County on September 13, 1769. The expedition was forced to bypass the inaccessible coast and travel inland through the San Antonio Valley. The rough trail required much improvement by the scouts, and it was September 24 before the party emerged from the mountains at the San Antonio River near today's settlement of Jolon. They traveled north through the Salinas Valley before arriving at Monterey Bay, where they founded Monterey and named it their capital. Natural history Climate Like other Pacific Coast Ranges, the mountains' close proximity to the Pacific Ocean cause moisture to be deposited on the west-facing slopes, creating a suitable environment for conifers. This creates a rain shadow over Salinas Valley to the east, which is considerably drier. The higher peaks receive some snowfall during the winter. The climate is classified as dry summer subtropical, or Mediterranean. Rainfall varies from throughout the range. Most of the precipitation falls during the winter on the higher mountains in the north. During the summer, fog and low clouds are frequent along the coast up to an elevation of 2–3,000 feet. Surface runoff from rainfall is rapid, and many streams dry up entirely in the summer, except for some perennial streams in the wetter areas in the north. Flora The western slopes of the range facing the Pacific Ocean are moist with growths of coast redwood, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, Pacific madrone and the local endemic species such as Santa Lucia fir (Abies bracteata) and Gowen cypress (Cupressus goveniana var. goveniana). The east side is drier, with chaparral and open woods of pine (including Coulter pine and gray pine) and oak woodlands of several Quercus species. The range is the southernmost native location of about 225 plant species including the coast redwood trees and the northernmost home for about 90 species. The southernmost naturally occurring grove of redwoods is found within the Big Sur region in the Southern Redwood Botanical Area, a reserve located in the Little Redwood Gulch watershed adjacent to the Silver Peak Wilderness. It is just north of the Salmon Creek trailhead. The southernmost tree is about from Highway 1 at the approximate coordinates About 57 plants are only found in the Santa Lucia Mountains. This range is the only known habitat of the Vortriede's spineflower. Geology The rock of the Santa Lucias is dominated by granitic basement of the Salinian Block, between the San Andreas Fault and Sur-Nacimiento