The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolá expedition, camped on the coast near Ragged Point in present-day San Luis Obispo 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.