California coast (week 10)
After another lovely stop in LA - filled with delicious food and art explorations - we set off to follow the coastal highway North.
We spent our first night out of the big city at Oceano; at the ranger's insistence, we drove down the beach to the camping area (full of trucks and ATVs), but quickly got stuck in the sand. Off we went to find a campground in town instead. It was too busy and noisy to enjoy the beach, so we left early the next morning and made our way slightly inland to Pinnacles National Park.
We spent our first night out of the big city at Oceano; at the ranger's insistence, we drove down the beach to the camping area (full of trucks and ATVs), but quickly got stuck in the sand. Off we went to find a campground in town instead. It was too busy and noisy to enjoy the beach, so we left early the next morning and made our way slightly inland to Pinnacles National Park.
I was hoping we'd go to this National Park. It is an ancient volcanic caldera, carved into odd peaks by erosion, and is the only place in California to spot wild, once-extinct California Condors. We drove down winding country roads through grassy hills and purple flower valleys with giant oaks to reach the little park. It was teeming with life; woodpeckers chipped holes in the oaks to hide acorns, shy California quail ran around and mingled with rabbits, turkeys gobbled in the woods, hawks hunted mice for their nestlings, and ravens chattered in the branches, squabbling with blue jays and grackles. The condors were harder to spot; I did not see any on our hike to the mountain overlook, and an abundance of biting flying insects kept me from sticking around for very long. Luis continued around the high peaks trail without me (ouch, my knee), and he captured a short video of one of the giants flying right by him.
It was hot; we had come back to southern California just in time for a summery heat wave, with temperatures in the mid 30s and a fair bit of humidity from the spring melt. Luckily the campground had a pool, and we took advantage of the breeze around it to avoid all the mosquitoes at our campsite. We also lingered in the cool darkness of one of the strange caves you could hike to, formed by falling boulders wedged between canyon walls.
It was hot; we had come back to southern California just in time for a summery heat wave, with temperatures in the mid 30s and a fair bit of humidity from the spring melt. Luckily the campground had a pool, and we took advantage of the breeze around it to avoid all the mosquitoes at our campsite. We also lingered in the cool darkness of one of the strange caves you could hike to, formed by falling boulders wedged between canyon walls.
We chose Big Basin Redwoods State Park for our next stop, a fairly short drive away. Other than the unfriendly park officials, the park was quite stunning. We stayed only one night; we wanted to push north, where we would inevitably stay in other redwood forests along the way with even bigger and older giant trees.
Another short drive, and we arrived in San Francisco. I'd never spent much time exploring the city in my previous visit, but really enjoyed walking around - we went to Coit tower to see the view and the feral parrots via Chinatown and Little Italy and walked around iconic Haight-Ashbury.
We ended up at the Saloon, a small cozy bar which prides itself in having been in continuous operation since 1861 (though some argue that it was burned down in the great fire of 1906). A blues band came on; Lisa Kindred sang: she has performed at the Saloon and many other venues and with many well-known artists since the late 60s.
Another short drive, and we arrived in San Francisco. I'd never spent much time exploring the city in my previous visit, but really enjoyed walking around - we went to Coit tower to see the view and the feral parrots via Chinatown and Little Italy and walked around iconic Haight-Ashbury.
We ended up at the Saloon, a small cozy bar which prides itself in having been in continuous operation since 1861 (though some argue that it was burned down in the great fire of 1906). A blues band came on; Lisa Kindred sang: she has performed at the Saloon and many other venues and with many well-known artists since the late 60s.