Hiking the Whale Peak Loop, part 3: Whale Peak

[canyonwalker]

I know, I know, this is my third blog about hiking the Whale Peak Loop at Garrapata State Park in California last weekend (previous blogs: first, second) and I haven't even shared a picture of Whale Peak. Okay, here it is:



Now do you see why I have my back turned to it for most of the pictures I took? Yeah, especially when looking the other way shows scenes like this:



That's a view looking south across the Central Coast's rugged cliffs, BTW.

At this point we're 3/4 of the way around the loop. The main trail tracks back along Highway 1. That's easily the least scenic part of the loop, though it is where a spur trail forks off to the top of Whale Peak. The views from the top are much more rewarding than looking at Whale Peak from the sides.



Whale Peak is a double-peak hill, as you can see in the photo above. Off in the distance to the right is Rocky Ridge. You can see an obvious trail ascending that ridge. That's (part of) the one that's closed right now due to fire damage. When I looked at it through a telephoto lens I could see the trail was pretty badly eroded. Note, it's not the fire that erodes trails. The fire burns the brush that anchors the soil and rocks to the hillside and also scalds the ground so that it can't absorb water well. Then when rains come they course straight down the hillsides, wiping out man made features like trails.

I've noticed that when I'm hiking and enjoying far-off views I sometimes forget to check for beauty at my feet. Being atop Whale Peak was no exception.



The views straight down the side of the mountain, to the craggy coastline below, are worth it. It's another perspective on the ever-enchanting landscape where we spent the last hour+.