My Pacific Coast Migration
My migration journey where I cover pretty much the entire Pacific Coast by traveling from Orange County -> Carmel -> Orange County -> Seattle -> Portland -> San Francisco in March.
Table of Contents
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Pinnacles National Park
Road trip from Seattle to San Francisco
Seattle
Olympic National Park
Mt. Rainier National Park
Portland
Redwood National Park
San Francisco
Carmel-by-the-Sea
I drove up to the scenic town of Carmel-by-the-Sea to attend a friend’s wedding and spent a quiet weekend with my sister, who accompanied me on the trip. As always, whenever I travel, I made sure to add horseback riding to the itinerary. After a long, non-stop six-hour drive, we made a quick stop for a seafood lunch in Moss Landing before heading straight to meet up with our horseback trail guide. He was fantastic. He not only made sure we had an amazing time, but also shared stories about growing up on a horse farm and eventually becoming a professional polo jockey. He knew we were looking for an adventurous ride and let us trot and canter a couple times on the trail. Usually you don’t really find guides who are open to letting strangers go at anything other than a walking speed, so I really appreciated the chance. At one point, he let me ride up front and take the lead, and for a few seconds, I honestly felt like I was flying. I can only imagine what a full gallop must feel like. His horses were all sweethearts and kindly listened to all my cues (usually trail horses have trails memorized and know their job so they don’t care what you tell them to do and just go on autopilot mode). Even when we decided to switch horses mid-trail for fun, the horses behaved when we parked side by side next to each other so that we could hop on the other saddle without getting on the ground.
At the end of the trail, he told me to stand up on the horse for a picture and I laughed, thinking he was just joking. He was serious. He effortlessly got his feet out of the stirrups and just planted them onto his saddle and stood up and encouraged me to do the same and assured me the horse wouldn’t go anywhere. So I tried… and even with my wobbling knees, I got it! If my horse moved a single muscle I probably would’ve ended up with a broken bone at that height. You wouldn’t think that horseback riding takes work (the horses are doing all the heavy lifting!), but it’s a whole body workout and especially if you’re trotting/cantering. After 2-3 hours of that, my entire body was sore and I could barely lift my limbs but I loved every moment of it. If I’m ever back in the area I know who I’ll be contacting for another ride.
Dinner at Mission Ranch with a view of grazing sheep
Pinnacles National Park
After a rest day, it was time to get back on the road to drive back home. But not before stopping at Pinnacles National Park! I bought a National Parks annual pass right before I left since I’m planning on visiting three National Parks this year. And for 2025, the card featured a Roseate Spoonbill! I made to sure to bring my collectible card with me so I could get a fun photo of the cards together. Unfortunately, Roseate Spoonbills don’t reside at Pinnacles but another iconic bird does, the California Condor.
Since 2003, Pinnacles has been a major partner in the California Condor Recovery Program. It’s one of the few places in the world where captive-bred condors are released and monitored. The best time to spot one is early morning or evening around the High Peaks, when they ride the warm thermals or come in to roost. We arrived closer to noon, and we were way too tired to attempt a strenuous hike, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
We decided on the Balconies Cliffs-Cave Loop trail from the West Entrance and the first stretch of the trail was open and sunny, but after crossing a small bridge, the canyon narrowed and massive boulders loomed overhead. We hiked counterclockwise and soon came to a cave entrance with a gate warning about slippery conditions. We ducked under chockstones and started making our way through. Sometimes the gates are locked if there is heavy rain and the trail through the cave becomes flooded and impassable. As promised by the trail descriptions, we descended down 15 feet through a narrow gateway of rocks into complete darkness with slippery rock conditions. I forgot to pack flashlights so we just relied on our phone light and that was barely enough light to find where to safely put my next step. Thankfully it was a short journey. I’m not a big fan of caves but thought this would be cool to at least experience. I promise you won’t find me exploring any crazier cave systems.
Once we were back out in the open, we started climbing steadily through the cliffs. As we gained elevation, we finally got a view of the iconic Balconies chimneys and the valley beyond. This was probably my best chance to spot a Condor. The whole way up, my sister kept pointing to birds in the sky and asking, “Is that one?” And every time, I’d look up and see the white wingtips of a Turkey Vulture and say nope, that’s a vulture. This happened multiple times and with the heat beaming down on us, I was starting to lose hope. She pointed out to the sky again and asked, and just as I was about to give my default answer, I noticed the flock of Turkey Vultures and also a much larger silhouette flying by them with the white triangle on the leading edge of the underwings. That was it. That was the Condor. These soaring beasts have a massive wingspan of 10 feet, making the Turkey Vulture’s wingspan of 6 feet look miniature. I whipped out the camera from my bag and managed to get some shots.
