Other Guides and Trips in United States
Trips
My first trip to Año Nuevo was about 20 years ago. I don't remember a whole lot about the trip and I can't find any of my photos from it. I have been back a couple of times since then an always encountered Elephant Seals. That kind of surprised me because I thought that they were only around in the winter.It turns out that the seals are here year round. Who is...
How often do you get a chance to preview a trail before it is finished. I had the opportunity today, so I took it. Point Lobos State Reserve is modifying and upgrading the Bird Island Loop trail to make it ADA accessible. This means rerouting the trail to minimize the gradient (no more steps), widening it and improving it to accommodate wheelchairs, and providing new viewing areas.When it is done, this will...
Point Lobos Field Trip
Carmel Highlands, California, United States
MPC Oceanography field trip | 5.1 miles
MPC Oceanography field trip | 5.1 miles
I hooked up with the Monterey Peninsula College( MPC) Oceanography Class' field trip to Point Lobos today. I have been working at MPC as a Physical Sciences Lab Manager for the last couple of months and (as those of you who have been following me know) I'll use any excuse that I can to get out to Point Lobos.I arrived early which allowed me to tour the reserve in the truck before...
So this wasn't much of a hike, it was pulling weeds for four hours in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet. But, it did get me crawling over parts of the reserve that are definitely off trail. The goal of the invasive abatement program is to stem the tide of invasive weeds and give the native plants a chance.Seems like a worthy thing to volunteer for.We spent the morning...
Last Friday, I went out on a whale watching trip on Monterey Bay. It was an amazing trip, we saw dozens of whales (both Humpback and Blue). The whales were feeding on the surface, so there was lots of action as they burst up with mouths agape, feeding on krill. It is truly amazing to watch the world's largest animal feeding on critters that are no bigger than 2 cm. It is...
The second stop was a the main part of the Refuge. Here there are two routes that you can take, the Tule Elk route and the waterfowl route. I took the later. Several sections of this route as listed on the map were closed so it was mostly an out and back trip rather than a a loop. I didn't take as many pictures, though was pleased with the ibis shots. Also had...
I stopped
in on the way home from Modesto. While I had originally planned to hike
around in Grassllands State Park. I missed the parking lot and it was
windy and cold so I did the auto tour around the West Bear Creek Unit
instead.The ducks were all skittish (probably the result of
hunting), but the shorebirds didn't seem to mind the car. The
birding was good and it is definitely worth...
Another trip to Elkhorn Slough Reserve. I started out on a new trail and then continued to cover almost all of the other trails in the reserve. At this point, I have covered all of the terrain. You can cover all of the loops and trails and get in about six miles of mostly flat hiking. I skipped one trail, an out and back to the north marsh overlook.Birding is good. You...
The moral to this hike is to check the tide tables before going on a
hike in a coastal region. The planned loop with a couple of side trips
became an out and back when a key levee was flooded by the high tide. While I am sure that I could have crossed the levee and just gotten my feet wet, I don't like getting my feet wet.I had a good hike regardless.
The Friends of Coyote Creek were out for National River Clean-up Week on May 16. 2009. I brought my GPS, camera, and creek savy, to the venture. Even though I was in the largest, most stable boat on the water, fear of dropping the camera into the water limited the number of photos taken. Our boat actually spent most of the day collecting and ferrying trash from other boats to the drop...
Another little birding trip. I heard more birds than I saw. But I did see a new bird, the Common Yellowthroat. Not sure how I had missed it all these years, but I did. The flowers were also good.
This is the second birdding walk thal I have made on this stretch of Coyote Creek. The first one lasted about ten minutes, but showed enough promise that I wanted to spend a bit more time there.For this trip I walked a little over a mile along the trail, with a bunch of off trail excursions to look out over the creek. The trail is flat, the profile results from a drop...
