June 22, 2023
California has 840 miles of coastline, and two of its best known bays are Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay. Monterey Bay stretches about 25 miles from the cities of Monterey in the south to Santa Cruz in the north. It is also part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the largest in the United States. Within the sanctuary are 36 species of marine mammals, 94 species of seabirds, and over 500 species of fish.
On our rest day we not only visited the excellent Monterey Bay Aquarium, but also walked along the bay waterfront to view seals and sea lions in the wild.
Viewing Monterey Bay wildlife
Our next 100-mile section of the California Missions Trail would take us from the sanctuary bay in Monterey to the San Francisco Bay Area over seven stages.
Completing a Long Stage along the Dunes and on a Busy Road
We left Monterey to begin a five-day trekking section to Santa Cruz. Because of the distance between each night’s accommodations, we needed to hike 77.4 miles over the five days. The first stage would be the longest – 19.7 miles.
Using the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail, we walked about nine miles along the Fort Ord Dunes State Park. The views were beautiful, and we stopped often to take photos.
At the city of Marina we headed east. Eventually, we turned on to a road. We had hiked our share of heavily trafficked roads during the past seven weeks, but found this one to be especially busy.
To create some distance between us and the traffic, we took advantage of parallel dirt farm paths that ran between the paved street and the crops.
While passing many strawberry, cauliflower, broccoli, and lettuce crops we were excited to see our first artichoke field.
Artichoke field and close-up
After 4.8 miles contending with the traffic on the road, we were happy to reach the outskirts of the city of Salinas and a quiet neighborhood street. We spent the night there after our 19.7-mile day.
Known as the “Salad Bowl of the World,” Salinas has a diverse agriculture industry. Crops, from grape vineyards to vegetables, grow here. It is also the hometown of the famous writer John Steinbeck.
Hiking on a National Historic Trail and to a Mission
A 17-mile hike the next day took us further inland to the city of San Juan Bautista. A highlight of the stage was walking four miles on the Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail. In 1775-76 De Anza led 240 men, women, and children on a journey to colonize Alta California by establishing the first non-Native settlement at San Francisco Bay.
We needed to walk on an old stagecoach road to reach the trail. While hiking, we saw the largest strawberry field of our trek.
The historic dirt trail, which climbed up and over a saddle in the Gabilan Range, was a welcome change for us after so much paved walking. We greatly enjoyed the hike through the oak trees and grassy hillsides.
As we headed down the other side, we noted the time. We wanted to visit the San Juan Bautista Mission before it closed at 4:00 pm, but it was going to be tight. So we picked up the pace. Staying alert, we came across a non-poisonous snake in our path.
When we arrived in the town of San Juan Bautista, in San Benito County, we only had about an hour to visit the mission before closing time. We decided to tour the grounds and save some of our exterior photos for the morning before beginning our next stage.
San Juan Bautista, the location of the 15th mission in the network, was established in 1797. The mission was dedicated to John the Baptist. We started our visit in the large church. It was dedicated in 1812 and has three aisles – the only church in the mission system to be so wide.
On one of the church rear doors we noted another small door to allow cats to come and go as they pleased. Mice were a continual threat to mission crops.
Unbeknownst to the Spanish, the mission was built right next to the San Andreas Fault. Earthquakes in 1812, 1838, 1868, 1906, and 1989 all resulted in significant damage to the buildings. After viewing the gardens and the museum, it was closing time, so we checked into our hotel.
The next morning we returned to walk around the only original Spanish plaza remaining in California. It was located next to the mission.
After a few more photos, we left on our stage via a section of the original El Camino Real path.
Unfortunately, the section of the El Camino Real path took us into a school parking lot with no other way out, since it was now summer vacation. We had already gotten a late start to the day, so rather than turn around and walk a half-mile back, we decided to climb over a four-foot fence. Darren went over first, and I handed my backpack to him before climbing over. It was challenging, and I was actually surprised that I could do it.
Hiking our Final Days through the Farms
Our 15.9-mile hike to the city of Watsonville took us through some rolling hills along an eucalyptus forest and Anzar Lake to the community of Aromas, where we stopped for lunch at a restaurant.
During this stage we walked in three California counties. We began in San Benito County and then entered Monterey County at Aromas, which is actually split between two counties. Right before reaching Watsonville, we came to Santa Cruz County.
