Nacimiento - Arroyo Seco ride

Nacimiento - Arroyo Seco ride

As in past years, John Woodfill, Bob Walmsley and I drove from Palo
Alto to Carmel Valley on Wednesday afternoon (01 April) to stay in the
Blue Sky Lodge overnight and drive south to Lucia on the coast early
Thursday to begin our ride. It rained all night and was drizzling as
we drove south along the rugged Big Sur coast where in some areas fog
was at ground level. We parked the car across from the Lucia Inn and
rode seven miles south on HWY1 to Nacimiento Rd. where we began the
the 7.5 mile climb to the summit at 2664 ft elevation, we broke
through the fog and had periods of sunshine and a little warmer air
that was below 60F at lower elevations.

http://tinyurl.com/6chk54
http://tinyurl.com/6722b4

The road into Fort Hunter-Liggett was wet as we descended in a forest
above the Nacimiento river. After passing the military security gate
the road was dry but the sky overcast with occasional windows of
sunshine. We headed to the center of the installation at the Julia
Morgan Hunting lodge, William Hearst's first castle, where we found
the restaurant, where we had eaten in past years, closed so we ate at
the PX instead.

http://tinyurl.com/6r7nyx

We headed north on the east side of the San Antonio Mission through
sparsely wooded meadows with a profusion of wildflowers (California
poppies and Lupine in white with various shades of blue, lavender and
yellow). Although unpaved, the road is in excellent smooth condition.
Several miles north we joined the paved road that was used to reach
camp grounds along the San Antonio river that seem to be closed now.

http://tinyurl.com/6dcsne

At Indians Ranger station we crossed Arroyo Seco and headed up Indians
Road that climbs gradually for about three miles to Escondido Camp
Ground after which it begins climbing steeply. From here the road is
impassable even by jeep having much rockfall that gets worse after the
camp ground. Here the road was purposely blocked by cut branches from
roadside oaks.

http://tinyurl.com/57n3ec

Some sections of the road were soft from days of rain and made
climbing a more difficult than just the gradient. The top of the
climb becomes a broad rolling summit with the stark landscape. Seeing
the river, far below in the extremely steep canyon made clear why the
road was not built along the river. The terrain, even up where we
were, is unstable with earth and rock slides reaching more that 1500ft
from top to bottom in the river.

http://tinyurl.com/5c32oz

New rockfall and land slides since last year made passage more
difficult, with only a steep foot-wide path across the face of sloping
debris falling off to the bottom of the canyon. The road begins to
descend after the main rock slide and requires care to avoid damaging
wheels and slashing tires on angular rock that clutters what is left
of the road clinging to the steep slopes.

http://tinyurl.com/5j954m

After descending to the bottom of the canyon, we crossed a substantial
road bridge over a tributary to Arroyo Seco and climbed over another
ridge over narrows of Arroyo Seco before descending the the end of
pavement at Arroyo Seco Park.

http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-parks/arroyo.html

After leaving the park, about a half mile before the junction with
Carmel Valley Road, called Jamesburg - Arroyo Seco road, we stopped at
a grocery store for some food and drink that got us over the 2389 foot
summit of Carmel valley road.

http://tinyurl.com/5eo5b5
http://tinyurl.com/5s3ftg

After that it was easier with only one more climb, the Conejo Grade,
before rolling down to our motel. We had a fine dinner under the
stars with radiant heat and rode the quarter mile back to our room at
the Blue Sky Lodge, where we got a good night's sleep.

In the morning, under clear skies, we headed out to the coast and
south to Lucia, a 63 mile roller coaster run along the strikingly
beautiful and rugged coast. A few climbs such as at Bixby Creek with
its beautiful concrete arch bridge built in 1932 and the climb from
Big Sur elev 200ft to Vantana 1000ft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixby_Creek_Arch_Bridge
http://tinyurl.com/6nwaur

With a pleasant tailwind the ride along the coast was easier than it
looks from the car in spite of its long climbs. We saw whale spouts,
Canada Geese, a Condor and deer on the hills. Fields of California
Poppies decorated the route along the deep blue see far below several
hundred foot cliffs. Off shore rocks with churning surf turned the
sea turquoise with white crashing surf on the rocks.

We reached Lucia in time for a hearty lunch on the terrace after
having loaded our bicycles into the car. We made a swift return to
Palo Alto in spite of some zones of dense traffic that we were able to
avoid in the diamond lane.

The first day was 105miles and 10,000 ft of climbing while the second
was 64miles and 1500ft of climbing.
--
Jobst Brandt