Posts tagged camping

Quick Summary: 

• Total distance hiked: 6.2 miles (round trip) 
• Total hiking time: 3 hours (approx.) 
• Number of hours slept: almost 12 hours in the tent

Crystal Cove SP hike trail

The maps shows the route that we took for the hike.  The ranger station told us that if we take the brown hike trail then it would be quite hard because of the higher inclination.  And guess what? We took that one going up.  The inclination was crazy!  But we made it!  The Pacific ocean was behind us as we hiked up the mountain.  We started hiking around 2:30pm and we were there at the campgrounds around 4pm.  It took us about an hour and 40 minutes to make it up there.  And I thought that was quite impressive for a first time hikers to hike 3.1 miles.  :) 

We camped at the Lower Morro Campground which is a 3.1 mile hike from the ranger station.  All of the campground at the Crystal Cove SP has a picnic bench, decompose potty place and trash bins.  We decided to pitch our tent closer to the potty place (not too close) and the picnic bench.  We watched the sunset on the Pacific ocean as we ate a warm chicken noodle soup from Campbell’s Chunky! The temperature dropped significantly after the sun went down so we decided to go into the tent and lie down. It was around 7ish when we lay down on the comfortable Coleman airbed.  After the strenuous hike we were able to appreciate the air bed so well that we slept until 7am next morning.  

We ate (warm) Campbell’s Chunky clam chowder for breakfast with some clementines.  After breakfast we decided to have a relaxed walk to the Upper Morro Camp Ground.  We had a good time talking about things that are important to us at this time of our lives as we are preparing to be parents.  The hike to Upper Morro Campground seemed so easy without the ~30lb backpack! 

We left the campground at 9:50am and we were down at the ranger station at 11:20am.  We took the ‘easy’ route (turquoise blue on the map) to get back to the ranger station.  We both agreed that this ‘easier’ route was a bit harder as it had a continuous declination (that means continual incline going up).  And on this route we were not able to see the ocean as we had a mountain hiding the ocean from us all throughout the hike.  

Overall, it was a great experience! Being out there in the canyon with nothing around, no city lights, no loud mariachi music, but the chirping of crickets and the bright moon and stars above is an experience that would certainly demand us to be in awe of a Wonderful Creator!

Things that I would do differently, next time: 

• Won’t stuff myself with a yummy pizza 10 minute before the hike
• Certainly pack lighter.  Probably get rid of the airbed and pack two foam pads
• Get protein / energy bars
• Pack more fresh fruits
• (maybe) Get a hiking pole
• Leave on Friday afternoon and come back on Saturday, so we can still go to church on Sunday

Will we do it again? Yes (I hope Hani agrees with this one)