Hiking around Monterey

After I returned from Taiwan I got the chance to visit my friend Lord Hayden in Monterey. He's been living on the California coast for over a year now telling me how great the hiking and biking is, so it was high time for a trek out there.

Here's a shot behind the lab Hayden works at, located right on the ocean. They pump seawater up through metal pipes to the sea critters in the lab. Apparently you can go snorkeling on your lunch breaks.

If you hike about a mile inland you can cruise around valleys of giant redwoods:

Climbing out of the valleys and up into the hills was pretty painful on my winter-atrophied legs, but once we hit the top the view was real nice: