Garrapata State Park Hike

one rabbit
forty-seven  lizards
dozens of wildflowers
multitudes of grasshoppers

...time with my husband....priceless!

While the hike at Garrapata State Park was very strenuous, as a guide would describe it, I think it was worth it. We went up the Rocky Ridge Trail first (I recommend this!) through a dryer ecosystem with lots of wildflowers and a view of the coast when it wasn't fog covered. We hiked this section early so we didn't have a clear view of the coast the whole way up. There is a nice bench on this side where you can look out and see the ocean when the mist lifts.

This first section had a pretty steep grade, but nothing like going down the other side of the ridge, where we saw many people going up. I am very glad we hiked up the Rocky Ridge Trail and down the other side before it turns into the Soberanes Canyon Trail. I would much rather have the very, very steep on the way down! There was plenty of lizards along the trail that kept popping up and over the rocks, though Justin wasn't fast enough to catch one. This section was a little over 3 miles, but felt a little longer.

Now, we knew when the Soberanes Canyon Trail started, because we made it to the bottom and found a beautiful little creek that winds its way through the canyon bottom. This creek feeds the grove of redwoods that live here. While there are not as big as Yosemite or Calaveras redwoods, they are still great to walk under the shade of, especially as the creeks winds through the valley. We crossed it several times through this 1.7 mile section of the trail. All in all the hike was about 3 hours for us, which included our lunch break along the creek.

Down further on the highway is a beach, though we just explored a small portion of the coast right across from the trailhead.

Here's some pictures of the scenery:

Funky flowers on the Rocky Ridge Trail

A spiderweb with the morning dew

             

Non-native cacti

 Gorgeous redwoods

        

Coastal view on the other side of Highway One