More SLO hikes - Wine Tasting - Cayucos - Back to the Ranch

 I had received an email from Turley Cellars about a wine tasting event pairing their wines with pasta and fresh mushrooms from local producers. I had dropped by the winery shortly after arriving in Morro Bay and made a reservation for 3 PM on aSaturday. 

 Mary and I drove over early planning a hike in the Three Bridges Oak Preserve located in Atascadero.  The Preserve features several different types of native California oak trees including blue oak, coastal live oak, and canyon live oak. Three miles of trails with 670 feet of elevation gain take you from shade to great views of the Paso Robles/Templeton/Atascadero valley.

 Mary and I headed up towards the Madrone trail. It was a Saturday so lots of folks were enjoying the Preserve. All the trails have interpretive signs detailing flora & fauna.

 

 Mary on the Oak Woodlands trail.

 

  Mary at the top. The mosquitos were bad so we didn't stay long.

 

After the hike we were ready to do some wine tasting. Turley Vineyards has been a favorite since I was told about it 9 or 10 years ago by friends Pat and Larry Vasquez. They make Zinfandel's from Paso Robles, Lodi, Napa and the Sierra foothills. All very good.

From Tin City in Paso Robles, Etto Pasta made a great dish with fresh pasta, fried capers, fresh mushrooms, basil and olive oil sauce. We talked briefly with the owner/chef who had lived in Colorado in the past. We didn't get a chance to talk with the local mushroom grower, but his product was A+.

 

Mary with Turley Zin and Etto Pasta

 

Next day we set out on another road trip, this time to the south and Solvang. Mary drove us from Santa Maria through the Sisqoc River valley to Los Olivos, a picturesque little wine country town. From there we stopped at Buttonwood for a tasting, that I had visited a couple weeks before. We had tasted their Grenache Blanc and she liked it enough that I thought "Hey, let's go there". Once again Cate was a great hostess and a couple hours later (and a few more bottles purchased) we drove down to Solvang. 

 Mary had visited Solvang back in the 90's or so, so we didn't spend much time in town and eventually headed over to Buellton to the Firestone/Walker Brewery for lunch.

From there it was back through Solvang then down to Nojoqui Falls for a return visit. 

 

 The following day I found out early in the morning that my longtime friend Bob Reed had passed away from a heart attack. Bob and I had known each other since the early 90's and had climbed 14ers, watched the Perseids Meteor Showers on the hood of my Toyota in the Snowy Range of Wyoming and where we ate breakfast at the Centennial Cafe (We serve 100 people, 10 at a time), survived the mobs at Yellowstone and escaped the vampires of Lamont, Idaho (another story for another time). We sang Beatles songs in his Monte Carlo as we drove up to the Rawah Wilderness to camp. We watched Man Soap Operas like Aussie Rules Football, the WWF and listened to more music than I can remember. He was instrumental in my wine education and an original member of the Zep Commandoes. 

Bob was incredibly smart, funny and a loyal and trusted friend. His passing leaves a emptiness in my heart that won't be filled. 

 On the 22nd we set out for the 4 or 5 mile drive to Cayucos. I had only driven through the downtown area once on my many trips out to Morro Bay. It was memorable because I came upon a woman lying in the middle of the right hand lane. Another gentleman had stopped and was trying to help her so I did so as well. She had a pretty nasty cut on her head (she had fallen off her bike). I eventually got her to move out of the street after she had convinced us that she was okay. I offered to call the paramedics, but she declined. Someone else did. 

 Me on the Cayucos Pier

 

Cayucos California

We walked around town checking out restaurants and coffee shops. Not a lot going on in Cayucos, but it's a nice little town.

The 23rd was another SLO market day, but we went down to the beach in the morning and spent some time checking out the tidal pools.

 

 

The Tidal Pools with the Rock in the background. 

 

Pismo clams on the rocks.

 

 

Mary had hiked the Johnson Ranch in SLO on a previous trip and had liked it enough to go with me before we headed downtown for Market Night.

 

Johnson Ranch has several multi-use trails and connects with the Irish Hills trails that we had hiked previously. A beautiful piece of property with wind swept grasses and live oaks. 

 

We had seen a few mountain bikers on the way, but when we arrived at the trailhead there were 15 or 20 kids on bikes (with a couple adults). Talk about timing.

