The first stop for the HMS Beagle on the voyage north from Los Angeles was the inland town of El Paso de Robles (The Pass of the Oaks), commonly known as Paso Robles. The Beagle anchored at the Wine Country RV Park, the very name of which will give the reader a pretty good idea of the primary characteristic of the type of agriculture carried on in the Paso Robles area.
However, even before logging our account of Paso Robles, the Ship’s Blog should record that the route taken by the Beagle to reach this area was spectacular. Travelling north from Los Angeles, the Beagle climbed up over the coastal mountains to what seemed an extraordinary height (given our mode of transportation) and then descended into the southern end of California’s Central Valley. The CV is not what one would ordinarily think of as a valley. Indeed it is better described as a basin, because geologically it was a vast inland sea between the Sierra Nevada and the Coastal Range, which was filled over millennia with the eroded detritus of the volcanic mountain ranges on either side. It is immensely wide (40 to 60 miles) and long (450 miles from north-northwest to south-southeast) and is more or less parallel to the Pacific coast, and entirely flat, providing endless vistas of fields of market garden crops, undistinguished by fencing or farm infrastructure – it appears to be (but obviously is not) just one big farming operation. Passing through it, the Captain remarked that it is something like the Grand Canyon of agricultural areas: you’ve seen pictures of it, but unless you are right there, looking at it with your own eyes, its vastness and otherworldliness is almost impossible to describe. The Central Valley covers approximately 22,500 square miles (58,000 km2), about 13.7% of California’s total land area. Bounded by the Sierra Nevada to the east and the Coastal Ranges to the west, it is California’s (and America’s) single most productive agricultural region and one of the most productive in the world, producing more than half of the fruits, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States. More than 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of the valley are irrigated via an extensive system of reservoirs and canals, and many indications of the State’s water conservation efforts (and criticisms of water consumption) in the light of recent droughts are evident. The valley as a whole is also home to several major cities, including the state capital Sacramento as well as Redding, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield. But really, the fewer concentrations of people the better – all we want to do is farm every last square foot of the basin.
On this leg of the voyage, the crew of the Beagle saw only what amounted to a small portion of the southern end of the Central Valley before turning west again into the coastal mountains and Paso Robles. At this end of the valley, while the crew did see boundless vistas of crops and orchards (and huge Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) raising what must truly be the most unhappy cows on earth) these were mixed in with patches of some of the most arid desert spaces one can imagine. Mr Darwin, the ship’s naturalist, inquired as to the relative cost/benefit in environmental terms of this oasis of agriculture in the arid southern end of the valley. The rest of the crew, and no amount of Google searching, could offer a plausible answer to this query.
After arriving in Paso Robles and mooring at the Wine Country RV Park, the crew’s first expedition was to the heart of the town to sample the comestibles on offer from the local victualers. The town is not large but is very neat, well preserved, and has a small walkable downtown. We were told that the town had been seriously damaged by an earthquake a few years before but it was obvious that a number of the buildings were restored after the quake. The crew was heartily welcomed at Robert’s Bistro and had a lovely meal al fresco, with, seriously, the best braised pork belly the Captain had ever tasted. The day was beautiful with glorious sunshine and warm temperatures. Did the Captain mention the delicious braised pork belly she had at Robert’s Bistro?
This foray to the town whetted the crew’s appetite for a visit to the various wineries in the area. One can truly say that Paso Robles is Wine Country. There are countless wineries, big and small scattered throughout the area but with one distinguishing characteristic as among them. The country to the east of the town is lovely with gently rolling hills and some relatively flat spaces, while the country immediately to the west of town is in the foot hills of the coastal range and is spectacular in its views of hillside vineyards and olive groves that remind one of Tuscany.
The crew of the Beagle visited both sides of town to sample the wines and enjoy the scenery. On the east side the J. Lohr and Eberle wineries were of note. The crew also visited Broken Earth and could walk to the EOS winery from the Beagle’s moorings. Mr. Darwin was welcome at all of these stops.
On the west side the crew first visited the Pasolivo farm for a tasting of some of the finest olive oil from olives grown and pressed there. It was like tasting wine, with different vintages offering different flavours and subtleties. The crew then moved to other wineries, including Whale Bone, named after the fossilized whale bone found when preparing the soil to plant vines, where Mr. Darwin had a close encounter with a winery cat (ouch); Tablas, a winery with a sister winery in the Rhone Valley in the south of France and offering wines of that style; and Halter Ranch which had perhaps the most spectacular views of their vineyards and the area in general.
The following day the crew took a trip up over the coastal range and down to the sea in the area of San Simeon. The climb over the mountains was especially beautiful as it encompassed both the natural beauty of the area and the low profile ranching operations that took advantage of the pasture lands provided by this landscape – small herds of cows and cattle could be seen in the distance, wandering the mountains with equanimity, with only very modest ranching infrastructure in evidence. When the crew finally reached a vantage point from which it could see the Pacific Ocean from the heights of the pass, the view was breathtaking. San Simeon (or perhaps we should say the greater San Simeon area) is perhaps best known as the location of the Hearst Castle. The castle itself is a fair distance from the town and is located atop a high peak in the area. The Captain reminded the crew that the Orson Wells film ‘Citizen Kane’ is based on the life of William Randolph Hearst who built this castle in what was then (and frankly still is) a remote area of California – a remote 240,000 acres to be exact. Now a state historical monument, the castle policy forbade the entrance of canines not only into the castle (perhaps to be expected) but anywhere near the upper grounds as well. Thus, the Captain directed the crew to the area of the property known as the Hearst Ranch close to the sea. The public portion of the Hearst Ranch is now mostly a beach and pier area, with picnic grounds as well.
The crew had a lovely picnic lunch proved by the Captain and then went down to the beach to enjoy the surf and sand that is so typical of this part of the California coast. Mr. Darwin was able to enjoy the beach, sans leash, for a while and observe and chase after the sea birds.
Conveniently, the Ship’s Blog has recorded some of the sights of the Paso Robles area in video format below.