March 24-28, 2022
Join us as we explore the beautiful Morro Bay area, perhaps California's most scenic coastline, on a 5-day/4-night camping getaway - with showers!
Our theme will be "Explore Nature's Beauty and Experience our Magnificent California Central Coast."
Walk along empty sea cliffs with waves crashing on the rocks. Observe elephant seals, sea lions, and sea otters up close, and maybe gray whales at a distance. See spring wildflowers bloom on the green landscape of San Luis Obispo County. Hike up to a waterfall and see redwood trees along the Big Sur Coast. Discover the unique biology and geology from our trip leaders, and enjoy cooking, socializing and camp camaraderie.
Details:
We have reserved Group Site Osos at Morro Bay State Park Campground, which is within walking distance of trails in the Morro Bay wetland, the Natural History Museum, and viewpoints overlooking Morro Bay. The group site allows tents only.
Campground amenities include flush toilets, fire rings, picnic tables, and potable water. Showers are located about 1000 feet away in the lower part of the campground. Morro Bay village is about two miles away, with grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and other amenities.
Bring your 10 essentials, your camping & cooking gear, food, and a bundle or two of firewood. Dress in layers since the mornings can start cold, and sea breezes are strong on the central California coast.
Day Activities:
Activities will be located north and south of Morro Bay. Some planned hikes and walks are:
- Montaña de Oro State Park: walk Bluff Trail to sea cliffs to small coves
- Montaña de Oro State park: picnic at Spooners Cove
- San Simeon Beach: Observe the only elephant seal colony on the US mainland
- Overlook and small hikes at Ragged Point and Salmon Falls along the Big Sur Coast
- Visit the southernmost redwood grove in California
- Morro Rock: observe sea otters in the bay
Campground Evening Activities:
Thursday: Check-in after 2:00 pm. 5:30 pm: Welcome and Meet-n-Greet. "Weenie Roast" Dinner (with vegetarian option) will be provided by Great Outdoors LA.
Friday: 6:00 pm: Sunset Dinner. Bring-your-own-picnic to dine and watch the sunset over the bay, a short walk from our campsite to the bay. Sunset 7:20 pm.
Saturday: 6:00 pm: Traditional Great Outdoors Potluck. Hello Top Chefs and foodies! Everyone make or bring a main or side dish to feed 5-6 people. Healthy, organic, plant-based dishes encouraged. Some desserts will be provided by Great Outdoors LA.
Sunday: 5:00 pm: Farewell Happy Hour. Bring an appetizer and optional beverage (alcohol/non-alcohol) to share. Dinner on your own.
Monday: Check-out by 12 noon.
Every night: Campfire (Bring your camp chair, highlights of the day, jokes, gay trivia facts, games, etc.)
Think eco-friendly. Everyone brings their own plates, utensils, cups, napkins, etc. For the potluck, remember to bring your own serving dishes, bowls or platters with serving utensils. Be sure to pick up your dishes when you leave. Let's aim to minimize trash/ single-use disposables, and thank you for pitching in to keep our camp clean.
Alcohol is allowed, please enjoy responsibly!
Registration, parking limits, carpooling:
This campout is limited by the number of vehicles allowed at the group sites. Our group site (25 persons max) comes with only 10 parking spaces. After the 10 spaces are full, during the day parking is available on the street outside of the campground, and at night extra cars will have to park in the town of Morro Bay about about 3/4 of a mile away. So we highly encourage carpooling.
During registration, please note if/who you will be carpooling with. We will assign the first 10 parking spots in the order people register. The remaining vehicles will need to park outside as noted. It may be helpful to ask each other to help shuttle folks back/forth.
If the trip is sold out, please add yourself to the wait list. Based on the number of vehicles from other registrants, you may still be added to the trip in the order added to the waitlist if we can fit you in.
Getting there:
Carpooling is recommended to help reduce gas consumption and parking limits.
Directions from Route 1: Exit at South Bay Rd (Baywood Park) off ramp, turn left, go about 1 mile, turn right into park, go about 1 mile (do not go up the uphill road on the right), turn right into campground, check in at entry booth.
Cancellation:
Full refunds will be issued if cancelled by March 10. No refunds will be issued after this date. If you need to cancel, please email both trip leaders directly, as soon as possible so we can notify the next person on the waitlist.
Health issues/allergies: It is the responsibility of participants to carry on their person a record of significant allergies, medications and medical history in the event of a medical emergency. Discuss any medical concerns with the hike leader if you wish.
Pet Policy: No dogs allowed on the beach.
Current COVID-19 Requirements: Consistent with Great Outdoors guidance, we're asking that every attendee provide a copy of their Covid vaccine card (fully vaccinated plus booster). Please email to johnlongbeach@msn.com or text to 562-726-4165. A picture of the card or the electronic version are both acceptable. Together, we are fighting the spread of this deadly virus and its variants! We ask all outing participants to comply with the following:
- I will follow Federal, State and local COVID guidelines as well as the directions of the event leader(s). See Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
- I will not attend if feeling ill or have any symptoms of COVID.
- I will contact the Trip Leader if I test positive for COVID within 14 days of the event.
This will be an outdoor event where we can maintain social distancing. We often carpool to hikes and any carpooling and masking will be at your own discretion.
Image credits:
https://thedyrt.com/camping/california/montana-de-oro-state-park/gallery
San Luis Obispo Tribune
https://www.flickr.com/photos/goingslo/2225715896
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mdoblufftrail.jpg#file
https://www.hikespeak.com/trails/salmon-creek-falls-big-sur/
https://visitcambriaca.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ch1dr_air1-highway-1-scenic-aerial_29843871126_o-1024x575.jpg
Contact:
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at:
John: johnlongbeach@gmail.com 562-981-4133 or Joe: joewholliday@yahoo.com 562-417-4742
We will send out additional emails to registrants with more details as the trip nears.
