Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Northern California. Exploring Mountains, Valleys, and Seashore онлайн

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To Reach the Trailhead Take Hwy. 156 east of Hwy. 101 for 3 miles to San Juan Bautista and head south on the Alameda (Hwy. G1). Approaching from the east, the turnoff is 9 miles past the junction of Hwys. 156 and 25. Immediately bear left on San Juan Canyon Rd. (Hwy. G1) at the complex four-way intersection and proceed 11 miles to the upper parking lot at road’s end. There is a nominal day-use fee.

Description From the trailhead, proceed up the paved road signed AUTHORIZED VEHICLES ONLY. A singletrack dirt trail quickly splits off across from a few, stout Coulter pines, passing through coyote brush punctuated by some valley oaks and small madrones. It wraps around the western slope where the antenna complex comes into view. A series of short switchbacks leads you to the rocky summit.

Savoring the view, ignore the antennas as you behold the curving expanse of Monterey Bay. Its southern arm is formed by the Monterey peninsula, visible beyond the city of Salinas. Its northern end contains south-facing Santa Cruz on its shores. Two main rivers drain into Monterey Bay: the longer Salinas River on the south, which flows 190 miles northwest through the broad Salinas Valley, and the Pajaro River on the north, which flows by Watsonville before entering the bay near its center. Between the two is Elkhorn Slough, a tidal embayment extending 7 miles inland whose mouth is marked by the enormous 500-foot-high boiler stacks of the Moss Landing Power Plant. The slough is a haven for birdlife—it once held the North American record for the most bird species seen from a single location in one day (116). The broad alluvial plain around Monterey Bay is rich agricultural land and annually produces the country’s largest crop of artichokes.