There was a guest from Quebec, an 18 year old who just graduated from high school and is traveling the entire west coast on his own (so right away he was a kindred spirit), we had gone on a Taco Tuesday taco run and were talking about what sites we enjoyed.

Once we came back to the Hostel with all our goodies a bunch of us were talking about a man I had met a man who found a bunch of raw jade in Montana de Oro that had come down from Big Sur.

So Nicolas (my new-found friend) said, “Well, when does it get dark?” I responded, “When the sun goes down.” He said, “Fine I’ll go look outside.” I shrugged and laughed. When he came back in a minute later, he said, “Okay there is plenty of time. Go get ready, we are going to Montana de Oro.” I sat for a minute, shocked, and then ran up to get ready. I quickly located overalls, Uggs and a sweatshirt. What a drive! Overhanging California Oak the whole way that suddenly opens up to the ocean. So AMAZING. And not on the every day “tourist” visit. We were there for hours. Well into dark. Moss on everything, smooth rocks with stripes, caves with water rushing in and out again, and drift wood. I was so at peace on one hand and excited on the other. This is a great website to tell about it, but it really has to be EXPERIENCED to get the fullness of it. http://www.totalescape.com/active/campstuff/SP/montana.html.

I’m going to post some pictures, but be prepared there is no picture we took that does this place justice.

Montana de Oro, California