Hugging the Coastline: A Discovery Hike at Wilder Ranch State Park

 

 

Date: October 16, 2020 and November 1, 2020

Place: Wilder Ranch State Park

Coordinates: 36.960410, -122.085699

Length: 3.2 miles

Level: easy

 

In the fall of 2020 it looked like things were slowly opening up again after long months of closures and social distancing, and I thought it would be a good time to restart my family hiking groups again. Half sized groups, masks, and the great outdoors. Wilder Ranch State Park near Santa Cruz has been on my list for a while now and I thought it would be a good place to resume the group hikes at. First of course, I needed to go and scout the trail on my own, and I did that on a nice and sunny October day.

My hike as captured by my GPS

 

I started by going east on the ranch road that leads to an underpass under hwy 1. I wanted to see how the uphill trail looked like, and it didn't look good at all - the CZU fire of that summer had reached the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the entire hillside looked very sad in the fire's aftermath. My little stroll there however, brought me near the historic ranch complex. The museum was closed because of COVID but the complex looked really nice. I marked the shaded lawn in my mind as a possible picnic spot for after the hike.

Wilder Ranch

 

 From the ranch complex I turned south toward the coastline. I didn't expect to see any wildflowers so late in the fall, and I was happily surprised to see a few poppies blooming by the trail.

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica

 

 The trail crossed a railroad. It was clear that this railroad has not been in use for quite a long time.

 

I crossed the railroad and continued south on the dusty trail. The day was bright and warm, and a light breeze blew at my face.

 

 Little sparrows flew here and there in small groups, chirping all around me. A small covey of quails crossed the path and disappeared into the bushes on the side before I had the chance to raise my camera. One of them, a female, lingered long enough in the bush near the trail.

California Quail, female

 

I reached the coastline and I was high above the water. Below to my left was the eastern beach and signs were posted forbidding going down to that beach. It was a protected area for wildlife only. A large brown thing on the sand turned out to be a dead seal. its remains were still there two weeks after when I came there with the family hiking group. On that visit we also got to see nature's sanitation squad in actin - four turkey vultures working hard on that huge carcass. 

 

After reaching the ocean the trail followed the contour of the coastal cliffs, staying well above the sea. The coastal cliffs at Wilder Ranch are not as high as in other places along hwy 1 but they are no less beautiful. There was something very captivating about the gentle walk right above some very rough water. I loved seeing the waves crash into the cliffs, carving them with depressions, coves and caves.

 

To my right was the flat plateau that stretched all the way to the highway. Outside of the park's boundaries there were vegetable fields on that plateau. Inside the park where the land wasn't irrigated, most plants were dry except for a few perennial or biennial species that either remained green from last season or has sprouted new growth in expectation of winter rains.

Yellow Yarrow, Eriophyllum confertiflorum

 

I was pleased to see some more bloom along the coastline. These plants benefit from the cooler temperatures and the frequent fog. They are also more tolerant of the salty breeze that batter them regularly.

Pacific Aster, Symphyotrichum chilense

I finally managed to photograph one of those hyperactive sparrows. Perhaps it was less evasive because it was a young bird. 

White-crowned Sparrow, Juvenile

 

About half a mile down the coastal trail I reached a large flat cliff area with an excellent view of the coves to west of where I was. It was an excellent spot to sit for a snack break and some peaceful musing about life.

 

Two weeks later I stopped with my family hiking group at that very spot for a picnic lunch. That day was very windy and the time was high tide time. What impressed me most though, was the large number of birds, mostly gulls and pelicans, that floated on the water inside the cove. They didn't seem to be feeding, I suppose they too liked this place as a resting spot. 

 

I resumed my walk along the coastal cliffs, still paying attention to the wildflowers that bloomed beside the trail. 

Seaside Daisy, Erigeron glaucus

 

There were more flowers than I had expected to see but nearly all of them were of the aster family. When seeing wildflowers bloom outside the peak season, it is a sure thing that the aster family will be represented , and is well represented among them.

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

 

 I did find one blooming plant species that was not an aster however. It was the coast buckwheat, of the Polygon family, which is also a very large family with many hardy species.

Coast Buckwheat, Eriogonum latifolium

  

Small groups of brown pelicans scouted the coastline, gliding low above the water. Some times I see them dive for a fish but not on the day of my hike.

Pacific Brown Pelican

 

I came to a cove that was much deeper than the others, which meant I that I would have to turn back inland in order to bypass it and get to the other side. 

 

As I started my bypass of this 'fjord' and as I was making my way around the cliff I looked down and saw rocky shelves and islands well below the cliffs but above the water. Many cormorants were roosting on their rocky shelves.

 

Two weeks later there were even more cormorants there, covering the low rock islands, perfectly located just outside the pecking range of its neighbors.  

 

The other side of that cove also had low rock platform extensions. These were occupied by sleeping seals.

 

I had a better view of the seals after I reached the spot right above their sleep shelf. I stood there for some time, watching them sleep peacefully, mostly motionless except for an occasional stir.

Harbor Seals

 

 I moved on from there and continued west along the path. That area of the park had much fewer people in it, and for the most part I was alone. I did have to watch out for bikers though. I saw a few of them on this hike, and some were coming down the trail pretty fast.  

 

I came upon another cove, narrower and deeper. The strand line looked thick and muddy but this brown stuff wasn't mud - it was rotting kelp. I'm glad that the photo doesn't convey the thick aroma of this fall time rot.

 

There was a way to get down there but I decided not to.  On the family group hike two weeks later we did go down that cove - we were hoping to have some respite from the gale winds we had that day. the narrow cove did provide some protection but the smell was too intense to truly enjoy the setting.

 

Eventually I reached a point of decision - should I continue west along the coastal trail or should I take the trail leading back to the ranch complex? I decided to walk west a bit more, and then I turned and looked at the beautiful coastline that stretched behind me, to the east. It was so beautiful, I wanted to stay there much longer. I did need to go back however, and so I turned around and when I reached the trail junction again I took the turn to the park's headquarters. 

 

The return trail had some interesting surprises too. It stretched along the park's boundary and on the other side were vegetable fields. Some of the fields had Brussels sprouts, which are very interesting plants to see. The most interesting though, were the fields of artichoke. This cultivated thistle grows to an enormous size and has a really beautiful bloom. Since the edible part of the artichoke is the inflorescence bud, they are harvested before they have the chance to open. The field I was walking along was already harvested but a few artichoke buds were missed and they were now blooming. I trespassed into the field to take a close up photo of one of these gorgeous blooms.

Artichoke

 

The weather was nice on my solo prep hike but on the group hike the wind was really brutal. Still we enjoyed the hike in this beautiful setting. It seemed as if things were getting back to normal again. Shortly after however, everything closed up again. Many parks in California were closed once more and I had to suspend the group hikes once more. I slipped into a very sour state, a condition I got out of after isolating myself in the desert for a few days, just me alone at the Coso Range. I haven't been back to Wilder Ranch since this hike, and I nearly forgotten that it happened. When a friend who'd been in the family hike had reminded me of that place I dug up the photos and wrote this post. Now I'm looking forward to go there again and continue exploring this pretty park.