In the afternoon we joined some busy roads, but walking along parallel farm paths kept us away from the narrow street shoulders.
Using the farm paths to stay away from the traffic
From the city of Watsonville we walked a 16-mile stage toward the coast. It was our last day of farm hiking, and we were excited to see the ocean in the distance as we passed the fields.
We hiked through the communities of Seaside and Soquel before arriving in the town of Capitola for the night.
Signs for the communities of Seaside and Soquel
Taking in the Surfers, Beach Boardwalk, and a Mission Visit
On our last day of the section, we had a short 8.8-mile stage to the city of Santa Cruz. We walked an alternate route that took us along the coast, where many surfers were enjoying the Saturday morning waves at Pleasure Point. It is a well-known surfing zone within the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve.
After turning inland for a time, we came to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Established in 1907, it is California’s oldest surviving amusement park.
We walked away from the water and through downtown to arrive at the Santa Cruz Mission. Santa Cruz means “Holy Cross” in Spanish, and this mission was dedicated to the cross, rather than a saint.
Founded in 1791 as the 12th mission, Santa Cruz suffered many misfortunes, including thefts by nearby prison convicts, a pirate incursion, and a priest strangulation because of his punishment techniques. Earthquakes in 1845 and 1857 destroyed the buildings. The church now standing is a replica (one-third the original size) built in 1931. The exterior was modeled after a painting from 1876. The artist had relied upon old-time residents when painting it.
As we have at all our mission stops, we went to the gift shop and had our passports stamped.
Inside the church was an inscription above the altar that translated to: “We Adore you O Christ and we bless you because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”
The small museum featured some vestments and a chalice used by Father Serra at another mission.
After the high mileage section we just completed, we took two rest days in Santa Cruz. It gave us the opportunity to catch up on tasks that accumulate on an extended trip. We also enjoyed eating (and drinking beer) at several breweries within walking distance of our hotel.
Trekking over the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Bay Area
After our time in Santa Cruz, we left on a short 6.9-mile stage to begin our climb from the coast through the Santa Cruz Mountains. We ascended about 800 feet to the town of Scotts Valley, mainly walking on frontage roads along California State Route 17. The weather was warm, but we had plenty of shade from the trees.
We completed traversing through the Santa Cruz Mountains the next day. The first half of the 16.4-mile stage was an ascent to Patchen Pass (1,808 feet). Originally a Native peoples path, the route was part of the El Camino Real during the mission era.
We left early to get the 1,500-foot climb done in the cool of the morning. It was a peaceful hike among the tall trees, including many redwoods.
As we neared the top of the climb, we looked back toward Santa Cruz. We could only see cloud cover at the coast and not the ocean.
Our descent first took us on a curvy road, with many blind corners. We needed to cross occasionally and walk with the traffic to stay safe.
With no place for a break, we sat on a guard rail to eat our dinner leftovers for lunch.
We also came to a road closure, which at this point in the trek we naturally just walked through. This road had suffered quite a bit of damage from the winter storms.
Walking past the “Road Closed” sign; road damage
The route eventually took us along a series of dirt paths, including one next to the Lexington Reservoir. We took a short break near the water.
Because we have been hiking through urban areas and farms, wildlife sightings have been rare. So we were surprised to see a deer next to the trail.
Our day ended in the town of Los Gatos, located in Santa Clara County.
Our arrival in Los Gatos placed us in Silicon Valley and at the beginning of the San Francisco Bay Area. It was hard to believe that we had hiked 648 miles from San Diego to this point! But we still have 10 more hiking stages to go before reaching Sonoma and the end of the California Missions Trail.
The remaining stages of the trek will take us through the heart of the Bay Area, home to over seven million people, and one of the densest urban areas in the United States. We will also be crossing the San Francisco Bay twice – east to west on the Dumbarton Bridge, and south to north over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Our time from the Monterey Bay to the Bay Area took us through a variety of terrain from bayside dunes, to oak trees and grassy hillsides, along agricultural fields, and over a coastal mountain range. We also visited two distinct missions, one within a historic town and the other located in a big city. With the end in sight, we are looking forward to our final days on the trail and our last five mission visits.
Watch our latest video with our highlights from the section: