Ano Nuevo State Reserve, CA

After all these years, I finally got to see elephant seals up close. My trusty hiking partner Olma and I decided to spend the day checking out the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo before the season ends and they all return to the ocean. We had great weather for the hike; nice and sunny with a strong breeze. The ocean looked beautiful from the trail.

 Glamour Shot

When we arrived at the viewing point at the end of the trail, just a few miles from the trailhead at the parking lot, we could see several seals on the beach, basking in the warm California sunshine. A few of the young bulls were sparring with each other out in the water. We found out later, from our very knowledgeable and entertaining docent on site, that this was practice for the young males to prepare them for battle during next year's mating season.

Hey, look! A bench!

The volunteer out at the beach today was Alan Fleishman (sp?). I hope I got his name right because he really made our day at the Reserve a special one. He had several interesting stories and humorous facts about the seals as well as the history of the area.

Overall, it was a mild hike, not strenuous at all. You need to be very cautious of poison oak while hiking this trail as it is all over the place.