When I got home and zoomed in on the photo, I could see the tan tag on its wing: number 86. I looked it up on the Pinnacles NPS website and learned we’d seen Kawkikat, a five-year-old male Condor that hatched at the San Diego Wild Animal Park! Seeing a Condor in the wild felt surreal. These birds were almost lost forever. Condors are a symbol of one of conservation’s greatest successes, recovering from the brink of extinction. When the population dwindled to merely 22 individuals in the 1980s, all remaining wild Condors were captured and placed in captive breeding programs. With continued conservation efforts of releasing captive-bred Condors, as of 2018, there were 488 worldwide, with 312 of them flying free in the wild. Another lifer added to the birding list!
Road trip from Seattle to San Francisco
Every year, I go on an annual trip with my college roommates, and for our ninth year, we decided to go on a girls’ road trip. Two of us preferred nature activities while one of us leaned more toward city exploring, so this trip was a mix of both. After flying into Seattle and meeting up at the airport, our journey began.
Seattle
While in Seattle, I picked up a book called Little Big Year: Chasing Acadia’s Birds by Richard Wayne MacDonald, and after just a few pages in, it already had me thinking. For birders, a Big Year means trying to identify as many bird species as possible within a single year and in a specific geographic area, like all of North America. It takes a lot of planning and travel, just watch The Big Year and you’ll get the idea. It’s a heartwarming comedy about birdwatching starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson. I highly recommend it. The birding community runs on the honor system, which, unsurprisingly, leads to a lot of drama and internet suspicion around record-breaking Big Year lists.
I’m nowhere near ready to attempt one myself and the constant travel and quick stops just to check things off a list turns me away from the whole idea. I prefer to slow down and soak things in rather than rush to the finish line. But he suggests something different, a Little Big Year, where he confines the geographic area to an even smaller zone, and just focuses on setting personal goals and learning through the process. I think I’ll enjoy reading about his year-long journey.
Olympic National Park
Our original plan was to visit the Hoh Rainforest, but the only access road collapsed into the river after heavy rains. Instead, we hiked the Spruce Railroad Trail for a beautiful view of Lake Crescent and followed that with the Sol Duc Falls Trail to experience the northwest rainforest. The moment we entered the National Park, a steady drizzle began and never really stopped.
Lake Crescent
Mt. Rainier National Park
With our Jeep equipped with snow tires and chains in the trunk, I mentally prepared myself to drive in snow for the first time. But when we reached Mount Rainier, the roads were perfectly plowed, even though the snowbanks around us towered ten feet high.
It was so peaceful and stunning up there, I definitely want to come back and spend more time exploring both National Parks. You could easily spend over a week at each one and still not see everything. This trip felt like a great scouting mission for future adventures.
Portland
Columbia River Gorge
Saw a bunch of waterfalls and hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls! Also stopped by a couple flower farms.
On our drive down from Portland, we pulled over at a scenic stop to catch the sunset. As we were laughing about old memories, I suddenly heard the unmistakable call of a Bald Eagle overhead. I grabbed my friends and said, “There’s a Bald Eagle somewhere.” Everyone got excited and we started scanning the sky. As it continued to call out, I pointed to the treetops behind us. There it was, perched and watching the sunset with us. We all screamed and jumped up and down, none of us had ever seen one in the wild before! My friend pointed out that there was another one beside it and we got even more excited!! Two Bald Eagles! We stared in awe and my friend whispered, “Is this what birdwatching feels like?” Yes. Yes it is!
Redwood National Park
“If I hear the word hike one more time I am going to crash out” - my friend
San Francisco
After 35 hours of driving, we finally made it to San Francisco, the final stop on our road trip! While I waited for my flight back home, we stopped by the beach and got a Snowy Plover and visited a Snowy Plover nesting site! Didn’t see any though.
Another trip in the books! Now it’s time to start planning up something even bigger for our tenth year.
One conversation from the trip really stuck with me. We were talking about dreams and future plans, and one of them said that unless you start taking real steps toward your dream, you don’t get to look back and wonder what might’ve been.
She had been thinking about moving to Seattle. Not permanently, just for a short chapter in life while she can feel free and do something new. But she was hesitant as there were other things in her life holding her back. That’s when my friend gently pointed out that thinking about it is fine, but unless she actually applies for jobs and housing and all that, she doesn’t get to talk about missed chances later. Because she never gave herself a real chance in the first place.
That made me think about my dream. It’s a silly dream where I want to go on multi-day horseback treks, camping in the wild, birdwatching by day, painting and sketching everything I see. Sounds like a scene right out of RDR2, right? I already birdwatch, and I like to paint, but I don’t know much about camping. And I’ve never owned a horse. I go on trail rides here and there, but that’s nothing like riding independently out in the backcountry. But if I want to make this a reality, I need to start making plans to get myself out there and start learning. My friend goes camping and backpacking so I can join her adventures and learn from her. But horses? I might have 4 years of experience with grooming, tacking, and leading horses but I don’t have the proper horsemanship skills for riding. And I don’t know anyone personally that owns horses to show me the ropes. I need to change that. I’m going to start laying the groundwork, step by step, because if I don’t then I’ll never get to look back and say I tried.
