jynxed's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summer Vacation: Part 3 "The Sun'll Come Out to Morro, Your Only a Bay Away" So, Oy...yes, these titles are only getting worse. Feel free to kick my ass. Anyway, Saturday afternoon, we left Solvang around 3:30. We headed up the 101 and as we neared San Luis Obispo, we had a decision to make. "My book says there's a great hike near the coast," I said. "Your book also said there was a great canyon hike on the way to Las Vegas," Amanda said. "Well, that one was only rated a 7. This one got a 10!" "Yeah yeah." "Seriously, if it wouldn't have been so hot, we probably would have found a good canyon over there." "We walked for an hour." "Well, maybe we didn't start hiking in the right spot." "It was over a hundred degrees out there." "But it's nice and cool here. Let's go for it!" Actually, Amanda didn't put up any of a struggle (after all, I had already warned her that on the way back, we'd be going through Pinnacles, and THAT was going to be a real hike...). She trusts me...most of the time. :) Anyway, we pulled off the 101 just before SLO and drove 14 miles to the coast. There are wonderful groves of cypress trees and it reminded me a lot of Florida. They formed a beautiful canopy over the road, and helped ease any reservations Amanda had about going on this hike. We pulled into a beach parking area so I could check the driving instructions in the book and figure out exactly where the trail started. I confirmed we were going in the right direction, then hit the outhouse for an emergency evacuation. As I put the seat down and covered it with a blanket of toilet paper, I discovered why so many outhouses are dark. Trust me, you want them to be dark. I saw things down there that would turn you inside out and backwards, boy. The highlight was seeing Jimmy Hoffa smoking a bong with the ghost of Frank Sinatra...of course, I may have been hallucinating from the noxious fumes rising from the ghastly pile of shit down there. Anyway, a couple of guys were hanging around outside and they could hear my ass playing Beethoven's ninth, so they decided to water the plants behind the little building. They were a tad overly friendly with each other. "You kin doo eet!" one cried, imitating Rob Schneider from The Waterboy. "You kin doo eet awl night looooong," the other answered. That exchange struck me as funny. Or maybe I was hallucinating some more. Regardless, I stepped back out into the fresh air and sunlight. It was like being born. Thank God. We drove a few more blocks to hit the trailhead. The book was right: this trail was a 10. I know during the spring, when the wildflowers bloom, this trail would be awe-inspiriring. As it was, it wound near gorgeous bluffs overlooking rocky coves, majesticly carved arches, and tiny hidden sandy beaches. And throughout the entire hike, you could see Morro Bay, the next bay to the north. Although a small town, and pretty industrial with a fair share of smog, Morro Bay is awesome because of Morro Rock, a huge mountain island that sits in the middle of the bay like a giant Hershey Kiss. It's really neat. So we hiked for a couple hours, heading down to one of the hidden beaches and poking our noses in a few tidepools (not literally, of course...that's a good way to get crabs...heh, sorry). It was hot, but there was a nice ocean breeze to help cool us off. A 10. Easily. At about 6, we climbed back into the car and left Morro Bay behind us. Looking at the map, we figured Big Sur would be a good place to stop for the night. It looked about an hour and a half up the coast, along Pacific Coast Highway, so we'd get there right around sunset, grab a quick room, and enjoy a gorgeous pacific sunset. Or so we thought... 11:46 a.m. - August 21, 2001 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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