A good friend and avid hiker, full of excitement and enthusiasm,
sang the praises of her recent outing; great ocean views, fantastic
wildflowers, a fabulous hike. I resisted the urge to race out the
door
– but I knew what I would be doing on my next day off.
A good friend and avid hiker, full of excitement and enthusiasm, sang the praises of her recent outing; great ocean views, fantastic wildflowers, a fabulous hike. I resisted the urge to race out the door – but I knew what I would be doing on my next day off. Where? Where?
South of Carmel on Highway 1, you can easily drive past Garrapata State Park without noticing it. There is no park entrance, only a succession of broad turnouts that provide access to hillside and oceanside trails. At Rio Road at the south end of Carmel on Highway 1, check your odometer. Seven miles further down the highway, you will see an old barn on the left side of the road. Park there.
A glance at the hills on the inland side of the road lets you know what to expect. This is a steep loop – very steep. If you have any whiners along, they will need at least two boxes of hankys on this hike.
Other than a patch of Monterey cypress trees near the barn, I saw only chaparral and coastal scrub communities covering the hills. I wondered if we would we see nothing but waist-high shrubs on this 4 1/2-mile loop.
A short distance past the barn, the trail divides; the Rocky Ridge Trail heads left and the Soberanes Trail goes right. Take the Soberanes Trail, which follows a gently trickling creek. This is a sweet and pleasant walk in a crease between steep slopes past blooming sticky monkeyflower, bush lupine and other streamside shrubs – including poison oak.
Shortly after Soberanes Creek turns left up a side canyon, my roadside fear of shrub-only terrain was shattered by a magical redwood forest. The view went from miles to yards, and the foliage changed from low shrubbery to towering first-growth ancient redwoods. The creek, which had largely been hidden in a thicket of willows, took center stage, tumbling over moss-covered rocks and fallen redwood logs. Carpets of clover-like redwood sorrel with occasional pink blossoms covered the forest floor, and amazing Douglas irises – so elegant that they appeared to be the work of a careful horticulturist and not an indifferent Mother Nature – added to the magic.
In the forest, the ascent steepens slightly, hinting at what is to come. This stretch of trail has several confusing forks that all appear to converge again along the course of the creek.
The trail suddenly climbs dramatically out of the creek bed. As you emerge from the forest into open country, there is an important unmarked fork in the trail. To the right, you will stay with the creek, and the trail will soon loop back toward home. To the left, is the beginning of the Rocky Ridge Trail, where the real work begins. A walk up to this point and back is a great 2-plus mile walk for those wishing to forgo the task ahead.
Up. Straight up. It’s that simple. But I haven’t met a hill yet that doesn’t repay the effort, and Rocky Ridge proves my point in spades. Bush lupine, poppies, delphinium, woodland stars, chia, Chinese houses, cream cups, Johnny jump-ups – shall I stop? The variety of flowers on the grassy slopes of Rocky Ridge was dazzling.
And the view! Atop the ridge, the urge to spread your wings and take flight was difficult to resist. About 1,400 feet above our car and the rocky coast, the expansive view from this prominence felt like looking out an airline window. I’m pretty sure that was the Tokyo skyline in the distance.
The view, the flowers, the effort of the steep climb, and the windy summit all came together to certify – and we said so at the top – that we were alive. Thanks for the tip, Dolores.
