Cabrillo National Park

I misread my calendar and went to work on my day off on Friday the 13th. It was good day not to work even though they offered me the opportunity to stay.  With the entire unexpected day off ahead of us, we decided to check out the tide pools of Point Loma arriving an hour before low tide. We have always enjoyed walking in the tide pools and caves. I had fallen while we were in La Jolla's tide pools even with gripped shoes. This time I stayed upright.

The splash from the high tides made some interesting sculptures in the sand. 

At mid tide, these rocks are covered by the waves. 

The pelicans would just float above our heads along the edge of the cliffs.

Clusters of barnacles

anemone

We had see plenty of limpet shells but never with its snail until today.

Coast guard lighthouse

The park offers a view of San Diego's harbor and skyline, as well as Coronado and Naval Air Station North Island. On clear days, a wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean, Tijuana, and Mexico's Coronado Islands are also visible.

Cabrillo National Monument is located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542

The Old Point Loma Lighthouse is the highest point in the park and has been a San Diego icon since 1855. The lighthouse was closed in 1891, and a new one opened at a lower elevation, because fog and low clouds often obscured the light at its location 422 feet above sea level. The old lighthouse is now a museum.

We stopped at Liberty Public Market near Shelter Island for lunch and checked out the area along with many sailors.

St Elmo Ghosttown

We knew that this area had a lot to offer as far as the outdoors but is also an interesting area with lots of tales to be told. There are plaques as we drive up Chalk Creek Canyon with stories about the Love Ranch and Agnes Vaille that show the hardy ladies of times gone by.

The Agnes Vaille Waterfall in the canyon along Chalk Creek is named after a hardy woman from the 1920s, who had spent time in Paris working with the Red Cross before moving to Colorado.

 Agnes Vaille was an experienced and fearless climber who had scaled a number of fourteeners. She 

decided to ascend Long Peak in January of 1925 but fell, sliding down a snowy bank more than 150 feet, she landed in the snow below and was immobile. When the rescuers came upon her frozen body, Agnes lay with her prized axe in her hand, her head pillowed on her knapsack. At that time, aids such as sophisticated protective gear and equipment for mountain climbers, were not available.

 You can no longer hike to the falls since the trail was closed and rerouted after a family of 5 were killed in a rock slide in 2013. There is now a trail to view the waterfall named for Agnes by a friend who owned the Love Ranch nearby.

Another peaceful place to lay our heads or at least we thought so. I was glad that we were on the opposite side of the campground from the rock slides. Kind of silly to think that short distance would make a difference if it decided to let go again. But our peaceful nights in a very dark valley were disturbed by a critter that won. He would climb under the front of the end cap into the walls and party all night. The second night when he showed up, he was a little less rowdy but convinced us to leave before the third night we had paid for. I bet he went back into his hole and high fived the other mice that he beat us down. He actually creeped me out a lot.

Cascade Campground is way up in that valley between Mt Princeton and Mt Antero, both 14ers. We had no Verizon signal, hookups or neighbors, other than the mouse. The nights were as dark as a cave until the stars came out.



We took the short drive of 6 miles up a dirt road to the ghost town of St Elmo after we got settled at our site.

 Nearly 2,000 people settled in this town when mining for gold and silver started. The mining industry started to decline in the early 1920s, and in 1922 the railroad discontinued service.  It is one of Colorado's best preserved ghost towns. Now, there are 8 full time residents.

This is 4 wheeler paradise with people from all over the US. One guy from Minnesota asked if we knew where to get "high". I guess we looked a little loopy from the altitude. I suggested he check in the general store. Then, they headed up Tincup Pass....

The walk from the campground along the old railroad bed was a nice easy 2-3% grade overlooking Chalk Lake and Mt. Princeton.

 We were feeling stiff and with the discounted rate for Monday thru Thursday and very few people, who could pass a day at another hot springs.

 The Mount Princeton Hot Springs were first frequented by Native Americans.

In 1860, a way station, hotel, and freight depot were built near the site of the present hotel to serve freighters traveling over Tincup Pass, bound for the mines of Ashcroft and Aspen; and over the Altman Pass toward Gunnison.



We climbed down along side the creek to soak in the rocks.

The bathhouse

The grayish white Chalk Cliffs emerge from Mount Princeton and are unlike any other mountains in Colorado. Though they look like chalk, they’re actually made of granite, which changed colors when other minerals leached out of fractures. Legend has it that gold was hidden in the cliffs’ crevices by 17th-century Spaniards and is yet to be rediscovered.

We had planned another day with a hike or a visit to Buena Vista but the mouse won. Creede is not too far down the road and we now have mothballs.

Bike ride in O'side

A ride on the San Luis Rey River Trail and beyond ended up being a good 29 mile ride with a few hills when we turned off the path. The return to the coast has pretty good headwinds. We came upon the finish line later in the day for So California's Ride Across America Bike Ride.

The cycling in Southern California is fabulous and  diverse.  The topography is the most varied of any cycling event around - avocado orchards and orange groves, the ridges and valleys of the Coast Range, the Anza-Borrego Desert – and the weather is beautiful this time of year.

 The 200-mile course is said to be the toughest “double century” in America. The Amgen Tour of California, a ride with pros, was also ridden in San Diego this weekend.



 

 Jacaranda trees are a beautiful mess leaving a sticky substance after the purple leaves fall.

At the halfway point of our ride was Guajome Park with two ponds that attract a wide variety of migratory birds and serve as home to a variety of fish. The 4.5 miles of park trails meander through diverse Southern California habitats such as woodlands, chaparral, wetlands, and mixed grasslands. 

Just 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean and has plenty of walking and biking trails.

 Matilija Poppy

The ocean has a different look on different days. Today was almost Caribbean like.

 

 

 

 

 We don't go to the movies very often. One morning, we woke to much needed rain, "Papa-Earnest Hemmingway" was playing and sounded like a good way to stay dry. With Cuba in the news and  where the movie was filmed, it made it more intriguing.  When we arrived, we were the only people seated until another couple walked in. For some reason, they thought they should sit directly behind us. I guess they felt safer being so close to us.  It was a nice treat when we walked out at noon to the sunshine.

We recently read a book called "The Boy Who Said No,  Escape To Freedom" about a young man in Cuba during the overthrow of Batista that I got on Book Bub for $0.99. It was so interesting and well written that we read the sequel.  

I guess we have Cuba on our minds.