Volcan Mountain

Yesterday, Gail and I had a very pleasant hike in the mountains about 60 miles inland.  We figured that Thanksgiving Day would be a crowd free day in the boonies.  Our choice was Volcan Mountain, not too far from the little hamlet of Julian.

The trailhead had an opening through this sculpture by James Hubble. 

 

You have to look pretty hard to find signs of autumn in San Diego County.  The black oaks provided some swaths of yellow, though.

 

The views were fine as we headed up the trail.

 

Near the top there were many deer tracks, coyote tracks,  and what we believed to be these mountain lion tracks.

 

We found beauty in the colors of this little bush against the dry grass.  We are nearing the peak, here, at 5,722 feet elevation.

 

At the top was this old, mysterious tower.  I was surprised to learn what it was used for as I read the plaque below.

 

 

This is the view looking east with the Anzo Borrego Desert barely visible in the distance.

 

Also on the top was an old grove of oaks that had probably root sprouted after a fire many years ago.  The trunks were contorted like monsters from the deep.

 

Just one of the wild old oaks in the grove.

 

At the edge of the oaks was this beautifully done memorial bench.  It was covered in carvings of native animals and plants.

 

The armrest.

 

Passing back out the trailhead entry we paused to look at the moon above the metal sculpture. 

 

 

 





Oak Riparian Park

A couple miles from the house is a hiking area at Oak Riparian Park.  Even though there is much surrounding development, I am finding enough wildlife to keep up my interest in hiking there.  These photos I took this morning, a cool morning with brilliant blue skies.

 The park centerpiece is this little peak with a small lake at its base.

 Calavera Lake is small, but important to waterfowl.

 The view from the peak looking east.

 This Roadrunner caught my eye, as he was running around stabbing little critters on the ground.

 Some birds you never get tired of looking at!

 Zoom - I'm off!

 Nearby was this American Kestrel - the smallest of our falcons.  I have seen her on this wire the past 3 times I've hiked here.

 On the lake were a few Ring-necked Ducks like this one.

 There were also a few dozen Redhead Ducks, mostly males here, and a female at the top.

 I am partial to Redheads!

 The lake.

 A Great Blue Heron waits patiently for a snack.

 There was one Western Grebe.  Did you know they keep a ball of feathers in their stomach and no one knows why?

 I spotted this handsome American Wigeon.

The End

Queen Calafia's Magical Garden

The following photos we took on Saturday, at Kit Carson Park, in Escondido.  They are of the sculpture garden created by Niki de Saint Phalle.  She was a French artist of reknown who died in 2002, shortly after finishing this garden, one of four, and the only one in the United States.  She used tiles, stones, mirrors, and other materials to create her larger than life figures.

Later, we toured several art galleries -  the Second Saturday open gallery night.  We were impressed by the core of energetic artists in Escondido.  The complimentary food and wine didn't hurt, either!

Central Coast Meanderings

After an unbeatable Halloween, we spent Friday riding around Monterey on the Schwinns, before heading south on Saturday.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were about as pleasant as the Central Coast gets.  The twins pose near Lovers Point, Monterey.

Riding out to see the Monarch Butterflies in Pacific Grove, we passed by this large scale yard art.

We tried out the big nest at the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum - tres bon!!!

Saturday, we drove down the Highway 1 coast, making numerous stops at pullouts, an art gallery, and a couple inns.  No wind, temperature in the 80's!

We arrived at The Cypress Tree Motel in the little beach town of Cayucos.  The motel was definitely not your usual chain motel.  The motif was Route 66, and there just happened to be an annual car show of old hot rods going on just a block down the street which added great ambiance.  Our room was full of little antique signs such as the one above the toilet that read, "Don't Flush While the Train is in the Station!"

The Schwinns in front of a custom Caddy in our motel parking lot.

I had a '31 Ford coupe when I was 14, and planned to make it a hot rod, but ended up just getting it running well after a lot of work.  This '31 body has been highly modified (chopped and channeled as we used to say).

Most of the cars were works of art and finely detailed. "Hi, Felix!"

The main street of Cayucos was closed to car traffic.

 



Looking the other direction.

This shop had some real "bad boys"!

Another "bad" one, an early '50's Chevy.

Later in the afternoon, we headed up to the Hearst Castle where we would take an evening tour.  Yes, that is a herd of zebras grazing in the foreground!  That is the Hearst Castle on the ridge.

We had a wonderful guide, Marty, who led our group of 18 on a two hour tour of most of the castle's main features.  This is the one and only Neptune Pool.

The evening tour features real people playing the role of guests.  W.R. Hearst had a constant stream of guests come and stay for days at a time, ranging from political leaders to movie stars.

One of the sitting rooms, with Leonard Bernstein playing the piano.

The Roman pool was where guests could get to know each other a little better, late at night, after the movie was over.  Hearst Castle is a California State Park.  It is amazing how the visitor center, the documentary movie, and the museum there paint a completely honorable picture of William Randolph Hearst.  They never mentioned that he lived with his 20 something mistress for years at the castle while still married, that he legitimized Hitler by interviewing him, that he raped the world of antiquities, took yellow journalism to new heights, practically started the Spanish American War through phony news articles,  and had staff commit crimes to make news.  We did some reading on Hearst after the tour, and watched Citizen Kane, Orson Welles' masterpiece that was based on W.R. Hearst. 

The next morning, our motel parking lot looked like a scene from American Graffiti. 

Back home in Carlsbad, and a walk on the beach Monday evening.