Santa Cruz to Pescadero: elephant-seal breeding, camping, butterfly tour. (Rev.)

REVISED 12/16/13@10:10am: To pay for this trip, send an email to the event host at "stanley@thesokolows.com" saying so, and he'll have PayPal send you a request for the money. Please pay by a credit card to expedite the payment clearing. You will get an email confirming that the reservation has been made for the tent site and tour.

REVISED 12/12/13@12:15pm: Join our overnight camping trip to experience two nature events that happen only once a year: the wintering of the Monarch butterflies in Santa Cruz and the breeding season of the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Park in Pescadero. The Tourists would make their way to my house in Santa Cruz by car with a bike and camping gear, or would take the train to San Jose (Diridon Station) by way of either CalTrain or Amtrak, then take the Highway 17 Express bus over the Santa Cruz mountains to the Santa Cruz Metro bus station. I would meet the group at the Metro and lead the easy bike ride to Natural Bridges State Beach, where the butterflies have amassed themselves after their winter migration, for breeding here. Docent-led 1-hour explanatory tours (free of charge) are conducted at 11am and 2pm on weekends. We'd do the 11am. Along the way, time permitting, we could stop to see the exhibit of 2 whale skeletons and other marine exhibits at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center near Natural Bridges, and lunches could be bought at Safeway or Subway or taco or Chinese fast food places. Then after the butterfly tour and lunch in the Natural Bridges picnic area, the ride would continue northward along Highway 1 through Davenport (about 1 hour from Santa Cruz, where a pit stop and snack could be had) and onward to Costanoa KOA campground near Pescadero (1 more hour from Davenport). Set up tents and spend the night in Costanoa, then a short ride to Ano Nuevo State Park for the early morning guided tour of the elephant seals, where the males are jousting with each other for territory domination and for the females for their harems. The tour is a hiking tour lasting about 2.5 hours. (Those who don't want to hike the tour could stay in campground of course.) Fee is $7 per person for the tour. There is no charge for the bikes at Ano Nuevo. Reservations are required, so we'd have to know soon how many will be attending and reserve that many places on the tour before they're gone. (As of Dec 12 there are still many tickets on Sunday morning Jan 5, but other days and times are becoming sold out.) Those who want to cut out after the camping and return home early without the elephant seals tour could ride back to Santa Cruz Metro. The tour is described as "Walks last about 2.5 hours, and consist of a moderately strenuous 3 mile hike over sand and sloping terrain. Be prepared for windy, rainy conditions, as well as muddy trails. Layered clothing, sturdy shoes, and hooded rain gear are recommended. Bring bottled water for drinking as there is none available during the walk." If you want to stay overnight one more night at Costanoa, riding back on the 3rd day, Monday Jan 6, the extra night would be up to you to reserve independently. On weekdays, there is a bus from Davenport to Santa Cruz Metro Station, but it doesn't run on weekend afternoons. Buses have a front rack to carry up to 3 bikes. (There is also a hiker/biker campsite about 1 hour south of Santa Cruz, but that would be up to you, too.)

This is assuming we can get reservations for the tours and campsites. If someone else wants to lead another group taking the northern approach, from Half Moon Bay riding southward, we could join up the two groups at Costanoa.

There are lots of other things to do and see in Santa Cruz and small side rides we could include in the trip on Sunday, time permitting, on the way back through Santa Cruz, such as riding along West Cliff Drive passing the surfing spots, surfing museum, Monterey Bay marine museum, municipal wharf, and Boardwalk amusement park.

Costanoa KOA is a privately owned eco-camping resort with various facilities including an upscale lodge, tent cabins, pitch-it-yourself tent campground, restaurant, small store, and "comfort stations" for the tent campers where they can sit by a fireplace (free wood), take a hot shower, and even enjoy a dry sauna, all included in the camping fee. If you don't want to cook in the picnic area, you can eat in the restaurant. Here's the description: http://www.costanoa.c...­ and http://koa.com/campgr...­. Pre-payment of your share of camping and elephant seal tour would be required before I book the reservations. Costanoa is located only a few minutes' bike ride from Ano Nuevo. The weather forecast looks good for that time of January, cold but no rain.

An alternative to camping at Costanoa would be either their tent cabins or lodge (pricey), or riding about 20 minutes farther north to the hostel at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, at your expense instead of the camping fee. (See comments below for more info on that.)