Southern California Coast

Well, we hit the California coast at Cambria and were heading north – as slowly as we could manage.  Unfortunately, our arrival coincided pretty much with an Easter weekend with great weather.  So you can see the problem!  Traffic was pretty heavy till we vacated the highway near Kirk Creek.  A forestry road winds up and away from the coast at this point, but there are quite a few wide pull-outs, even though the road itself is one lane in many spots.  Our usual spot was available, so we ‘holed up’ for the weekend till the traffic cleared.  A couple of neighbours shared the area including, believe it or not – a white rabbit on Easter! 

A couple of German girls were also tenting there, and provided me with some chocolate easter eggs after coming over in the evening while I showed them photos and videos of my summer work – and of course of Hailey in the helicopter .

An excellent hiking trail starts nearby, leading up to some remote campgrounds and providing some breathtaking scenery.

Again, what a change in terrain and colour and vegetation from the desert and the dunes …

I put a few miles on the trail and more than a few hundred feet of vertical, but with the telephoto I could still get a glimpse back to where Hailey was guarding the trailer and truck – sleeping no doubt.

The wild brown easter bunnies were out as well.

Better save some photos for the next post …

Decision Time

After almost 5 months in the (mostly) warm sunny, south, it is inevitably time to consider heading for the Great White North!

Of course the elusive Wandering Willy has been back in BC for a while now, as have Jean & Skip, and even the Bayfield Bunch have made the long cross continent journey back to Ontario!  I know that Wheeling It are nearby, and our paths almost crossed a few days ago – but I’m getting ahead of myself here …

One option would be to work our way up through Utah or Nevada, eventually ending up somewhere on I-15 headed back in to Alberta.  Colorado and Wyoming are still way too cold to consider at this time of year.

The other option is to follow the coast in some fashion.

Checking the weather forecasts showed that some of the possible contenders like Ely Nv, Monticello Ut or Whitmore Hot Springs Ca still had some regular or constant sub-freezing temperatures at night.  We know that we’ll have some of that at home for a while, but why endure that now if it’s not really necessary – and if there are very scenic alternatives!

With that in mind (and map), Hailey said ‘so long’ to her lizard friends at Kelso Dunes in Mojave National Preserve, and we were off.  But not before having to resort to the ‘backup’ air compressor to top up one tire that seems to have a very slow leak.  Everyone knows that a good boondocker should have at least two air compressors, a soldering iron or two, drills, saws, glue and all make of tools and parts because you just never know when they’ll come in handy!  I proved this leaving Kelso Dunes when my first air compressor gave up and refused to pump anything more than 44lb when I’m asking for 80!

With the decision made to head for the coast, we were off in a flash – right after coffee.

We blasted through Barstow with only a stop for a bite and some fuel, then on westward through Bakersfield while watching for Dwight Yoakam!  I find it inevitable that you always hear some Buck Owens or Dwight on the country radio stations going through Bakersfield – which is how it should be!

Onward into the setting sun we went, rolling down into Paso Robles on diesel fumes.  After fixing that issue we soon on the roll again westward till finding a spacious roadside pull off that proved to have a distant view of the ocean, once the mist cleared.  And what a change!  After all the browns and greys and dull greens of the desert to the lush green fields and trees in full leaf and bloom near the coast.  And that first breath of moist ocean air – what a rush.

In the morning sunshine with a fresh coffee in hand, it was an easy coast down to the coast at Cambria.  Again the first blast of ocean air was the best.

Hailey was impressed too, and couldn’t wait to get out and see what sort of critter she could hunt here!

Birds …

There were a few seals in the water

There was even a mermaid on the shore!

Just up the coast there was the imperative stop at the Elephant Seal viewing area – in spite of the discriminatory sign banning units of over 30’ from parking there!  What the?

Luckily (!) the trailer is only 26.5’, so we were able to take a few photos.

Next post: Continuing up the coast on Hwy 1!