A Mountain of Gold: Summer Hike at Montaña De Oro State Park

Date: August 31, 2013
Place: Montaña De Oro State Park, Los Osos, California
Coordinates: 35.273892, -120.885550  
Length: about 3 miles
Difficulty: moderate

When the first spanish explorers sailed along the coast of California saw the coastal hills covered with sting bloom of California poppies they were so impressed by the glorious sight that they named the place Montaña De Oro: Mountain of Gold.

Oats Peak-Reservoir Flats-Islay Creek loop. Map segment scanned from MdO SP brochure. 

The trailhead to Oats Peak is behind the visitor center. We hoisted our afternoon packs and started uphill.

There was no gold on the mountain in September. From far the hill looked dormant-gray but all along the trail there were quite a few late summer bloomers.

Sticky Monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus)

And their hard-working pollinators.

Cabbage White Butterfly

At that point, all of the morning's cloud cover had dissipated completely and the sun was bearing down on us mercilessly. The ascend wasn't all that steep or long, but the heat made us stop for breathers frequently. I didn't mind. There was plenty to observe on these short breaks.

Dwarf Chaparral Broom (Coyote Bush), Baccharis pilularis

There were many lizards about, enjoying the heat and energized by it. Many of them were out in plain view, happily yielding to the camera. I chose to post this, a bit obscured, photo because in this one the  lizard's bright blue belly shows.

Western Fence Lizard

We didn't have time to go all the way up Oats Peak, and the heat was too intense anyway. We took the left split and continued up and over the hill on Reservoir Flat Trail.

Cardinal Catchfly (Silene lanciata)

On the eastern side of the hill we had a great view of Oats Peak and the meadow below it, surprisingly green.

Extending beyond the meadow and between the hills - Islay Creek, still intensely green and very inviting. On my next visit I'll hike it :-)

The trail descends into that valley and continues on eastward. We turned left on Islay Creek Trail and started looping back westward.

Hummingbird Trumpet (Epilobium canum)

Lupines always make me smile. They are hardy plants, inhabiting a wide range of areas and climate zones and can withstand harsh conditions. Lupines are of the earliest species to repopulate disturbed devastated areas, such as post-eruption volcanos. With their nitrogen-fixing bacteria symbionts they fertilize the soil and pave the way for other plants to grow.
Not to say that Montaña De Oro is a harsh place ... I was simply happy to see lupines blooming so late in summer. 

Summer Lupine (Lupinus formosus)

As we descended into Islay Creek Trail we went under the overhanging boughs of Treebeard :-)

Lichen on an oak tree

Along the creek the trail is a tunnel inside thick vegetation, mostly shaded and very nice.

A relief from the September sun: Ilsley Creek Trail

If to judge by the tweets, many birds agreed to it. We stopped to observe this chickadee that was busy harvesting seeds and didn't mind us watching its acrobatics.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

The trail follows the creek until it emerges from the hills and opens up to the campground area.

Common Aster (Aster chilensis)

It was right there at the (very busy) campground that we encountered this papa quail parading about in the open without seeming concerned about anything, including a bunch of children biking noisily around. The rest of his family, we soon discovered, was hidden in the bushes as one would expect of normal quails.

California Quail, male

We observed that quail for some time, then driven by the heat down the road to the parking lot, stopping momentarily to say hi to this cute goldfinch in the thistles.

Lesser Goldfinch, female

Although the trail we hiked was not difficult we were exhausted by the heat and were ready to call it the day. I would love to go back to Montaña De Oro anytime, but given a choice I would probably opt for spring/early summer. Either way, I'd recommend this park

Tide-Pooling at Montaña De Oro State Park

Date: 8/31/2013
Place: Montaña de Oro State Park, Los Osos, California
Length: about 2 miles
Coordinates: 35.272858, -120.888755
Difficulty: easy

We had just returned from a busy road trip to Southern California and Grandma Quail was due to go home a day after Labor Day. It was the first Labor Day weekend in a long while that we didn't have any travel plans for.
So we traveled without making any plans :-)

Going to Morro Bay on Labor Day weekend without a plan means getting the last available hotel room for the most outrageous rate. Camp sites were not available at all. We nevertheless, we went there and had a wonderful time.

On this visit to Morro Bay, we dedicated a full day to hike in Montaña de Oro State Park, just south of Morro Bay. We arrived there by late morning, and had some time for the low tide so we hung around the visit center and appreciated the wind-swept cypresses,  

and their dwellers.

Turkey Vulture stretching out

The visitor center overlooks a nice sandy beach. It looked very inviting but be were interested in tide-pooling so we headed along the road to the trailhead of Bluff Trail, about 50 yards away from the visitor center.

