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| Carmel by the sea |
Next weekend is my foray into the mountains on a crazy
long trip. I thought that maybe it would sense to test my fitness this
weekend by seeing how far I can hike in a day.
Yesterday I hiked from Monterrey to Carmel along the coast. My best guess as to the distance is at least twenty miles. The trip was incredibly beautiful, in fact I wasn't intending to hike at all. My plan was to walk from the hotel to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, which I have never been to... Still! The day was so nice, the sun was shining the seals were... barking? Whatever noise it is that seals, or maybe they were sea lions, make.
The sun was coming up and the temperature, which started in the forties, quickly warmed to the low seventies. The Monterrey coast looks pristine and exceptionally clean. The water was clear and the seals / sea lions basked in the shallows comically holding their back flippers out of the water. Sort of like they were waving at each other. The sound of the waves along the shore was so pleasant and the colors of the flowers, the sea, and the sky were so pleasant to the eyes. Who wouldn't want to live here.
I learned that the first sardine canning plant on the west coast was established her in the late eighteen hundreds by Italian immigrants. For the rest of the hike I imagined that I could see the Italian influence in the architecture and design of the houses. Although I think that is imaginary as I don't really have a clue as to what Italian influence would even look like, although I swear I could see it.
The route leaves the beach when you get to Pebble Beach because the high-falutin' snobs that own the place decided they wanted a world class golf course on the water's edge. They weren't Italian, they were wealthy Scottish barons who took over the Del Monte forest and made it a destination for the wealthy of the world to build their summer homes over looking the California coast. That means I had to leave the coast and wander in the forest between their ginormous houses.
Wow! What an eye opener. I thought I was in shape for hiking. The first half of the day wasn't bad. J use the normal aches and pains. Some time between two pm and four pm I hit the wall. I even stopped at McDonalds and got a strawberry banana smoothie.
The muscles on my inner thighs began to really cramp up and me feet felt like they were soaking in lava. As long as I kept moving I figured I would eventually make it back to the hotel. I was right, but man, what an effort. Every time I stopped at a traffic light I immediately felt better. Hopefully next week I'll do better
Yesterday I hiked from Monterrey to Carmel along the coast. My best guess as to the distance is at least twenty miles. The trip was incredibly beautiful, in fact I wasn't intending to hike at all. My plan was to walk from the hotel to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, which I have never been to... Still! The day was so nice, the sun was shining the seals were... barking? Whatever noise it is that seals, or maybe they were sea lions, make.
The sun was coming up and the temperature, which started in the forties, quickly warmed to the low seventies. The Monterrey coast looks pristine and exceptionally clean. The water was clear and the seals / sea lions basked in the shallows comically holding their back flippers out of the water. Sort of like they were waving at each other. The sound of the waves along the shore was so pleasant and the colors of the flowers, the sea, and the sky were so pleasant to the eyes. Who wouldn't want to live here.
I learned that the first sardine canning plant on the west coast was established her in the late eighteen hundreds by Italian immigrants. For the rest of the hike I imagined that I could see the Italian influence in the architecture and design of the houses. Although I think that is imaginary as I don't really have a clue as to what Italian influence would even look like, although I swear I could see it.
The route leaves the beach when you get to Pebble Beach because the high-falutin' snobs that own the place decided they wanted a world class golf course on the water's edge. They weren't Italian, they were wealthy Scottish barons who took over the Del Monte forest and made it a destination for the wealthy of the world to build their summer homes over looking the California coast. That means I had to leave the coast and wander in the forest between their ginormous houses.
Wow! What an eye opener. I thought I was in shape for hiking. The first half of the day wasn't bad. J use the normal aches and pains. Some time between two pm and four pm I hit the wall. I even stopped at McDonalds and got a strawberry banana smoothie.
The muscles on my inner thighs began to really cramp up and me feet felt like they were soaking in lava. As long as I kept moving I figured I would eventually make it back to the hotel. I was right, but man, what an effort. Every time I stopped at a traffic light I immediately felt better. Hopefully next week I'll do better
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| Perfect Fall morning in Monterrey |
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| Those dots to the right are rocks with sea lions on them |
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| Mountain Lions? |
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| Exhaust stack by the water feature, huh! |
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