 

We were still early when we got downtown so I had wanted to explore some of the other streets just to take a look around. We found a open air marketplace called the Creamery. Lots of Wine Tasting, Restaurants and Boutiques. Among them was Mistura a Peruvian restaurant with a nice bar, so we went in and had a glass of wine.

 

 Yes, I changed my shirt after the hike.

 

 

Mary Arrives - Let's Hike - SLO walk - Bubble Gum Alley

 After the Stouts left I had a few days to myself so I did a couple beach walks, headed up North to the Harmony Headlands and decided to torture myself with a climb of Valencia Peak.

 

Looking North on Morro's 2 mile long beach.

 Harmony Headlands is just15 or so minutes north of Morro. It's a former ranch road so nothing challenging but a very beautiful walk to the ocean.

 

 Harmony Headlands from the end of the trail.

 

The next day I challenged my 75 year old legs with trip up Valencia Peak. It's the tallest peak in the Montana de Oro State Park. 8000 acres and 7 miles of shoreline.

Valencia is 1347 ft. in elevation and since you start at basically sea level, you do them all. A well maintained trail zigzags up the peak for 2.4 or so miles. With expansive views towards town and further south.

 

 The ridge trail heading towards the summit.

  

 

 

Looking down from the summit at the ridge and trail and Spooner's Cove.

 

 

 

A couple of views from the summit. First looking East towards San Luis Obispo and the second to the South.

 

It was a great hike, there's so much oxygen at sea level, but challenging for me. Just about a 3 hour round trip.

 

Mary arrived around 1 PM on Friday. After unpacking we headed down to the beach for a walk. She loves the ocean and also has been coming here off and on for years.

 

 

 Mary getting her toes into the sand.

 

After the walk we celebrated her arrival with a bottle of French Rose Champagne, Brie and a locally made Rosemary Gouda on the deck.

 

 

 

 The following day, Saturday, we headed north to Cayucos first to view a fishing boat the had become stranded on the rocks on the north end of town. The 79-foot commercial fishing boat that ran aground on July 28, 2017. It's propellers had been entangled in some line and when the crew shut the boat down to try and free it, it drifted up on the rocks. The fuel was pumped out but after a 100K estimate to free it and tow it back for repairs, the owner decided to leave it.

 

 

 

 

 We then headed up to Cambria to find a restaurant/bar that Mary had had a glass of wine at years before with a beautiful view of the ocean and said that she thought the place had been bought by Dauo Cellars. We eventually found the place, but it was abandoned now and didn't seem to be being repaired.

 

After that we went to Harmony (Pop. 18) where there's a tasting room, old post office, glass blowing business, food trucks and wedding venue.

 

 

 

 

 We had some time before the Saturday Morro Farmers Market so we took a wharf side walk to check out the sea otters that reside in the bay and decided to stop at Stax wine bar for a glass.

 

 

It was a rainy weekend and a brief but intense shower brought a quick end to shopping at the Farmers Market. 

 

 The next day after a morning walk on the beach we ventured back out to Montana de Oro to find a access point for the spit. Morro Bay has a 4 mile sand spit that runs from the harbor entrance to Montana de Oro where it connects to the mainland. I thought that we had found a quick entry point on a previous visit but hell if I can find it now. We pulled off on a couple of the parking areas along the road and found some access points in case we decide to do a hike there in the coming week.

 

 

 The sand spit stretching back towards Morro Rock and the Bay.

 

 

 On Monday we headed out once again to Montana de Oro to hike the Point Buchon trail. It's only open Friday thru Monday from April to October and crosses land that is both private ranch land as well as land belonging to PG&E where the Diablo Canyon Power Plant is. 

 

It's a great walk of 4 miles out with stunning seascapes. Sea stacks, caves, arches and big vistas are around every corner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 On Wednesday we decided to head south to Avila Beach and possibly do a hike there. We ended up on the bay at a nice restaurant called Mersea's on the dock for a beer and some lunch. Avila is really nice. Had a great vibe, not overrun by tourists. Cute little town. 

 

From there we drove thru Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach and Oceano. In Pismo we stumbled upon a park called Dinosaur Caves Park. Evidently in the 40's, a gentleman started building a large concrete dinosaur that was to be the entrance to sea caves, which have since collapsed. The dinosaur was never completed as local citizens thought it was an eye sore.

