Hiking at Montano De Oro Tide Pools

     I’m that friend that drags people on those hikes that make them want to lay down and die.
     Years ago I took a good friend and his girl friend hiking to my favorite swimming hole, a five mile round trip hike in the hot sun.
     We split the hike in half, stopping at the creek bed and the swimming hole at the bottom of the canyon to drink some beers and swim around for a few hours. Than we hiked back up the canyon in the fading afternoon light two and a half miles back to where the truck was parked on a lonely dirt road.
    To this day D still claims this was the worst day of his life ” On that miserable hike I dragged him on”
     I’ve dragged many friends on insane hikes and wondered some times why they even speak to me afterwards, when we return to the car bruised, bloody and in pain after falling down hills, getting lost on meandering trails, walking miles out of the way, and running from rattle snakes.
     But my friends always want to go hiking with me.
    Maybe they like the adventures as much as I love taking them out into my forest?
    On this fourth morning of my Central Coast vacation the girls and I did a six mile hike at Montano De Oro State Park near our camp ground. The Hazard Peak Trail meanders up into the rolling hills and is pretty easy with about a thousand feet of altitude gain in the three miles to the summit.
    Half of our group had to head back down the coast to home after that hike and after K and M left J and I alone on the mountain side I thought, hey we should check out the tide pools before meeting our buddy in San Luis Obispo for lunch in the afternoon.
    I have not been to the tide pools at Montano De Oro in something like seven years and I remember the hike being a pain in the ass but I was also in far worst shape, physically back in the day so I figured it would be no problem.

    After making our way back down from Hazard Peak we parked by one of the giant sand dunes by the coast and made our way up the trail. The trail you have to take climbs up and over what I am guessing was a hundred foot sand dune. Sounds not to hard, right?
    Except climbing up and over a sand dune is like being on a never ending stair stepper. As I fought my way to the top of the dune, I could see J behind me on the trail in the distance and thought, oh man, she must be cursing my name right now.
     It was so worth the hike though as I made my way finally to the top of the dune and had this amazing view of the Pacific Ocean in front of me. Morro Bay was off to the right and far beyond that sat Cayucos Bay. It was so jaw dropingly beautiful.

    The hike down the other side of the sand dune to the beach was a little sketchy and I realized now that this hike was going to be a real bitch coming back up.

    Not only do you have to hike down two hundred feet to the tide pools from the top of the dunes, but the hike is all in sand.

     I’m surprised J even followed me down the back side of the dune with the promise of having to climb back up this bitch a little bit later.
     Once I made my way to the bottom of the dune the view of the ocean and the tide pools was like no ocean view I had seen before.
    This has to be the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life.

    Oh Montano De Oro, I have missed you so!
    You know the kind of beach so beautiful you want to take every one you know there so they can witness its glory for themselves?
    That is a day at the tide pools at Montano De Oro.
     And yes, my friend is speaking to me again.