wilder ranch
Since its been over 100F for the past few days, we tried to escape to the coast where it would be a bit cooler. David & I headed down to Wilder Ranch State Park just north of Santa Cruz. There a 4.5 mile out & back trail in the park that runs mostly along the coast. Unfortunately, only the portions that were right along the coastal cliffs had any cool ocean breezes. The rest kept veering inland along a railroad track and farm fields where it was nearly 90F. The hike was still decent. We ate lunch at 3 Mile Beach, and then David played in the sand for a while. Per its name, the beach was roughly 3 miles from the parking lot, although it was nearly a mile long. We did some tidepool exploring and found quite a few crabs, and three huge orange starfish. On the hike back, huge dark storm clouds started to form just over the ocean, and then there was thunder and dry lightening. We made it back to the car without getting wet (it only seemed to be raining over the ocean a few miles out).