Remote Camping

I had selected this state park because it's the oldest in California, founded in 1902. The drive there once I got off 1 onto 9 was quite fun. For twenty miles my top speed was about thirty mph, turning to the left! to the right! to the left! And all this fun was amplified by the knowledge that RVs could never dart around these sharp turns. As I drove further on, the forest thickened and the trees got taller. This is a remote campground. It took me about twenty minutes to find the headquarters because I chose to check out the campground before registering, and then got lost on my way out. I ended up at the employee residences, and decided that I was probably going the wrong way. After finding the main building and getting a campsite, I pitched my tent in the driest and brightest section of the site, which was not very bright at all.

Then I headed to Monterey. The Aqaurium was rather easy to find, as it sits near the touristy pedestrian Cannery Row. Traffic on the Row consisted of families, and people bicycling, roller blading, and running. The views were terrific by the water, with boats and restaurants on the sea. I must say that the Aquarium was a bit disappointing. The claim to fame is the largest kelp tank in the country or world, the only one that sustains the life of the plant. The other large tank was quite fun, with a Galapagos sharks, that I had never seen before, very pale creatures, as well as the largest Ocean Sunfish ever! But the other exhibits were unimaginative and the whole place was rather small. After the Aquarium I got lost on Cannery Row for a nice amble, then found my car and drove to the Monterey Fish House, where I dined on some lovely fresh fish and was pleased I wasn't cooking at the campsite.

I wasn't going to include this little story on the blog, but I just wanted to share

this fun tidbit. Before crawling into the tent I checked my cooler and decided to leave the milk outside because temperatures were supposed to drop overnight. I know, really smart leaving out food, huh? A party of men was also at the campground, and that night they laughed and played some classic Motown hits. Usually this would bother me, but the voices were happy and they were polite enough to choose only high quality songs, so I laid there, and after a long time was lulled to sleep by a young Michael Jackson. During the night I had a nice assortment of dreams about mountain lion attacks and bears and probably some monster in a lake, all attacking loved ones of course.

Predawn I woke up to a strange noise outside, but determined that the source must not be lion-sized. Although a tinge of fear crept through me, my body was still dreamy and sleep-warmed, and I easily fell back asleep. When I woke up, happy to start the drive toward San Francisco, the tent was mostly dry. As I wiped down any damp spots, my eye caught some purple on the hill. There was my quart of milk, on its side, empty, with two punctures about three inches apart near the bottom. Wildlife Adventure! Although I’ve enjoyed picturing a young lion lifting the container with its fangs and drinking as the milk pours onto its face, the more likely culprits are a mischievous set of raccoons. Still, I learned my lesson.

As I left and drove southwest to highway 1, I thought about how isolated and somewhat careless I had been, and decided that it will take me some time to get accustomed to camp in proximity to more miles of wilderness than people. Kudos to the California Department of Parks and Recreation for maintaining so many thousands of acres in the dozens of scattered State Parks. Perhaps because there are so many parks, many escape tourist development, leaving the surrounding areas as pristine as the parks themselves.