Morro Rock - Getting There

I have passed Morro Rock and attempted to take it's picture from Montana de Oro State Park, but finally set it as a destination. Cindy said I should attempt my first views of it from Hwy 46. Still working on  that. But I've made it to the actual walk to, and partially around the rock twice. I'll save that for another blog.  Here are some of what makes a 46 minute trip take 3-4 hours. And why you can never actually experience the same trip twice.


The first time I ALMOST got to Morro Rock, I found the sun too bright and the people too populous.  But I did spend some time enjoying the sea otters.

Grooming tail

Taking a nap

Lunching  on sea urchins

Mom and really big baby - most are born between November and March

View from Highway 46 - First try

Started earlier and had a little fog and lower sun the second day

After I turned onto Highway 1, things got a lot tougher.  I stopped for redwing blackbirds singing in tall, yellow blooming mustard. I stopped for scenic views. And I stopped to explore trails, and take pictures of yards I passed. I finally took a hike on the beach.

Sea side windmill

A red-tailed hawk surveying his domain

A fishing pier

A drainage meeting the see - accidentally took only in my watercolor setting

Whimbrel

Marbled godwit

Another accident - took picture of rock from beach with wildflower setting

Surfers spooked the marbled godwits

Morro Rock was much more photogenic the second day - and I got my camera settings right

Western Gulls are the MOST numerous - I wondered what this one was yelling about....

...Guess he was calling for dinner....

....then had to carry it off to drop on a hard place....

I was trying to get an art picture of flowers when this butterfly came along - forget to change settings. 

And then I explored the rock. .... to be continued.

Back to Carrizo Plain National Park

Cindy and I love to photograph wildflowers so decided to go looking for them for our Saturday outing.  We started at Shell Creek Road, which is only about 40 minutes away.  We got lots of pictures, but I plan to go back to look for bees when they are easier to photograph and the light is more conducive  to getting better pictures. Shao I'll save those pictures for now.

When we had pretty much exhausted the views/flowers, and the place was rapidly getting too crowed to feel safe, we decided to continue on to Carrizo Plains National Wildlife Refuge. We had been there before, and I loved it, but Cindy was sad that it didn't equal the superbloom of the year before.  We had not made it all the way to the south end of the monument and a few weeks had passed and we could expect to find new wildflowers and beautiful scenes.

We were not disappointed. We had much wider view here of wildflowers, and saw new species of wildflowers in bloom.  We ended up enjoying nature here for about six hours, never coming within twenty feet of other people. Our spirits were raised and I'm sure we boosted our immunity system.

We hit the jackpot after we arrived in the area we hadn't explored last time

This is a panoramic of a particularly beautiful landscape from a side road

Spent a lot of time worshipping on my knees

I haven't identified this - it may be introduced but was plentiful

Foreground plants are thistle sage

Tansy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)

Purple Owl's Clover (Castilleja exserta)

Common Hillside Daisy, (Monolopia lanceolata)

One of the views we spent a LOT of time appreciating - and attempting to capture

Late afternoon brought a few clouds - and made us search for landscapes enhanced by them

Lark sparrow - birds are breeding and secretive - but this is an importing bird site

Purple owl's  clover,  (Castilleja exserta) surrounded by  California goldfields, (Lasthenia californica)

Another view - with clouds

Still figuring this out - we only saw a few examples of it - please comment if you know

I loved nature's composition of thistle sage and fiddleneck flowers - click here
 for a very interesting article on this seemingly weedy flower

Closeup of a highly armed sage

We got really excited when this cloud started making - but it never lived up to its promise

Seed head of silverpuffs - probably Uropappus lindleyi

A telescopic view of an interesting juxtaposed planting. 

This little range runs very near the San Andreas Fault

We hope for more friends of this cloud, but didn't get them

Getting ever better - but  what IS that white spec? ....

....I apparently was providing entertainment to this ground squirrel

Carrizo Plain encompasses 180,000 acres and is managed by the BLM and partners.  Currently you can even camp there, but ONLY in dispersed camping.  Many such camping places have a little side road to keep you out of traffic, and I saw some where people had built and left fire rings.  We saw several camping groups enjoying social distancing.  And they are keeping the restrooms open and clean.  We even found hand sanitizer.  And we bring our own disinfectant wipes so we can wipe down the door handles and know we are not bringing infections home. 

Visiti to Montana de Oro State Park

Thursday, April 16, 2020


Thursday was supposed to be a partly cloudy day, so I decided to do several hours of exploring.  I planned to head directly to Montana de Oro State Park and check to see what parts I could access, then explore on the way back home. The day was shortened by early morning clouds and fog, so I got off to a very late start, around 8:00 A.M. I drove under a mix of clouds, sun, and fog/haze with a few stops to check out trails and Moro Bay State Park.The park was closed at the highway, and I didn't know how far I would have to walk to enjoy the beach, so I left it for another day.

I got to the Morro Bay area as the day was brightening, but with a lot of fog left.  I threw away about thirty pictures of the first great view - a look across to Morro Rock, which is very colorful in the sun. But it disappeared into the mist in the early pictures. I finally got a better view of it as I was leaving the park in the early afternoon.

Morro Rock with the mist behaving better

I spent the first hour or so, climbing on the vegetated dunes, looking for wildflowers.  I'd look around, then drive down the road and stop again at another pull off. I found a trail all the way down to the beach and took it down and back, with many stops for photographs.

This shrub was abundant and just coming into bloom

My hike was interspersed with lots of stops to take pictures of flowers and plants, birds, views, and  a lizard.

Ice plant bud

This bold chipping sparrow let me take his picture from about twelve feet away

Another unknown

This shrub was already making fruit, kind of a cross between an apple and an acorn 

I saw my first bumblebee of the season but couldn't f capture it.  This is one mean looking fly.

This was the only one of this species I saw. 

View of Spooner's cove from a pullout above it ....

...And from the parking lot

I never knew Nasturtiums could be invasive until I started exploring the central California coast

This could be poison hemlock - comment if you know

This was a plant that looked as though it should be in a landscaped yard 

Beach morning glory

One of two adjacent un vegetated  sand dunes

I didn't go any further on the road - but Cindy says I need to go back and explore further. I also found I can hike 2-6 miles along some fantastic volcanic rocks in the bay  and view and listen to a sinkhole.  It is only about an hour away, with no stops, so it will stay in my Bucket List.

I started back across the bay, stopping to take the bear dressed in PPE with a sign thanking essential workers for their service.  I had to go past it to a turn off to another road to find a place to park. The road looked way to interesting and beautiful to not explore so I went down it for a few miles. 

Bear dressed up to thank essential workers

Clouds got better in the early afternoon

One of many beautiful views along the side road

Those green, green hills

This lupine has had lots of bee visits - the red spots are on flowers that have been pollinated

People were few and usually found singly or in family groups