Montaña de Oro beach

The entire Bluff Trail leads to the south end of the park's coast. We didn't hike all of it. Just wanted to do the tide pools and loop back.

Bluff Trail - the loop we did labeled yellow. Map segment scanned from MdO SP brochure.

The trail meanders along the cliff line and through a thick coastal scrub. The bushes were coated with spider webs off which hung their webbed lairs, decorated with plant debris and hulled insects.

The coastline of California is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. I admit I didn't see too many world coastlines to be able to compare but even so, I agree all heartedly with that statement.

Montaña de Oro coastline

The Bluff Trail provides ample viewpoints on this gorgeous coast, with all of its coves and inlets.

Every now and then I had the opportunity to step down below the cliff and get closer to the water for a different point of view.

The sound of waves lapping at the shore is one of my favorite sounds of Nature. I truly regretted not having camped there on this trip. Perhaps next time.

On top of the cliffs, decorating the gray scrub, some yellow late summer bloom.

Seaside Wooly Sunflower (Eriophyllum staechadifolium)

Eventually we got to the area of the tide pools. Before going down I looked longingly at Morro Rock, way across the bay.

Morro Rock

The tidal zone is a complex and very interesting habitat. A narrow strip of shore that is overrun by the ocean and then gets exposed again in a regular cycle according the cycle of the moon.

Tide-pooling

When the sun adds its gravity pull to the moon's there is a King Tide and the flooded area is maximal.

Pacific Brown Pelicans in formation over the ocean, across from the tide pools

Life at the tidal zone has evolved to withstand this circadian rhythm of flooding and exposure. Different creatures inhabit different layers of the tidal zone, perfectly adapted to a certain level of flooding  which is now optimal for them. When the tide is lowest, more gets exposed.

Algae in the air

 I've been to the ocean many times, but I honestly can't recall ever seeing so many algae species before.

How many algae can you see?

Some marine animals simply shut themselves off until the water returns.

Mussels shut themselves against dryness

For others, low tide is the perfect time to go exploring.

Hermit Crab 

When the ocean recedes there are pools left behind in the rock depressions. These tide pools host a rich plethora of marine wildlife.

A tide pool

Whoever is left behind is trapped in those pools until the tide comes back in.

Tide-pooling, or observing the wildlife in the tide pools is one of the best activities I can think of for nature-loving children.

The skeleton of a sea urchin

Tide pooling isn't just children. Me, Papa Quail and Grandma Quail too were having a great time wandering about the pools and looking for marine treasures.

Aggregating Anemone

I always love watching the stars. Even the underwater ones.

Starfish (Pisaster ochraceus)

So beautiful.

Starfish Starfish (Pisaster ochraceus)

Occasionally I lifted my head from the pools and looked about me. The ocean, as always, carries its own beauty to the shore.

In the more protected area floated this western gull. As we sat down for lunch it approached us and became very insistent about being fed.

Western Gull

Feeding wild animals can be tempting, but it is a bad idea. They become dependent on human food, which isn't necessarily good for them and often not even good for us). They lose their natural fear of humans and can get hurt by or even hurt people in their quest for more food. This gull might have been fed by people before. We didn't give it any.

Cormorants on a rock near the tide pools area

Soon, we ourselves became subjects of interest for some very annoying flies that lurked on the sand and took every chance they had to roost on our bodies.

Luckily, they didn't bite. But they did make us finish our lunch in a hurry. Not yet ready to leave the tide pools we left our packs on the beach and continued exploring.

Rock Crab peeking from its hiding place

Rock crabs were all over the place. I find these shy creatures fascinating. I cannot understand how their genus name ever became synonymous for one of the most horrific illnesses there are.

I'm a cancer too. Whatever that means.

Just above the strandline, the rock is dry and bare. Layer upon layer of perfectly sedimented rock, like leaves of a billion years old book.

Time doesn't stand still and the tide reversed itself. By the time we started thinking about going on with our hike most of the pools were already reclaimed by the ocean.

We went back to the Bluff Trail and continued our loop, in view of the hills.

Papa Quail, as always, was after the birds. There were plenty of them in the scrub, but none too yielding. Still, he got some.

California Towhee

We didn't continue the entire length of the Bluff Trail. After about 1/2 a mile from the tide pool we looped back towards the trailhead.

Loggerhead Shrike

I was satisfied with photographing flowers,

California poppy entertaining a visitor

but when opportunity presented itself, I was happy to take advantage of it.

Damselfly

By the time we made it back to the visitor center the sun had vaporized all of the morning clouds. We took a short break and headed uphill on our land hike on the hills of Montaña De Oro State Park.

Man thanks to members of the California Wildlife Appreciators for their help in identifying the animals!