 

 

 

Grover Beach was okay, neither of us were crazy about Oceano, but it might have been due to the fact that it's the entry point to Pismo State Beach where they allow cars on the beach. Kinda ruined the vibe.

 

From there I wanted to take a back road to SLO just to check out the area. After a couple wrong turns we ended up on Orcutt Road headed in the right direction. It turned out to be fortuitous as we ended up at a winery that I researched prior to heading to the coast. 

 

The Baileyana, Tangent and True Myth tasting room is located in a small one room former schoolhouse for the children of the farms in the area. We had a very nice and very knowledgeable young woman who gave us a lot of information about the wines and the area since she had grown up in Pismo Beach.

 

The Baileyana Tasting Room. Highly Recommended.

 

 On Thursday we walked on the beach and then headed over to San Luis Obispo (SLO) for a hike and the evening market.

 

We decided upon trails in the Irish Hills section of town and had a nice 3 plus mile hike with great views of SLO.  We took the Froom Creek Connector to the King to the Mariposa.

Lots of live oaks and grasslands right in the city.

 

 

 

 Finally we went to the Thursday Night Market. Very crowded but 4 very long blocks of vendors with fresh fruit, vegetables, baked items and crafts. As we were leaving Mary remembered that we must visit Bubblegum Alley. Holy cow and a bit disgusting.

 

Heading for the Ocean - Big, Big, I mean really Big City - Back to the Rock

 Back in October of 25 I decided to make another trip to my favorite beach town, Morro Bay, California. I've been coming here since 2014 and love the vibe of the town as well as it's access to hiking, beach walks and wine country.

 I found a 3 bed, 2 bath house on VRBO and since it was six months out, got a great daily rate on the place for a months rental. So on the 25th of March I headed out from Silver Cliff and went West. 

 Since I left well before my April 1st check in date, I stopped in Durango for a night to visit my friend Mary. The next day I traveled through the Navajo Nation for a night in Flagstaff, then onto the LA region to spend a couple of days with my friends the Stouts. 

 Sally and Bill and I had spent a couple days in Morro last year as well as another trip back in 2022 and they had planned to join me for a weekend this time in Morro Bay as well. 

While in Rossmoor, the Stouts and I went down to San Diego (Pacific Beach to be specific). The UC Santa Barbara rowing team was at a regatta and had planned a 50th anniversary celebration. Bill had been the first women's coach back in the early 70's so they asked him and other original members to speak to the current team.

 

It took over two hours of Friday afternoon traffic to reach PB. On the way back after dinner at In and Out I took this picture of southbound traffic at around 7:30. Yikes, still backed up.

 I left them on Monday the 30th and spent two nights in the Buellton/Solvang area. Solvang bills itself as the "Danish Capitol of America". Cute little town but it was Spring Break while I was there so lots and lots of tourists.

 

 

 One of the many "Windmills" in Solvang

 

The entrance to Mission Santa Ines in Solvang

 

On the 2nd day I found a nice winery outside of town called Buttonwood. Very nice lady working the tasting room. Originally from NY she lived in LA as a stock broker for many years. She was very generous with the pours and I found a couple of wines, one of which I had never had before, a Grenache Blanc. Very tasty. 

 

The Buttonwood Winery outdoor tasting area.

 I also found a nice little Santa Barbara Park featuring the Nojoqui Falls. Not much of a hike in but very nice setting. 

 On the 1st I headed over to Morro Bay, taking back roads out of Buellton since I had a check in time of 3PM. Lots of wineries in the Los Olivos AVA. Zaca Mesa, Fess Parker to name a couple. I continued on to Santa Maria and got on the 101 heading North to Morro Bay.

 It was about 2 PM by the time I rolled into town so I cruised by the house to check it out. Several trash cans were in the driveway so I thought that maybe someone might be there so I checked out a park nearby and then went to the Foghorn Brewhouse for a beer and nachos. Both very good by the way.

Checked again a 2:40 or so and the cans had been moved so I got the key out of the lock box and made my self at home. Nice place with a nice deck. The house was a little musty smelling, I guess from little use. Looking at the guest book it didn't appear to be rented since December.

 

 

The house in Morro Bay.

 Had a couple days before The Stouts were to drive up from LA. Bought supplies, walked along the Embarcadaro out to the Rock and back to the harbor. Found a new wine tasting place called Central Coast Wines. And of course, beach walks.

 

 The Stouts arrived on Friday afternoon and we had a nice dinner at Dorn's. Very nice place, very crowded with the spring breakers.

