Adventures of a Quantum Cowboy

Post 6 of the roadtrip series.

Awe-inspiring. Peaceful. Beautiful. Words fail me. This astounding national monument of towering coastal redwoods was one of Teddy Roosevelt’s greatest gifts to the nation.

Post 5 of the roadtrip series. Wonderfully relaxing for a quiet, peaceful walk. We made a note to come back and actually have tea in the cafe sometime.

Day 2 of the roadtrip was climbing up the coast from Palmdale to San Francisco, taking CA-166 through the mountains of Los Padres National Forest to Santa Maria, and then north along the Pacific on CA-1, with brief stretches of US-101. Easily the the most beautiful drive I have ever taken. You will be hard pressed to convince me that there is any road so breathtaking anywhere else on the continent. Unfortunately due to the need to make time on the road, I wasn’t able to stop and take every picture I wanted to (this would have taken months).

CA-166 winds through the mountains to the coast.

The city of Morro Bay and Morro Rock National Monument are quite close to the college/resort town of San Luis Obispo, home of CalPoly.

The robber baron William Hearst built an enormous (and outrageously ostentatious) castle for himself in the hills near the central coast, and filled it with art from around the world. Upon his death, he donated the entire estate to California, and it is now a state historical monument. We didn’t have time to take the tour, but that is something definitely on the list for the next time.

Elephant seals bask on the central coast between San Simeon and Big Sur, north of the castle.

There is a lovely hike along the hilly coastline somewhere along the way… we don’t exactly remember where. Find it if you can, its fabulous.

The city of Monterey is located on Monterey Bay just north of Point Lobos State Reserve. It is also the site of the Naval Postgraduate School. Tough life, getting stationed there. This photo is from Carmel State Beach, looking south towards Point Lobos.

From the same location looking north, there is a splendid view of the Pebble Beach golf course.

Farms and vinyards dot the north-central coast.

Alas, we had a birthday bash to get to that night, and the afternoon was creeping into evening with 120 miles to go. We passed fantastically beautiful stretches of road cut into the coastal cliffs, and especially at the Bixby Bridge I wanted to stop to photograph so badly… no dice. Oh well, there will most certainly be a repeat of this one.

At the insistence of one of my roommates, Liz, the whole house packed up and headed for the beach a couple weekends ago. Unfortunately, we forgot that although the Antelope Valley is sunny 350 days out of the year, the rest of the world isn’t necessarily the same. By the time we hit Ventura it was cloudy and slightly drizzling. The temperature was not cold however, and deciding that we hadn’t come all that way for nothing, we took a walk on San Buenaventura beach. It ended up being very relaxing, and of course I took the camera along. Here are some shots from that day.

A sand dollar on some seaweed. 1/250 ~ f/5.6 ~ 400 ~ 55mm

A beach vista on a cloudy day. 1/1000 ~ f/10 ~ 400 ~ 55mm

The lovebirds on a stroll. 1/640 ~ f/10 ~ 400 ~ 55mm

Crab! 1/60 ~ f/5.6 ~ 400 ~ 200mm

Sandpiper 1. 1/1600 ~ f/6.3 ~ 400 ~ 220mm

Sandpiper 2. 1/1600 ~ f/6.3 ~ 400 ~ 200mm

The cat…

Figaro. Cute little kitty or spawn of Satan? Any given moment is a crapshoot.

This last weekend was probably our most rigorous hike yet. About 10 miles roundtrip, with a nice 1800 ft climb thrown in. I was worried about being too cold this time of year, but I needn’t have worried. It was a pleasantly cool day in the San Gabriel Mountains, cloudy but mostly sunny, and about 60 degrees.

The hike was Trail Canyon Falls, in the southern part of Angeles National Forest. The trailheaad starts near the big bend in Big Tujunga Canyon Road, and tracks more or less northward for about a mile and a half to the top of the falls. From there we continued on down the trail for several more miles, climbing all the way… with some fantastic views as a reward!

The trail decends somewhat into a shady forested area right up near the stream, where we had lunch on some rocks. Very moist and green, with soft earth covered by leaves; it definitely reminded me of northwestern Washington. A little further was Tom Lucas campground, where unfortunately we couldn’t stop due to the 40-some Sierra Club members taking up every available space. So we turned around and headed back down the mountain.

Fantastic variety of birds… I *really* need to get a field guide. Oof… and a good workout too.

Woodpecker Chillin. He let me come quite close before flying off.

Trail Canyon Falls at a Trickle. I assume the falls pick up in the spring, but gorgeous anyway.

Dancing Water. Tried to freeze the water splash in the exposure while blurring the outside. Didn’t quite work the way I visualized it, but I thought it turned out pretty neat anyway.

Mountain Adventure. I really liked the way the light was coming down through the clouds.

The Eye of Sauron? Holy crap I was freaked. But it *is* pretty.

Golden Reflections. Sunlight reflected in water always attracts me… “Oooo flashing lights…..”

Duke of the Forest. This fantastic photo op was dumb luck. I was actually putting my camera away in the trunk of the car at the very end of the hike when suddenly I hear a loud squawking. Looking up, I see this Red Tailed Hawk perched atop a pine tree quite nearby. I got several shots of him, the best of which I think is this one where I moved to put the moon behind him. There are others where he’s looking up at the moon which are cool too, but I can’t post them all! What luck… its almost like he wanted to have his picture taken.

All in all, the best yet, both for hiking and photography. I will definitely be coming back here in the spring and fall. Highly recommended hike!

TRAIL STATS:
Mileage: 10
Elevation delta: ~1,800 ft
Time on trail: 5.5 hrs (including lunch and some water breaks)
Nearest highway: CA-2, Big Tujunga Canyon Road