Adventure 008, Hike 084 - Guiton Loop Trail

Capture California, the Game-2012

Adventure: 008, Hike 084 – Guiton Loop Trail

Team: Thing One, Thing Two

Date:  September 5, 2012

Location: Oceano

Hike Info:

Trail: Guiton Loop Trail

Distance: 1.4 miles

Duration: 1:04

Elevation Rise: 75' – suspect because this trail as as level as can be.

Description:

This will be the first of our four hikes of today. 

The four are: Guiton Loop Trail, Butterfly Grove-California Coastal Trail, Bob Jones City to the Sea Trail, and the Pirate Cove/Cave Landing Trail.

Guiton Loop Trail. We came for this trail based upon Robert Stone's book Day Hikes on the California Central Coast. This is a book we have used for years and has given us a lot of good , enjoyable hikes which can be done in a couple of hours. In this case, Stone did not disappoint, even though when we got there, we were wondering.

The trail is in the Oceano campground portion of the Pismo Beach State Park. That is where our issues started. Our state park annual pass had just expired a few days before and we were interested in obtaining a new one. The ranger said they did not sell them here because it is a campground only. The guide book mentioned we were to park in a certain lot, but when asked, just park on the street. But that was the end of our disappointments in this trail.

The trail which is named after Harold Guiton surpassed expectations. Harold Guiton was an early concerned citizen who ended up ownign the land around Oceano Lagoon. During the 1920's there was big plans to build a sub-division in this area. The lagoon was deepened for the dirt to fill in around the houses. But the Great Depression got in the way of those plans. So when Guiton came into possession of this area, he eventually gave the land to the State for what would eventually become the part of Pismo Beach State Park, around the Oceano area.

After parking across the street, we took the loop counter-clockwise. The first thing we noticed is that the interpretive numbers were backwards, but was ok since we did not have the guide—making up our own interpretation is fun, but probably not very informative. While the first stop or two was close to the road and there was some trash, you could tell that this trail was not going to be quick one. The trail was easy—almost level and well trodden, even though in a few places it was muddy. Not, do not walk it without boots after a rain or in moist conditions. I noticed a few times that a mere couple of inches of dirt separated us from the water layer underneath. But it was what is overhead and in the lagoon which is of interest. The canopy over the trail sheltered several types of birds; ducks where swimming in the lagoon, and occasionally we would hear an unidentified plop—which we assume was a frog. There was even a scattering of butterflies. So what would normally take us under half an hour, we took an hour just looking above and around. We even come across a cormorant(?) standing on a herd of turtles in the lagoon. The one disappointment was the Nature Center was not open. We are still wondering what the explanations for the numbered signs was. A couple of people (One, Two) have said this is a good place for bird, duck, geese and even beaver watching.