habitat ~ 01/19/14 ~ Morro Bay State Park - Black Hill

Morro Bay State Park - Black Hill

January 19, 2014

This was purely a social visit, so we barely got out on a short section to Black Hill before the football games started.  The road access is located above the Morro Bay Golf Course, a San Luis Obispo County Parks on CA State Parks land.  Confused?  Yeah, me, too.  It looks like they've been cutting back on watering the greens, because there was quite a bit of yellow.  Good.  I think golf is a gross misuse of precious water for an exclusive recreation.

I love the 360° views from on top this volcanic peak and am sorry my uncle didn't join us.  Every visit I worry may be the last time I see him or my aunt, so I try to make the most of our time together.  Even though he still hikes like a mountain goat for short periods of time, he wasn't really aware of the trails here.  I'm not surprised, because for all the years I've been going to Morro Bay, too, it took Andy's wandering trail running ways to discover this little gem a few years back.  

It wasn't until I started Nature ID that I wanted to learn more about Morro Bay, which I discovered is actually part of the larger Estero Bay.  I appreciate the estuary more than ever now, but finding information online has been challenging, especially 5 years ago when I started this blog.  I don't know if google has customized my search properties and/or if the sites have just gotten better.  Two that I like are Morro Bay National Estuary Program and grad student Eric Mohler's Morro Bay Watershed site.

Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival

January 17-20, 2014

Oh, while we were there, this was going on.  Everywhere we went there were folks with good sun hats, binoculars, and cameras so big that I'm surprised they didn't walk all hunched over from the weight around their necks.  The festival was completely not on my radar, so I was not prepared.  Still, I'm not sure I would have participated anyways.  Every time I stopped an obvious birder to ask them what something was, they weren't very helpful or accurate.  Avid birders are a strange bunch.  Talk about another exclusive recreation, which reminds me of the topic of lack of minorities in birding. While I can't say I feel uncomfortable among affluent, retirement-aged, Caucasian nature folks, after all my uncle and aunt fit quite neatly in that category, I am aware I am "other" or the designated minority friend in most groups.  Hmm, maybe that's why I tend not to join things?  My favorite bird blogger is Steve of Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.  He crushes birder stereotypes.

ps 02/13/20 - I removed several embedded links thanks to Ryan Blundell at Tideschart.  Here's his tidechart for Morro Bay: https://www.tideschart.com/United-States/California/San-Luis-Obispo-County/Morro-Beach.

habitat ~ 01/02/12 ~ Palo Corona Regional Park

Palo Corona Regional Park
January 2, 2012

For the new year, we wanted to do a new hike. Heading south past Carmel, this is the first big hill one sees from Highway 1 before reaching Point Lobos. In the spring, the green is quite spectacular. I've wanted to frolic around these hills for the past 8 years, ever since I used to work on this side of the Peninsula and take walks during lunch. Through a complicated partnership, Palo Corona was acquired back in 2004, but it was only opened to the public this past year and with advanced permit reservation. Hmph! As I've mentioned before I'm adverse to planning hikes or camping trips in advance due to my typical rain curse. However, this winter season has been particularly dry, and we had overcast conditions with no rain for our reserved hike. While not very far as the crow flies from home, it was markedly windier and colder than at home in the shelter of the Monterey Peninsula on the Monterey Bay side.

The official MPRPD site (linked below the pictures above) is impressive, but it doesn't offer a decent statement of how limited the publicly accessible areas currently are. I found better information on the Big Sur Land Trust site, a new blog I found, and a series of Flickr photos. It's obvious there has been a ton of money dumped into this property, especially compared to our increasingly neglected State Parks. The mere couple miles of trail to Animas Pond (shown in the 4th pic above) are lavish and disturbingly odd with thick, freshly laid DG (decomposed granite, a popular trail covering in our area), more fancy schmancy benches and picnic tables than you can shake a stick at (with only 21 permits allowed per day, why would they need so many every 100 yards or so?), and not to mention the numerous signs and gates stating "not open to the public" or with complicated handicap loopy locks. The views of Carmel Bay (extends from Pebble Beach to Point Lobos) and the chichi Quail Lodge Golf Club are prominent once you get up the hill away from the many cows, which we had the pleasure of watching get fed hay from the back of a truck. I look forward to when more trails are opened.

Oh, I also saw my second bobcat! It hurried away before I could get my camera out of my pocket. Didn't I say now that I've seen one, I will see them all the time?

ps 02/07/12 - For a great video of what the hike to Inspiration Point (0.6 mile before Animas Pond) looks like, check out Walkifornia.

habitat ~ 10/02/11 ~ Pacific Grove Shoreline Park

Pacific Grove Shoreline Park
October 2, 2011

I often take for granted how beautiful it is here in town. This is pretty much the views we get while driving home from the grocery store, although this day we were walking and exploring. On one side is the Pacific Ocean and on the other is Point Pinos Lighthouse and the Pacific Grove Golf Links with Crespi Pond.

Shoreline Park is a designation that the City of Pacific Grove calls public access coastal areas not otherwise designated as city parks. For the purposes of this blog and location labels, I consider all the unpaved path around the peninsula as Pacific Grove Shoreline Park, starting from Lover's Point (not Hopkins Marine Station) and ending where Asilomar State Beach begins. Ocean View Blvd. transitions to Sunset Dr. next to this unpaved path. I've called this the "poor man's 17-Mile Drive" previously on my blog. It's usually a great place to explore tide pools.

habitat ~ 05/27/10 ~ SFB Morse Botanical Reserve

SFB Morse Botanical Reserve in Pebble Beach
May 27, 2010

We affectionately call this place "poetry rock" for the unexpected bronze inscription find, nestled among a couple tree roots. I was caught in the rain here. After attempting to not get too wet, I gave in to the inevitable... and had a fabulous time being wet, listening to the birds, and watching the frisky squirrels. Native roses were blooming everywhere. I resisted the temptation to pull apart old tree trunks to look for lively goodies, because I was thinking I wouldn't want someone ripping open my roof in the rain while I was hunkered down for some cozy. I'm sure I would have found several amazing beetles. Only saw 2 trail runners while trekking through the muddy paths, one being my better half in training for his upcoming trail marathon. It's too bad they want to build, yet another, highfalutin, sterile golf course nearby... to add to the dozens of private backyard courses already built in Pebble Beach as shown above in the last picture.

black-tailed deer
Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

LOL! This fellow looks like one of those plastic lawn ornaments. Granted, he's on one of the very spendy Spanish Bay golf holes with the hotel rooms in the background.

We learned from a friend in Pebble Beach that the reason most people there have insanely high fences and gates is to keep the ever-present deer out of their gardens. Since it's a gated community anyways, they're not as concerned about security or privacy. I had to laugh. Here in PG, we had a bush planted next to our garage and the deer found it within a few days; I suspect there'll be nothing left of the plant by next week. : (