Salt Point State Park

Leaving Yosemite was sad, but we knew there were other adventures ahead.  A couple of weeks ago, when we left the Central California coast, we knew we didn’t want that to be the end of our coastal adventures, so we started looking for some spots along the Northern California coast for after Yosemite.  Those spots are hard to come by, especially on the weekend, so we had to do a couple of Harvest Hosts stays in the central part of the state before we could get spots on the coast again.  Not to worry, though.  We enjoyed our Harvest Hosts stops, especially the first one that had us sleeping in the midst of a cherry orchard and vineyard while enjoying some of the host’s “boozy cherries.”  Being near town also afforded us the time and ability to get some laundry done (in a real laundromat, with real washers and dryers this time), do the grocery shopping, pick up an Amazon order, and get some video and blog work done with the smokin’ fast cellular data. 

It was finally time to head back to the coast, though, to Salt Point State Park and Gerstle Cove Campground.  This is a decent state park right off Highway One and set along the coast.  As with our experience at the last California State Park we were in, the facilities and roads were run down and in need of some love, but the coast was absolutely stunning. 

We did some more tide pooling and finally saw a starfish.  Several, actually, and they were bat stars, to be more correct.  There were also lots of snails, crabs, and anemones like in the last place, and there were also some purple spiky things that we think are sea urchins.  It is so fun to wander from pool to pool to see what you will find next!

This area in particular is known for some strange rock formations, known as Tafoni formations in the Sandstone.  This is where the rock is weathered into holey-looking honeycomb-like shapes.  It looks like something you would expect to see on another planet. 

We don’t know if you have heard anything in the news about California’s “super bloom” that is currently in process, but we have experienced it first hand, especially in the central part of the state.  Even here on the coast, though, there are flowers of all shapes and sizes blooming EVERYWHERE!  It is so beautiful!

We also enjoyed watching a couple of sunsets while we were here and seeing some harbor seals relaxing on the rocks and frolicking in the water.  If you ever hope to do the same, at least this time of year, dress warm!  It has been in the fifties the whole time we have been here and the winds off the water are crazy!  It was almost impossible to use the binoculars to watch the seals because the wind was blowing us around so much that we couldn’t focus on them!  We aren’t sure if the wind is an occasional thing, or if this is pretty normal for here, but it seems that all our time spent on the coast thus far has been extremely windy. 

We are now in our push to get north by mid-May to begin our trek to Alaska, so we aren’t going to be spending as long in one place for a while.  We will be doing a lot of moving, and hopefully, that will also mean a lot of adventuring!  Follow along to see where we end up next!

Until next time!