K and I took a glorious early summer trip to France: half in the Alps and half on the shores of the Mediterranean.
We hiked up snowy mountains, descended cliffs into turquoise waters, made unfamiliar dishes like poulet noir in unfamiliar convection ovens, and lived the high life watching the sun set over Marseille. We also shared a baguette and a pain au chocolat every day with our “expresso.” First things first.
Our trip took us to Paris, Chamonix, Nice, La Ciotat, and Marseille. We went with a budget, taking only a small backpack each and cooking most of our meals. I even got to refresh my manual driving skills! Hello, tiny alleys with many cars! My personal favorite? Les îles du Frioul, a short ferry from Marseille, with many beautiful inlets (calanques) for swimming in the teal limestone waters. Just beware the seagulls.
It was so squishy and fun to walk around. Like memory foam!
After that, we did some hardcore chilling by this field of yellows. The yellows were overwhelming, and this photo does not do them justice.
We were not done with our search for wildflowers, so we took a side trip to Shell Creek Road in Santa Margarita, where there was rumored to be prime viewing. Instead, we found a very entertaining troupe of cows, that slowly, silently, and surreptitiously came closer and closer to the car…until they were suddenly all there, staring…
Also from Valencia Peak. You can see all the trails of MDO snaking around. This looks out on Morro Bay.
View of Morro Rock from Black Hill!
Looking back from whence we came! View of Montaña de Oro from Black Hill.
We love the fog rolling in to the valleys… a common occurrence in this area!
In summary:
Carrizo Plain is a National Monument located about 1:45 from San Luis Obispo. Every 12 years or so, it has a glorious superbloom that paints all the hills purple and orange and yellow in great swaths. 2017 was one of those years. February 2016, our first visit to the Carrizo, was not [though we would return later that year for some flowers].
I read the rumors of elk — Tule Elk — roaming the plain, but so far have not caught a glimpse. What Carrizo does have is Soda Lake, a typically dry lake bed that was mined for soda ash, and the San Andreas Fault, which runs along the eastern side of the plain, before the Temblor Range, pictured above.
I really tried to soak in every moment of the ride back to Las Vegas. That end-of-day light brought out all the colors of the terrain and draped a sense of calm over the landscape.
There are so many striations, rivulets, grooves, nooks, crannies, and gorges here.
And colorful mineral deposits. It’s very possible that this is somewhere near the Mount Wilson wilderness area, since we took the southern route back (the northern route passing over the Hoover Dam).
What a day. Not so often that a single day gets a 3-part Quelle series!
As we are coming from Las Vegas, this is the West Rim, home of the Skywalk. The Skywalk is a glass walkway hanging 4,000 above the floor of the GC. It will definitely get your heart going! Although, I was probably more nervous in the helicopter:
The helicopter traced the CO River, with the steep canyon walls on either side. I recently learned that the deepest canyon in the USA is not the Grand Canyon (but OH MY GOODNESS). Hells Canyon in Idaho is the deepest river gorge: 7,993 feet. And Kings Canyon in CA has a depth of 8,200 feet (winner!). The difference? Kings Canyon is a glacial valley. The depth of the GC is 6,093 feet.
Leaving the GC at the end of the day!
My beloved college roommate got married last year, and her bachelorette party involved —-a helicopter ride to and through the Grand Canyon—- (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
This is a surprisingly lush hike in Los Padres National Forest, near Santy B! It goes up the backside (north side, non-ocean side) of the Santa Ynez Mountains and looks down on Lake Cachuma. The trail is about 8 miles out and back, gaining 2,300 feet.
One of the coolest things about SLO is the morros! Morros are volcanic plugs, essentially the tough necks of old volcanoes that remain when the rest of the volcano erodes away. Islay Hill is one of the morros K and I hit up all the time! It rises to 780′ and is a quick mile to the top.
You can actually make this a loop trail! With the bottom portion heading down through a park and bike path. Both sides have beautiful views of rolling hills.
It looks pretty green here, but this is January 2016. The colors change dramatically as the seasons pass on the Central Coast.