Point Lobos, CA

Point Lobos State Park

Point Lobos, the purported ‘crown jewel’ of the California Parks system is on our agenda while in the Monterey area.  This destination comes complete with another sunny day, though the wind blows when we arrive at Point Lobos.   

This park has trails the follow a bluff to viewpoints above the shoreline, trails to the interior of the park and a long braided trail along the shoreline.  Cypress trees are the tree of distinction at Point Lobos.  Redwoods are still sprinkled along the coast, but here the Cypress dominates.   

 

Stressed by the recent drought in California sapling sprouts are few and far between.  

Prolific, poison oak abounds. So, despite the sunny, warm day I’ve covered up with my hiking pants and a long sleeved sunscreen shirt.  When given the chance, we like to show up for local docent or ranger walks.  Though Jack knows a lot about various forest habitats, getting the perspective and insight from a local expert is always appreciated.   

 

And so we arrived in time for a guided walk at 10:00 AM. To become a docent at Point Lobos requires a six month training period with fellow docents and various experts in fields of forestry, flora and fauna, marine sea life, resident land animal populations. and the varied environmental and political issues of the area. We weren’t disappointed.  Our docent loved Point Lobos more than any other area in California and engaged our attention along a one mile bluff walk. 

 

He carefully and frequently pointed out poison oak while providing information about the wood rat, sea otters, sea lions, and whale migrations.  Along with random items that hikers have lost along the trails, the wood rat gathers woody debris from the forest floor and builds elaborate nests that can become multi-family, multi-generational homes.  The nests are a lot like beaver dams with tunnels and rooms that serve specific purposes in the lives of the rat.  Who knew?  He brought along various ‘show and tell’ items to give us an up close understanding of aspects of the walk. 

Encouraging us to use our senses to figure out what we would see next, he has us all straining to hear the barking of sea lions that appear on a rocky outcrop in the ocean as we round the next corner.  Out comes his sea lion puppet and he explains the differences between seals and sea lions!  

 Different legs/flippers, ears, and more distinguish one from the other.  Sea otters are frequently sighted floating on their back and eating or swimming in and out, over and under the waves.  Later, pulling out a map of the park, he shows us how, at one time, the entire area was under private ownership.  These landowners knew the area was priceless as a natural preserve and saw the encroaching land development.

 

Over time they bought up much of the region, much of which had already been platted for sub-development. Eventually they donated it to the state of California for preservation. 

We ended our day hiking along other ocean front trails and picnicking on the beach.