california

This is one of my favorite hikes in the extended Bay area. Just south of Carmel, this is a nice outing for the intermediate hiker. There are signs marking Garrapata State Park before the trailhead but there is no formal entrance or anything like that. Incidentally, Garrapata means something like wood tick in Spanish. The trailhead is at a turnout on a curving part of Highway 1 about 10 miles south of Carmel. Look for a gate on the left side. We had decided to take the Soberanes creek- Rocky Ridge loop trail.

Day 2 of our Memorial Day weekend, 2006 – the plan was to spend the day hiking to Rainbow Falls in the Devils Postpile National Monument near Red’s Meadow. After having breakfast in our room, we hit 395 and headed south to Mammoth Lakes. Unless you are camping or are a guest of the Red’s Meadow resort, you have to take a shuttle bus from the Mammoth Mountain Adventure center to get into the Red’s Meadow area. Paying the nominal fee, we hopped onto the shuttle.

It was May and a good chance to see some wild flowers. We had hiked in the Russian Ridge Open Space preserve before and decided to try our luck there.