Day 11 – January 21 – Carlsbad, CA – Day 6

We left the condo at 11 to allow housekeeping to come in and do their thing.  We drove over to Hosp Grove Park where, I had read, you could wander around on the many trails and have a panoramic view from the top of the hill.

When we parked the truck in the parking lot we saw a sign pointing the way to the Buena Vista Lagoon Ecological Reserve and decided to cross the road and take a look.  We wandered up and down the only pathway we could find and realized the entire small wetland was fenced to protect the birds and plants from humans.  Fair enough.

We wanted to check for some geo-caches while we were at Hosp Grove but for some reason neither of our phones would load them.  Oh well, another day I guess. We walked along several trails and never did find one leading to a place with  a nice view; there were always tall eucalyptus trees in the way.

On the way back to the truck I saw a brochure for the park lying on the ground.  Turns out there are two sections to Hosp Grove Park.  I don’t know if the view was visible from the other part or not. We may come back and explore again.

The smog from LA rolled in while we were at Hosp Grove so the stop to watch the surfers and the beachcombers on the way back to the condo was also delayed until another a day.

Hosp Grove Park, by the way, was the first park in Carlsbad to have its trails created by volunteers.  The grove was created in 1908 by a nurseryman named F. P. Hosp who, along with some investors, planned to plant 219 acres of  eucalyptus trees to harvest for railway ties for the every-expanding-westward railways.  After they had planted 40,000 trees they learned that the wood of the eucalyptus – a fast growing, drought-tolerant tree – was not suitable for railway ties. Oops.

Over the years portions of the original acreage were sold for residential development.  In 1986 the City of Carlsbad purchased the remaining 53 acres for the city park and trail system.

Thus concludeth our excursion for the day.