52 Hike Challenge - Hike #6/52 - Rucking the Chumash & Crespi Trails, Morro Bay State Park

I had the day off today, so I decided to do a ruck training hike and meet this weeks obligation for the 52 HIKE CHALLENGE. I decided to hike the Morro Bay State Park's Cerro Cabrillo area again this week, this time taking the Chumash and Fr. Crespi Trails [Fr. Crespi was a Priest that accompanied Portola's expedition, chronicled the journey and passed through this area in 1769]:

MBSP Trails

It was a very warm day, supposed to reach 80 degrees. I filled my hydration bladder and loaded my COLEMAN ELATE 35liter pack with a 6kg [13.2 lb] ruck plate, a concrete paver wrapped in duct tape and bubble wrap:

Homemade Ruck Plate...$1.50!

This brought pack load to 12kg [26.4 lbs]. I started from the Chumash trailhead off of Turri Road at about 11:45 a.m. The grass was very high, head height in some places. When I reached the Crespi Trail, I turned eastward towards Hollister Peak:

Hollister Peak [rearmost]

 The wildflowers were blooming everywhere. It was just beautiful on the trail: 

Spring is sprung!

Monkey Flower

The trail takes you well away from South Bay Blvd and Turri Road, the roads that flank the State Park property. It's nice because you are well away from traffic noise and can enjoy bird songs and calls. There are rolling hills back there that clearly are some product of the volcanic forces that produced this valley.

Extinct magma domes?

I was passed by a couple of mountain bikers and a trail runner, but saw few people out on the trail. It was hot and in no time I broke a decent sweat and started pounding water. The COLEMAN Elate pack was a gift from my wife. It has held up well and the hydration bladder is handy, versus a canteen:

It is getting hot out here...!

I made it to the rearmost area of the property, where the trail turns and enters an Oak Woodland. It was cool and shady in there...a good spot to take a break and hydrate some more:

A shady and cool spot!

View of the backside of Cerro Hutash

As I started back up the return leg of the Crespi Trail, I was met by a "Y" in the trail which I did not remember from earlier hikes. It was not marked and I wasn't too sure which one to take. As it turned out, the trail I took [Diagonal lower leg highlighted with red arrows in the map below] was apparently an unmarked trail or a "Bootleg" trail made by hikers and/or bikers.

Bootleg Trail?

I wrapped up the hike at about 1:07 p.m. I kept pace count and measured the distance covered at 2.2977 miles. Length of hike was 1:22:00 time elapsed.  I mentioned it in my last blog post, this is an excellent place to dayhike, with many trails to choose from and wonderful scenery. Be sure to stop and check it out if you are passing through the area. Also nearby is Montana de Oro State Park, which has many long and diverse trails also worthy of exploring. I'll be doing some hikes over there and posting up some pics in the future, so stay tuned!

Happy Hiking!

BUSHCRAFT WOODS DEVIL

[Goblin Ranger]

.