California Coastal Walk: Day 5

Ok. First problem of the day is that I can stick my finger through my shoes. This was going to be the end of these shoes anyway since the soles are worn flatter than a flitter but did expect them to make it through the trip. 🥴

The one redeeming quality of the Inn we stayed in overnight was being able to leave the balcony door open and listen to the waves crashing on the rocks all night.

Leaving the hotel

It was a little confusing deciding which foot path to follow to get to the other side of this little mountain but we finally figured it out.

Going up over the mountain

Looking back

View from the other side after a quick elevation gain of 217’

Looking back at where we were earlier. It’s the furthest rocky point.

And looking ahead at where we’re going.

Mori Point was purchased by Stefan Mori in the 1880s and a roadhouse operated here. Bootlegging took place in the 1920s. The final scene from Harold & Maude was filmed at Mori Point.

Bootleggers steps. We were really glad we were going down these steps instead of coming up them.

A photo of another trail for Kevin. The bootleggers steps coming down the hill are where the hill meets the sky, about one third in from the right of the photo.

You can see the pier in the distance. We were supposed to stop and have coffee or tea at the coffee shop on the pier but the pier is closed.

The pier was built in 1973 and is named after the Reverend Herschell Harkins.

Couldn’t resist taking this picture of the sign showing San Francisco one way and Half Moon Bay the other and us right in the middle of our walk.

Men hanging and working to clean up the side of a cliff.

This is where the trail ended and we were perplexed about where to go next. This area is the most rapidly eroding section of the coast. Landslides, winter storms, high waves, all combined with the San Andreas Fault make this area very hazardous. The cliff can erode at 2-3 feet every year.

We walked up through some apartment buildings in town and worked our way back to the ocean.

Getting farther away from that starting point in the distance.

Our lunch spot today is mussel rock park. We picked up a sandwich to split at Columbo’s deli. We made a serendipitous (wrong) turn that took us to a lovely bakery where we purchased some cookies for later. Of course mine were grain/dairy-free.

The plan was to go down and walk on this beach for a few miles. Unfortunately, the tide was in and we couldn’t walk this stretch and we really didn’t want to walk through the miles of RV and mobile home parks (not knowing exactly where we were going) so we called a taxi to take us to our hotel for the night. We were supposed to call for a taxi a little later anyway due to a landslide so it wasn’t a big deal.

Our motel is right across the street from the San Francisco zoo

Sand blows up in piles on the streets

Walking on the beach

Lots of fishing going on here

Sitting on a rock at the beach enjoying a refreshing tangerine and lemongrass sparkling water from Norway. I should get royalty’s for advertising. 😁

Blowing sand covers everything and gets in everything.

The top of my pants just from sitting a few minutes. It’s a natural facial exfoliation but feels a bit like getting sandblasted.

See we can smile even after having a sand facial

Art Deco buildings next to our motel. “Little Boxes” is a song, written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962, inspired by these little houses. Pete Seeger made the song a hit.

Our motel for the night was the first San Francisco motel and opened in 1937, one month before the Golden Gate Bridge opened.

Here’s an interesting article about the 50th anniversary of the motel. It’s really pretty funny.

A photo of the original motel

The walk up to our room

We have a two bedroom suite

With a garden view 😁

Earplugs provided 🤣

We walked over to the Java Beach Cafe (only thing open for dining anywhere close to us) and I had a beetnik salad with beets, dates, apples, quinoa, and mixed greens. I had to leave off the parmesan and green goddess dressing 🙁.

Jo Anne had a turkey sub with special sauce.

This can was in my backpack while we were sitting at the beach. Oooh that sand.

I sure hope you can view this video. These speedy little birds (I believe they are sandpipers) were hilarious chasing the waves and foraging for whatever was being deposited onshore.