Los Osos, California

[furtech]

Before friends bought a house in Los Osos, I had never heard of this city. I was more familiar with her sister city to the north: Morro Bay (and its famous rock). After visiting this beach town, I'm in love with this area.


Full Flicker Set Here

I can see why they chose this locale: this city is beautiful. The people are nice- if a bit on the organic-side. But any town where drivers take notable care to give walkers, dogs and bicyclists room and do it with a smile is aces in my book.

The hiking is fantastic: the cool ocean air lends itself to nice weather year-round. There are plenty of hills and trails, along with a town that is just fun to walk around. There are beaches everywhere-- including a large sand spit (several miles long) that looks like it would be a great place to explore. The sunsets (as you can see) are like something out of a Bierstadt painting. The dawns are equally stunning: mist giving way to views of the 9 Sisters (an impressive chain of cinder cones) and the Morro Bay Rock. The dogs loved the dawn-hikes up sandy trails. Much digging ensued.

Due to the poor soil and misty (not rainy) climate, a species of oak grows there called "Pygmy Oaks". These trees are wonderful: they only grow to a height of about 12 feet...yet are every bit like a "regular" oak. The result is something called the Elfin Forest: little mounds of oak groves with ancient trees that only grow to about a dozen feet tall.

I visited Spooner's Cove which has great sand: coarse, but polished smooth-- wonderful for Bonsai toppings. There is a large sandstone outcrop in the middle of the cove. This takes a scramble to climb up, but it's worth it: you are surrounded by crashing waves and sea.

A nice bonus is that my friends compete as cooks: all are *very* good cooks and the meals-- breakfast and dinner-- were fantastic. There is nothing like people competing to make great meals.

I also visited two of the nearby apple growers. Ever since I picked apples in Connecticut a few years ago, I realized that I -love- fresh picked fruit. One (Avila Valley Barn) was a bit touristy for my tastes, but the other (Gopher Glen) was pure-apple and had GREAT fruit!

Comments

[haamel.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, Los Osos is my hometown. ^_^ My housing development is one of the last before you hit state park on the way out toward Spooner's Cove and that area -- the number of times I went out there for hiking and picnicking with the family is essentially uncountable. My house had a view out to the southern end of Morro Bay, with nothing but sand dunes and chaparel between us and the ocean. It is, in fact, a great place to be from. ^_^

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Really? Cool! From your description, the hike shown in the photos is on the mountain that over-looks your old neighborhood. It has sandy trails, a lot of altitude gain and a big grove of eucalyptus trees at the top-- I think it's the trail that runs off of Broderson Ave. Their place is on 5th, near Ramona.

Man, I can't imagine a cooler place to grow up!