Santa Margarita Lake Is Back

Today I headed out to the east side of Santa Margarita Lake (a.k.a. Salinas Reservoir) with Mike, my brother by another mother. We both hadn't hiked in too long and needed to get out and start a pattern of weekly hiking. I needed it as part of my decompressing from last week's big teaching experience and to recharge my mental-emotional batteries. Mission accomplished! It was especially satisfying to see how much water was everywhere including all types of watercourses and water catchments. Even parts of the trail we hiked (Blinn Ranch Trail which follows sections of the old road before the dam was filled) were covered in water or showed signs of water recently running over them. There were also washouts and minor landslides/rockfalls. The Salinas River was flowing strong into the back of the lake which is rapidly filling and nearly full. Areas of the back of the lake which had been bone dry for years and looking rather desolate were back under water or water was nearby.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)

Picture of the Day - Salinas River

Salinas River near Atascadero in Winter. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes

Picture of the Day - Halcon Road Washout

Halcon Road in rural southeast Atascadero washed out by the Salinas River earlier this decade. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

East Santa Margarita Lake Photo-Trek

Yesterday a buddy of mine headed out towards Pozo with our dogs and went trekking back towards the dam from the River Road access point. I decided to take a photo journal of my little adventure and share it with you. Note: the Santa Margarita Lake and Salinas Reservoir are one and the same and both names are used here interchangeably.

Heading out Blinn Ranch Trail which follows the old road for much of the way.

Towering cumulonimbus with Salinas River thickets in foreground.

Not-so-grainy image of the fearsome Chupacabra I encountered.

Leafless trees growing in the Salinas River bottoms.

Winter dormancy leaves these Salinas River vines looking dead.

Pink patch of duckweed growing on the surface of the Salinas River.

More patches of pink duckweed on the surface of the Salinas River.

Close-up of duckweed.

I've always envisioned the ancient Chumash camping next to this outcropping.

For some reason this oak always catches my attention when I walk by it.

Wind ripples the surface of the Salinas River.

Blinn Ranch Trail headed westerly and outbound towards the dam.

From the same location looking back from whence I just came.

Cumulonimbus build-ups looming up behind a grove of Digger Pines.

View from within an old cellar.

Outside view of the same cellar of a long-abandoned farm building.

View of the cellar roof which was also the floor of the old building.

An old nearby water cistern.

An even larger nearby water cistern.

An old oak tree with a lot going on.

Panarama of the aforementioned old farm structures.

A giant brown and green Tribble growing in a young Digger Pine.

A big burl with a big smile.

High and dry cattails obscuring a bass-breeding pen.

Our turnaround spot overlooking Santa Margarita Lake.

Towering cumulonimbus over the horizon to the south.

Heading back at this point I captured Tequila on the right side of the photo.

Machesna Mountains as background.

Woodpecker Valentine's Day Massacre of this Digger Pine.

Whatever this is called I love the delicate beauty of its texture.

At this point the weather started getting stormy and ominous.

This storm cell made me nervous as it approached us.

Thankfully, it passed right by us sprinkling with only a few drops fo rain.

This isn't to say I wasn't concerned about lightening getting us out in the open.

Then a faint rainbow appeared and I felt safe.

Okay, I merely felt a bit safer.

The towering cumulonimbus to the south never let up the entire time.

I love this scene: dark cloud, rainbow, oak tree, reddish plant, etc.

Another oak that always grabs my attention whenever I walk here.

Winds from that storm whipping the surface of the Salinas River.

I doubt you can see it but this rainbow ends on top of a house.

This oak grew out of a crack in the rock here.

Looking back from whence I just came along the old road.

Looking in the direction I'm headed along the old road.

This scene really grabbed me for some reason.

I love Digger Pines and don't know why they are so unpopular.

This is a magnificent old oak at the trail head parking lot along River Road.

Kimmer