Hiking Whale Peak Loop

[canyonwalker]

Last Saturday we drove down the Central Coast to go hiking at Garrapata State Park. Again. Yes, we'd been there just 7 days earlier. The weather was poor with fog covering the coast all day. Though we made the best of it we still felt let down... so we decided to go again this past weekend, aiming for better weather. Well, it turns out this weekend's weather was worse. 😰 But again, we didn't let that deter us. We visited not one but two parks. Here's more detail— and pics as I've promised— from Garrapata State Park.

We set off from near our usual trailhead at Garrapata. Parking at the usual trailhead itself was packed— unusual for the gloomy weather, IMO— but we found a space at a roadside pullout slightly up the hill where the road crosses below Whale Peak. Thus I decided to call this trip the Whale Peak Loop in my notes.



From the roadside gate we hiked the loop trail down at first, going out to the rugged ocean cliffs at the base of Whale Peak. This is the same general area as where we hiked the ocean cliffs a week earlier. Indeed it was on that hike that I spotted this trail, which I hadn't even thought about hiking before. So here we are. The rugged cliffs are always beautiful, and the mixture of red and green colors in the hardy plants clinging to the bluffs is surprising.



The main loop trail around Whale Peak isn't very long. Our guidebook rates it at less than 2 miles. I believe we hiked at least 3 miles on this trek, though, as almost immediately we went off the main trail to visit additional vista points.

From above the tiny pocket beach in the first pic we followed a foot trail around the cliffs to the right. From there we enjoyed great view up and down the coast. In the pic immediately above you can see back to the mainland. Rocky Ridge disappears up into the clouds just right of center near the top of the frame. On previous trips we almost always focused on hiking Rocky Ridge. The previous weekend's hike and this one are serendipities of the Rocky Ridge trail being closed due to fire damage.



We continued working our way around the ocean bluffs, still off the main loop trail but following well worn foot paths. The rugged cliffs never ceased to be enchanting, nor did the unexpectedly brilliant reds and greens covering them.

So, where's this Whale Peak I named this blog for? Well, the answer is in all these pics it's basically behind me. 😂 I'll share the view from the top in Part 2. To be continued!

Update: Keep reading in Part 2!

Comments

[ihavenoarms]

vary nice