A FEW GOOD HIKERS; TURNOUT SMALL, SKIES CLEAR FOR YEARLY TREK.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer

Armed with sunscreen, Band-Aids, oranges, candy and water, Thousand Oaks resident Sue Bunter came prepared Sunday morning to tackle the eight-mile post-Christmas morning hike through Happy Camp Park.

``It's a glorious morning for this. This is just a little escape before we all go back to the real world on Monday,'' said Bunter, who teaches music to children ages 4 to 8 in Thousand Oaks.

Sipping a steaming cup of coffee before embarking on the hike organized by docent Roseann Mikos, Bunter said it's a well-known fact that the average American's body weight increases by about 10 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

``That's a given. You get a little relaxed and there's a lot of goodies around you,'' Bunter said. ``Being a teacher, you get a lot more goodies from the kids.''

Mikos, a docent for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, said the hike was aimed not just at helping people shed a few pounds after Christmas but at enjoying the spectacular views and ambience of the 3,700-acre park a few miles north of Moorpark.

``This particular hike is one of my favorites,'' said Mikos, a Moorpark resident and well-known environmentalist.

``It's one of my favorites because it has a lot of varied kinds of terrain and habitats and because it's a place where you can go and see what California looked like in the old days.''

In addition, the park is underutilized and unspoiled even though it is close to large population centers such as Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, Mikos said.

``It is the largest county park in Ventura County and probably the best-kept secret,'' Mikos said.

Among the park's attractions, Mikos said, are rocks containing fossils, the remnants of a Chumash satellite village, groves of coast live oaks that are 700 to 800 years old, sage brush and abundant wildlife, including mountain lions, bobcats, deer, coyotes, snakes and golden eagles.

Before the hike, Mikos showed the participants a map of the route, pointing out the elevation change of 1,300 feet, various landmarks and the park's location in relation to the surrounding district.

The hike took the three hikers, including Mikos, through the lower 700-acre section of the park that is managed by Ventura County and then into the upper 3,000-acre wilderness section along Big Mountain Ridge down into the Well area in the valley and back to the parking lot at Broadway Avenue.

``There is a spectacular view on top. It's possible for hikers to see the Channel Islands if the weather is clear. And it looks really good,'' said Mikos, a docent since 1991.

``I always allow plenty of time to look at the views and talk.''

The wilderness section is jointly managed by the SMCC, MRCA and Ventura County.

Conditions were close to ideal for the hike, with blue skies, temperatures in the 70s and occasional wispy white clouds. However, the wind tended to gust occasionally.

Mikos said she wasn't disappointed that only two people turned up for the hike. She said she would have been happy even if only one hiker had come.

And former Ventura resident Sally Fouhse, a member of the Sierra Club who is in the process of moving to Santa Barbara from Fresno, said she was looking forward to exploring new terrain.

``I'm (temporarily) living in Ventura with my mother, so I'm just looking for something to do,'' said Fouhse, who ran two weeks ago in the Honolulu Marathon.

``I like hiking to explore some of the undeveloped areas of the county.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Docent Roseann Mikos, center, scouts the terrain with hikers Sally Fouhse, left, and Sue Bunter before their eight-mile hike Sunday.

(2 -- color) Roseann Mikos, left, and Sue Bunter get under way on the annual post-Christmas hike through Happy Camp Park in Moorpark.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News