Gary-Summer: February 22, 2026

Sunday, February 22, 2026

February 22, 2026 - Coast

Title: February 22, 2026 - Coast
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Bluff’s Trail

Trail: Montana de Oro parking area

Destination: end of trail

Actual Destination: Most of the trail, right before it turns east

Distance: 3.07 miles

Start Time: 3:07

End Time: 4:56

Travel Time: 1:48 (1.70 mph)

Moving Time: 1:20 (2.30 mph)

Elevation Rise: 229'

Descent: 226‘

Maximum Elevation: 86'

Minimum Elevation: 5' - This is too low

GPS Tracks

From Google Maps:

Mileage: 114 miles

Drive Time: 2:21

Description:

Today’s possible activities:

Solvang
Solvang
Pismo Beach Outlets
Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove
Montana de Oro Bluff’s trail

Yesterday, we did nothing on our list. Will we do any better today? We will see at the end of the day.

I got up at 7:15 and took my shower. Then continued to write up my notes on Kaitlyn Schiess’ The Liturgy of Politics. Sherri got up closer to 9.We had our breakfast, which was an improvement over the Oxnard fare-they both are Quality Inn. Eggs looked better and I got waffles.

We left the hotel at 10. We were still undecided about our first stop. I think Sherri is concerned that we will not be able to get everything we want to do into our day and so she is willing to drop Solvang. I showed Sherri what the time schedule looks like, so she is OK with Solvang

I think if we leave by noon, we should be good. We wandered down Copenhagen Drive. When Sherri pops into a store, I find a bench, preferably in the sun, and read for a bit. We do this routine, several times. Sherri gets a couple of things and a Danish. She only has spent an hour. We leave Solvang shortly after 11.

Eucalyptus Trees where Monarchs reside

Now we go up 101 towards Pismo Beach. Will we be walking down the sands of the beach? No! Sherri wants me to visit the outlet center there, particularly the Nike store. A couple of weeks ago she washed my shoes and I had a limited selection of alternates. I am also a bit hard to fit. Not only a big shoe size, it needs to be wide in the toe box and somewhat normal to narrow heel. This Nike store only had one model in wide and it did not fit me at all.

But Sherri noticed that there is a Sketchers store close by and that is where she took next. One of their shoes fit me pretty well, so Sherri goes ahead and buys it. We are not sure if this is really a long term solution to my feet. At least we will give it a try.

One place which was close by is the Pismo Beach Monarch Grove. We found a parking place. Then have lunch in the car before going in. The Monarch season is from November to February. We are at the tail end of the season. But we can hope we see some flocks of Monarchs. While we do see some flying high in the eucalyptus trees. We were hoping for a Butterfly Bathing to cleanse our souls, but at least we got a Monarch Sponge Bath. We will need to make a note to come earlier.

Coastline at Montana de Oro

We have been doing pretty good with gas, but there is a limit of how far this tank of gas will go. Tomorrow, we are going into a more desolate place where a gas station is not very frequent. So we stopped at Costco, of course, in San Luis Obispo. That should get us home

Then it is off to Montana de Oro. We are thinking of doing something easy, like the Bluff’s Trail. We feel fortunate-there is a parking space right at the start of the trail. We put out our Senior Pass for State Pass and started walking about 3:10. We stop at the site where there was a chute that the original ranchers used to load goods with. There is still a roped off hole, a bit overgrown there.

We enjoy our walk and greeting people. One of these stopped and asked Sherri if his dog is OK on the trail? It took a few seconds for her to recognize her chiropractor. It may have been the sunglasses or just meeting someone unexpectedly. The kids usually say it is me who knows everybody-I guess it is Sherri’s turn to know people. Sherri made an appointment with him when we got back to Fresno.

We started walking again at a comfortable pace for us. After a while, I heard footsteps behind us, not going slower than us and not passing us. This went on for about ¾ off a mile when someone else passed us. Eventually someone else passed us, then our stalker also passed us. I made a comment that she turned and smiled and just said she enjoyed walking behind us.

The Bluffs Trail has a final half of a mile leg which returns to the road. We decided to forego this leg and just return. We met a couple of men from Illinois. We talked with them for a while. They house sit for a friend in Sebastopol when the friend is away. They get a month or more to wander around Northern California.

We start back and just enjoy our walk. The ocean waves are a good reminder of both how some things seem to be endless and that all things wear down with time. We got back to the car about 5.

I had suggested several places to eat earlier, but Sylvester’s resonated with us, plus it is close by. We are the only ones at Sylvester's -I wonder what is wrong here as it is almost always busy. I ordered a Baby Desperado Burger. Sherri questions the Baby part and then decides that her husband is wise. She orders a Baby California Burger. That and some fries are enough to satisfy us.

It is getting dark now, so we head off to Atascadero. I had booked a room at Home2Suite last night. When we entered the room, we realized this is the best room of the three nights we have had on this trip.. I think we will be comfortable. The trip may be wearing on me as I feel like I just need to rest up as I am starting to get tired. Even with being tired, I make it to my usual bed time of 10.