Dad,s Day 2012
I spent the day with family at lake Lopez located east of Arroyo Grande Ca. My son Luis was the ship,s captain and ferried us to the camp site where his wife Beverly was resting in a hammock . tough Life ! Ha Ha . Well we ate , drank and then Serra and I hiked up to the ridge , a moderate hike of about 600 ft elevation gain in a short distance , and then a mile or so along the ridge . I was a beautiful hike and well worth further exploration . I am sure you will want to visit this location after enjoying the photos. My only regret is that I did not camp out the night before . The reason I did not was because I thought the weather would be hot as it was in Atascadero , but I learned that this area has a cooler climate than my home town .

June 1st , Wayne , myself , and sierra ( my puppy ) hiked up to Estrella camp via the Salmon Creek trail
located in Monterey County on hwy 1 just north of the San Luis Obispo County line in California , along the  Pacific coast . The weather was cool and foggy at sea level and hot at higher elevation . Water was plentiful as the trail followed Salmon creek all the way with many large pools along the way . The camp ground at Estrella was especially nice with great shade and camp stove .The night time temperature low was 59 degrees and day time high was 85 degrees as the elevation was
1800 ft. , after resting on day one we hiked a short distance up towards Lions den which is located up at the rim another 1600 feet of vertical elevation gain , we only hiked 300 feet up this trail and I can say it is a very strenuous hike . On day two we returned down trail and at the fork of Spruce camp we climbed up to Dutra Flat . ( see the sun lit photo of dry fields ) which is approximately 1000 ft. climb with a 1400 ft elevation gain  .
All in all the hike was very adventurous  and I definitely recommend this for the strong hiker .
Also note the temperatures at higher elevation can get very hot ! The heat was a little too much for my puppy as she is only 6 months old and she is a daily hiker and very strong !
The first photo is at the Salmon Creek Trail head with the mountain behind myself , Carin and Hank . These folks were returning from a race up north . They both ran well !