Cerro Alto

During an extended weekend in the vicinity of Morro Bay we decided to climb a few of the many "Cerros" in this area. "Cerro" is the Spanish word for "Hill" and since this part of California has a lot of Mexican roots, most of the hills here are named Cerro "Something". As "Alto" in "Cerro Alto" suggest, the hill we climbed today is the highest in the area. We climbed it from the close-by campground where we stayed during this trip. 

California's Central Coast gets a lot of fog during the summer months, at least until around noon. So if you climb a peak here, there is no guarantee that you'll have a nice view. In order to increase the chances of some sort of a view, we start relatively late at the campsite. For the way up we take the more direct path to the top. It starts immediately west of the day use parking lot on the south side of the East Fork Morro Creek and winds up the hill there. It is well marked and easy. We arrive at the top right at the time when the fog is about to lift and enjoy some mystic moods. Within less than half an hour we see from nowhere all the way to the Pacific Coast, wonderful!

On our way down we take the longer route which makes a big detour west along the Morro Creek. About half way down the paths takes a sharp turn right and is more or less flat for almost a mile and then turns left and downhill to follow the Canyon Trail which is surprisingly lush and beautiful with lots of California Bay Leave Trees.