California II
Our journey continues. After arriving in Morro Bay, we spent the morning and early afternoon playing in the shadow of Morro Rock. I'm normally landlocked, so visiting the ocean is like visiting another planet. Morro Rock proper is a 23-million-year old slowly decaying volcanic plug. The rock also is a sacred site to the indigenous Salinan and Chumash tribes.
On the water front, Morro Bay is a natural sub-bay of much larger Estero Bay. Morro Bay harbor was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Morro harbor is the only all-weather small craft commercial and recreational harbor between Santa Barbara and Monterey, California.
Wildlife is plentiful with 3 species of cormorant, 2 species of gull and Peregrine falcons on Morro Rock. The latter is protected. Hence, no climbing. Too bad, I wanted so much to hike to the top. Other local creatures include sea lions, seals and sea otters. Tide pool residents are abundant as well.
We got to see a tall ship position itself to make its way into the small harbor. I didn't realize it until after we returned home that a Tall Ship Festival had been scheduled to begin the day after our arrival on the coast, December 2nd. The festival ran through December 7th. Perhaps I should do better homework the next time we visit.
I don't know much of anything about an ocean's surf. Nonetheless the waves seemed large today. This turned out to be a correct assumption as big waves were locally forecast. This may explain an absence of surfers. Although, I thought surfers would like big waves; the larger surf being analogous to a powder day skiing. The mystery of the day I guess.
After lunch we headed north to the coastal hamlet of Cambria. The coastline is a bit more wild and wooly here. We stayed in this area until the sun had sunk beneath the horizon.
That's it for this set. There's more California coast to come. Thanks for reading.
Adios
