Driving up the Pacific Coast - Day 3

As luck would have it, the threatening clouds of the evening before turned into blue skies in the morning.  A short drive south of Morro Bay is the beautiful Montana de Oro State Park with its many trails and diverse landscape, including even a mountain. We had a lovely hike along the coastal trail with its dramatic ocean views, Pacific waves crashing on the many rocky outcrops along the shore, rugged cliffs, shore birds, including pelicans and the occasional hawk.

It was an easy flat trail and we could have gone on for much longer, enticed by one vista after another.  We kept saying to ourselves, we'll turn back after the next view!   In the end we have to turn back because we wanted to make it to Hearst Castle and see the elephant seals before sunset.  

There was a high surf warning, which made it a great day for us surf watchers...

Wave after wave rolling in, possibly a precursor of the storm coming down the coast 

A surprise rainbow in the clouds

Lots of these outcrops can be seen along the trail

Before we left Morro Bay, we paid another visit to the sea otter families and saw them in much better light.

Mom and pup

Sea otter family

Happily basking in the sun

We made it to San Simeon for lunch and was hoping to enjoy some good food at the vineyard there, but was surprised there was no restaurant!  We had to settle for cafeteria food at the Castle (yes, not even a bakery, because it's a State Park!).

The pier at San Simeon

You can see the castle all the way up the hill

The outdoor terraces 

The outdoor pool - but wait till you see the one inside!

A pretty niche in the garden

The front entrance

The cavernous "living room"

Dining room

In my opinion, the indoor pool was the most striking feature in the castle.  

The view of the ocean from the castle

We managed to find the elephant seal rookery just up the road from the castle, thanks to our bumping into a volunteer in the parking lot (we went in the wrong direction up the beach and couldn't find the seals. We spent a whole hour there as there were a lot of action going on.  Two bulls were fighting "till death do us part".  They were all bloodied but still battling from the beach all the way into the water.  This is the perfect time to visit with some moms still nursing pups, while some continue to mate, and bulls fighting over their territory (apparently testosterone surged to 60 times the normal level at this time).

Nursing elephant seal

Mating - the female looked really excited...;-)

Two bulls fighting to the bitter end (we didn't stay to see who won as they had been fighting for an hour or more by sunset)

            

Adorable pup

Another Pacific sunset - drama in the skies, jacob's ladders galore

This wraps up our south to north Pacific Coast trip.  The following morning, the rain finally caught up with us.  It was pouring rain so we thought it safest to go up 101 instead of the PCH.  Having driven up this way before, I remembered how treacherous it was in the rain, not to mention parts of it were still closed from the winter rains.  Our original itinerary was to visit Big Sur and the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park with its magical waterfall.  A good excuse for another trip down this beautiful stretch of coast.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

California Hwy 1 and Montana de Oro State Park

It was not the first time we had driven down the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) in California but it was the first time that we had dry weather and enjoyed a spectacular drive all the way without worrying about rain.  Obviously the drought had something to do with it.  We stopped briefly in Monterey to revisit 17 mile drive and gawked at the always impressive Pacific Ocean.  I was happy to see that the lone cypress was still standing but it was surrounded by a retaining wall - no longer in a natural environment.  

We proceeded down the coast and stopped at ocean vistas along the way, including the famous Bixby Bridge completed in 1932.  We did a short hike to see McWay Falls in the Big Sur State Park and stopped many times to capture cattails against the setting sun along the highway before reaching our destination for the night in Morro Bay. 

Montana de Oro State Park was a short drive from Morro Bay.  There are many trails in the park but the coastal trail was the easiest and very accessible.  It was definitely a worthwhile trail with abundant wildlife along it - pelicans, cormorants, turkey vultures and we even saw an egret stalking and capturing its prey.  And what I love most was that the ocean was always there, showing off its power and might - I could spend hours watching it.

Morro Bay State Park also had its share of wildlife with its own nature reserve.  There were trees along the beach where pelicans were nesting, although we were told that the trees were dying off.  At sunset, there were lots of birds on the beach in the reserve, feeding in the receding tide.   It had been a very pleasurable few days driving down the coast.

Pacific Ocean at Monterey

Lone Cypress - 17 mile drive, Monterey

Vista along Hwy 1

Historic Bixby Bridge built in 1932

McWay Falls at the Big Sur State Park

Cat tails at sunset

Pelicans and cormorants at Montana de Oro State Park

Turkey vulture in flight

Heron capturing lizard right beside the trail

Spectacular views along the coastal trail in the State Park

Powerful ongoing erosion, lots of arches and caves along the coast

  

This one reminded me of the Queen Nefertiti bust (similar one in Yehliu Geopark in Taiwan)

Pelicans in flight

Panorama from the coastal trail

Pelicans' nests in Morro Bay State Park

Morro Bay State Park at sunset