elna Peak lies about 2 miles
east of the boundary along these roads. A fenceline separates one property from
another 
along the ridge. In places the grass is cut short by the
grazing, but in others tall grass and 
flowers abound. There are ranch
buildings visible in the small canyon below 
to the south,
but my route traveled outside the property
in which it is enclosed. I could see no buildings in the canyon
to the north,
but there was another herd grazing down below the ridgeline on that side.
By 1:20p I had made my way to 
the summit of Elna Peak,
dominated by large
transmission towers atop it. Because the summit is higher than Hazard Peak, it
affords finer views to Morro Bay to 
the northwest. Much of Montana de
Oro is spread out to 
the west. Southeast lies 
Stoney Peak
which I had hoped to also
visit, but a modern ranch spread lies atop the peak, obviously occupied. I
would have to leave a visit to Stoney off my agenda unless I wanted to incur
the probable wrath of the ranch's occupants. There was also a good view looking
north and 
northeast along the Seven Sisters and into
Los Osos Valley. I did not
find the ELNA benchmark indicated on the topo. It was either hidden in the tall
grass or had been obliterated by the construction of the towers.
I spent a little more than an hour returning to Montana de Oro and back to the
trailhead in Hazard Canyon via much the same route. 
A party of
equestians were just heading out from camp as I neared the end. They seemed
set to
have as much fun on their outing as I had had on mine. I was done by 2:30p,
a short 3.5hr outing that only whetted my appetite for more. Time to head back,
so I'll have to save Alan Peak and the rest of the park for another visit.