 Bill and Sally both love going to antique stores, so they did a couple of those, we did the Saturday Morro Bay Farmers market and had a nice dinner on the deck on a beautiful evening before they headed back the next morning to prepare for their summer in Colorado.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Road Trip - Snow on the Organs - A Hermit's Cave and Seasonal Waterfall - A walk back in time to Petrogylph Canyon

 

My friend Mary and I had planned a road trip down to Las Cruces, New Mexico for some warmer weather hiking. After she had finished pet sitting for her "favorite" pet, Wiley, we headed south after a weekend storm had blown through dumping some snow in Southern Colorado and lots of rain in Southern New Mexico. So much for the "warmer" weather, though it was way warmer than here in the Wet Mountain Valley. 

We arrived late in the afternoon at a very nice rental home with good access to both US-70 and I-25. I was surprised to see that the Organ Mtns had lots of snow on them from the weekends storm. I've been coming to LC off and on since 1972 and it was probably only the 3rd or 4th sime that I'd seen snow up there. The high peaks reach up to nearly 9000 ft.

We did some shopping for coffee for Mary. Since the sun was just getting ready to set, we headed downtown to take a little walk around the central plaza and business district. We thought maybe we could possibly get a drink but the one pub that we came across seemed to be out of business.

The next morning we gassed up and headed to the Eastern side of the Organs to hike the Lone Pine trail. It's a 4.5 mile loop that starts in the Aguirre Springs Campground and rises 1,000 ft. to an elevation of 6900 ft.

 

Mary on the trail before the snow really started.

We continued up and were rewarded with great views to the east of White Sands Missile Range and beyond.

 

 

 

The snow was getting gradually deeper when we came upon this left a day or so earlier.

 

 

And it was an amazing view.

 

 On the way down.

It took us around 2 and a half hours to complete the loop. Slow going for me when the snow deepened, but it was a fun fun hike.

When we got down we headed over to White Sands National Park since Mary hadn't been there in many years. As we got nearer we could see that White Sands had not escaped the snow either. It's rare but not unheard of as the temperature does drop below freezing during the winter.

 

 A muddy drive end after the pavement ended but worth it. We got out and climbed one of the dunes.

 

 

 

 

The following day we decided to stay on the western side of the Organs. I had told Mary about the La Cueva (the cave) that was located near Dripping Springs and we doubled up on the hike to go to the seasonal waterfall in Filmore Canyon.

La Cueva was home to Giovani Maria de Agostini, "The Hermit Monk of New Mexico" for some time. He lit a fire every Friday evening to let his friends in Las Cruces know that he still lived. When the fire didn't appear one night his murdered body was found. Locals thought it was Apaches. Look him up, this was the end of an unbelievable life.

 

 

 Mary at the mouth of La Cueva. 

With all the snow up high, I figured that the falls in Filmore Canyon might be running so we headed back to the main trail and worked our way to the canyon. When we reached the falls we found just a trickle of water making it's way down the face.

 

  We got back to the truck and headed south on I-25 to the Mesquite exit where headed east on dirt roads in search of Pena Blanca, I had hiked in this area many times in the past. The road that we went in on is intersected by the Sierra Vista trail which runs North to South from just outside of Las Cruces to Anthony, Texas. 

 

 

Pena Blanca is a interesting formation with lots of different strata. It's mainly a bouldering area for local climbers.

On Thursday we headed for one of my favorite spots. Petrogylph Canyon. Located in the Tonuco Mountains about 20 miles north of Las Cruces and 10 miles or so south of Hatch.

On a windy and cooler day and we got off to a rough start when I parked the truck at where I thought I had previous parked on another trip there, but we just bushwhacked down a dry arroyo to Tonuco Draw and then headed north to the canyon opening.

 It's a little hit or miss finding the main drainage from the canyon, but we meandered about and got to the mouth of the canyon.Up we went to the first dry falls. Scrabbling up the side we eventually came to the first of many rocks covered with Petrogylphs. 

 

 After a snack and some water, we made our way back down the canyon into the draw and eventually back to the truck. Mary later told me it was her favorite hike of the trip.

 Our last day, Friday, was for visiting. Mary met her friend Rene who had moved to LC from Silver City. I drove over to Deming to visit my friend Peggy and her huge dog, Pacino. 

 Great fun.