Woke up to another marine layer of fog, but the wind didn’t seem quite so bad, and the temps were a bit better, so we decided to give it a go today. We headed out late, nearly 1:00, as I was still finishing off some work in the morning. With map in hand, we headed out the Pig’s Pond trail, then turned onto the Tunnel Monument Trail. The hills were fairly steep in spots, but the trails seemed easy, maybe because none of them perched on the edge with a huge dropoff, or were so narrow as to be heart-stopping. These were more like a dirt road in most places, and a regular trail in others. The hill-and-dale feeling was very different from most places we’ve been, and you could quickly get used to being able to see where you are actually going before you get there, although it always seemed another hill was just ahead, and you wanted to see what was over THAT hill, and the next, and the next. The top of the trail at Tunnel Monument is by far one of the greatest vistas we’ve seen since we left home. A full 360 degrees of view! To the south and west, more hilly grasslands and scattered trees, with a range of higher mountains profiled in blue shade. To the northeast, an incredible view of the San Luis Reservoir, a huge lake that feeds this entire valley, which, in turn, practically feeds the world. To the southeast, a wind farm with a score or more of giant windmills, gracefully whirring in the distance. We learned later that the wind farm brings in enough revenue to support the entire park, though not quite enough for capital expenditures. Utterly stunning views all around. At the peaks, however, the wind was quite blustery, (Hubby kept losing his hat, bad cowboy!) so we headed downhill to Whiskey Flats trail, where it quieted down to almost a breeze. We were only out about 2 ½ hours, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride. We’re looking forward to seeing what the rest of the trails bring! When we got back, we headed in to Los Banos to pick up some groceries and a piece of plywood at Lowes so we could fix a rotten panel in the horse trailer. It had come loose inside it’s frame because it was rotten at the bottom, and somewhere along the line had popped out and scratched my gelding’s front leg a bit. Just a few scratches, but definitely an overdue project. Got back late, but had a nice steak and went to bed satisfied at the day’s productivity.
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