Big Sur's New Discovery Center

 Just 20 miles south of Carmel and not far from the much-photographed Bixby Bridge (top photo) lies Andrew Molera State Park, one of Big Sur's most accessible hiking areas. The gentle, flat camp trail of only a couple of miles follows the Big Sur River and leads past campsites to a long, curved beach and a secluded cove nestled against high bluffs. Also along the camp trail is the Cooper Cabin, built in the 1860s and the oldest structure in Big Sur. Early settler Molera ran his dairy farm here, producing some prized Monterey Jack cheese.
(Check the park's website for latest on trail conditions because there's some work being done on the trails this winter and a seasonal footbridge over the river was not up when I visited in late November).
The park is a 4,800-acre swath of wilderness with meadows, oak and redwood groves, wildlife and beautiful three-mile-stretch of Pacific coastline where you may spot sea lions, sea otters and migrating whales.

Andrew Molera also includes a quaint old farmhouse, picnic area and fruit orchard that's open to the public where you can see how the early settlers, cattle ranchers and dairy farmers lived. And, I learned on a visit last week, the park has a new addition, the Ventana Wildlife Society's Discovery Center, which opened in the last couple of years in a restored old barn near the farmhouse and park entrance.

This local non-profit group, dedicated to native wildlife and their habitats, worked to reintroduce the bald eagle to central California. Restoring the wild population of California condors is now the society's focus and the center has several interactive exhibits on these ugly-but-fascinating animals, which are the largest flying birds in North America, their wing spans reaching more than nine feet. If you've wondered where best to see them and how to identify them, this is the place to go (hint for identifying them: there are white or mottled triangles under their wings, unlike turkey vultures). Who knew that condors mate for life, have no vocal chords and can live for 50 to 60 years?

Spring in the Pinnacles

April and May are the prime months to visit Pinnacles National Monument, the craggy remains of an ancient volcano that rise out of the Gabilan Mountains in central California, south of the town of Hollister. Last weekend, with the poppies and other wildflowers blooming and the hills a lush green, it was no surprise that the park's campground was at capacity. The weather was in the high 60s, perfect for the two main activities here: hiking and rock climbing. Even with parking lots full, you could still find plenty of solitude along the trails and in quiet moments gazing at the stars in the clear night sky.
Pinnacles is renowned among rock climbers, who love its dramatic outcroppings and sheer walls. The visitor center stocks climbers' guides describing routes. But most people come here to walk the trails and explore the caves and tunnels, many carved from the rock by the Civilian Conservation Corp. during a massive public works project in the 1930s.
A group of friends and I hiked the easy 2.2-mile Moses Spring-Rim Trail Loop, where the only challenge was crouching as we negotiated a few tight spots (with flashlights) in the caves. We came across a small bat taking an afternoon nap (photo at right), apparently part of a colony of Townsend's big-eared bats, which stay in the cave year round, according to park literature.

In recent years, the Pinnacles has become known for a much grander winged creature: the California condor. The park is one of only a few release sites in the U.S. and Mexico of this endangered species, which is the largest of North American land birds. A captive breeding program in the 1980s and 1990s has been successful and it's now common to see condors flying and swooping over the high peaks. Their wingspans can reach 10 feet. Two telescopes are available outside the visitor center to help with close up viewing and rangers are often close by to help with identification (they can easily be mistaken for vultures and ravens).
If you go, however, bring your own binoculars to carry along the trails. And, get to the Pinnacles before mid June when the wildflowers fade and the weather really heats up.