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.
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:
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.
At the summit
On the Backbone
Looking down on the Devil’s Backbone
I thought this would be simple.
This “trail,” mostly an unmarked fire road, provides great views of the green 154 bridge, aka the Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge. It’s the highest arch bridge in CA, and one of the highest in the USA, at 400ft above the canyon (thank you, Wikipedia). You can also see (barely) Lake Cachuma (a reservoir) in the above photo, that blue spot to the right of the mountains.
I eventually decided that I had to turn around and head back uphill! I was glad to get back to the car and rewarded with this view of Santy B:
Inspiration Point is a nice little 3.75-mile hike (via the Tunnel Trail) in the Santa Ynez Mountains of Santy B. On clear days (most days), you can see the Channel Islands as you look to the south.
The viewpoint (of inspiration!) is at 1,800 feet, and the trail gains a total of 800 as you go along.
It’s a very popular hike, so it can be a little congested (with music-blasting types :O), but not so much if it threatens to rain. After heavy rains, there’s plenty of evidence of micro mudslides and rockslides, particularly at the sandstone walls.
Looking south towards the eastern edge of Huntington Lake
Matching our autumnal experience of the bare lake bed
Hiking to College Rock