Читать книгу Afoot & Afield: Orange County. A Comprehensive Hiking Guide онлайн

75 страница из 92

If you plan to make this a backpacking trip, make a reservation at reserveamerica.com for Crystal Cove State Park Primitive Tent Camping (Lower or Upper Moro trail camps), or get a permit in person at the visitor center. The camping fees are hefty considering the scrubby, waterless campground with a strenuous approach to a ridge miles from the beach.

Prickly pear cactus at Emerald Vista

From the top of the trailhead parking area, take the wide path up El Moro Canyon, then very quickly turn right on the narrow BFI Trail (“Big F. Inline”), and go up a grassy slope to the south. After sharply gaining about 200 feet of elevation, you connect with a service road winding up the west spur of El Moro Ridge. Continue climbing up the service road for 0.7 mile, then make a sharp right on a spur leading south to a small antenna facility on the shoulder of the ridge. Your views of Emerald Bay, the city of Laguna Beach, and out over the ocean are most panoramic here.

For a longer, more leisurely descent, follow the service road 0.7 mile farther north along El Moro Ridge (signed MORO RIDGE ROAD), then veer left down the East Cut-Across road to El Moro Canyon in 1.2 miles. Turn left there, and go down-canyon 1 mile to reach the wide trail leading out of the canyon and back toward the visitor center.