BigH Rides Again - The Wild West Tour June 2014

Day 13 Monterey to Pismo Beach (Far Away in Time) – 152 miles

Had a pleasant meal (last night) - (9 of us) at the end of the pier in Monterey.

View on the way to Dinner

In the morning we headed south on Highway 1 – bypassing Carmel. As the coastal hills loomed our road hugged the cliffs and for most of the day we were not just dealing with horizontal wiggles and waggles but falling and rising within a band of about 100 ft to 1000 ft above sea level. In the bright but ‘bracing’ air, the scenery was spectacular. We stopped near the viaduct which I am sure was in the film ‘Play Misty for Me’ (Airborne shots of Clint Eastwood driving his sports car over it – he gets everywhere – including mayor of Carmel for a time).

Coffee Stop

Redwoods

Continued on and stopped for Lunch near Lucia. Ordered a tuna sandwich and (seemingly) had to wait while they went to sea to catch it !

The coastal hills are composed of fairly weak shale with an occasional band of shiny green serpentine. If I remember correctly (I was a bit of a girly swot in physical geography) these hills were formed by ocean sediments being scraped from the Pacific tectonic plate as it was forced (or subducted if you want 10 extra marks) below the North American tectonic plate. So the coastal hills are basically ‘fish poo’ compressed and heated – (10 marks deducted for lack of academic rigour).

Anyway – as well as the sweet smell of the pinewoods, the fragrant smell of wild herbs in the sun and the smell of the ocean and kelp beds we were soon to experience the rubbery fishy smell of a colony of elephant seals. Despite their unwelcoming aroma (see ‘Happy Feet’) they were fun to watch and a major conservation triumph after becoming nearly extinct some while back.

During the day we saw many birds of prey – probably black hawks and a couple of golden eagles possibly – however much as I enjoy ornithology or bird-watching, it’s not really compatible with keeping a 1.6 litre motorbike in tight formation at 65 mph – so I just enjoyed the fleeting glimpses and focused on the road.

Just as we reached Pismo Beach (Far Away in Time) the sea cloud rolled in. Accommodation splendid and looking forward to culinary expedition later.