Tag Archives: Coast

Devils Slide Exits the Fog

When my mum was visiting, I thought it would be a good idea to take her to Devil’s Slide to walk along the coastal trail. We drove out there and, coming across the bay we went into some pretty thick fog. I was tempted to bail on the plan at that point but we decided to keep going and see how things were. Even as we were on Highway 1, it was still foggy. It really didn’t look like a good idea at all. The best bet for turning around was at the parking for the trail so we went there anyway. It still looked bad but we got out and decided to take a look. The sun felt like it was trying to poke through the overcast so we took a chance.

Turns out we were lucky. As we walked along the trail, the sun was burning through and the view was opening up beneath us. There was still a lot of cloud around but it seemed to be receding from us as we walked. Equally importantly, the conditions meant there was little wind unlike my previous visit when I felt like I could get blown off my feet at some times.

We walked most of the trail and then headed back. It was a great time to be up there and the waves crashing below us looked great. The whole time, I was only shooting with my phone. I hadn’t anticipated the walk working out so I had left the main camera in the car while we checked things out. Instead, we kept going. I was shooting in RAW for the first time on the phone and that will get a post of its own in due course. It turned out our timing was really good. Once we were back and driving up the coast, the cloud started to drift back in again. I think we got rather lucky.

Cabrillo National Monument

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I have been to San Diego a few times but one area I had never explored before was Cabrillo National Monument. Head out through Point Loma to the end of the peninsula and you enter the national park area. It was getting towards the end of the day when we got there so the visit was a little truncated. First we went to the tide pools. The signs said they would be closing first, hence the decision.

Of course, why would the tide pools be closing first? Because the tide was coming in. By the time we got there, the water was already starting to get close to coming over the rocks. Nevertheless, there was still a chance to have a quick wander around by the water. What was probably nicer was the view along the shore. The trails along the cliff tops provided great views of the ocean and the coast off into the distance. If we had been there earlier in the day and had more time, this would have definitely been a place to explore further.

We then headed back up to the top of the ridge and the visitor center. Here is the statue of Cabrillo himself as well as a great view across the whole of San Diego. With Coronado Island in the foreground including NAS North Island and the Hotel Del Coronado and then San Diego’s city center rising behind it, the whole bay area looked great in the gradually lowering evening light. Of course, the late arrival did mean that we were coming up on closing time so it wasn’t long before they announced it was time to go.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

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After my visit to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo, I was heading back up the coast towards Half Moon Bay. I was in a bit of a hurry as I needed to get back, get ready and check out with Nancy who had been having a slightly more leisurely start to the day. I had driven south in the dark so hadn’t really been too aware of what I was passing. However, the run back up showed the scenery in the lovely morning light. This included Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

I saw it from a distance as I drove north and thought how good it looked. However, with time ticking, I figured I would not have time to turn around and go back to find a good point off the road. Then, ahead of me appeared a pull off that was perfect. I parked the car, got a couple of shots that were okay, then decided a quick run down towards the cliff would not take more than a couple of minutes. The location was definitely better. The lighthouse looked a lot nicer than last time I had seen it when the weather had been a lot duller.

Shoreline on the Pacific Coast Highway

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Having started out our day at Santa Cruz, we thought a run up the coast to Half Moon Bay would be a good idea. The low winter sun angle makes everything look nice and heading north up the coast means the sun is pretty much behind you most of the way. There are a string of beaches scattered along the coast along with the cliffs and lighthouses for the more treacherous parts. If you were on a purely photographic venture, you could lose a lot of time along this stretch.

This wasn’t a photo trip – just a nice day out. Of course, that doesn’t mean no photos – just not taking too many pictures. Here are a few samples of what was there to be seen that day.

Bodega Bay

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Our run down the coast brought us to Bodega Bay. Neither of us had been there before but we had heard it was pretty and also knew about its appearances in The Birds! No attacking avians on this day but we initially passed straight through the town without being terribly impressed. However, we had seen a turning off towards Bodega Bay head so a backtrack took us along a different road around the bay. We were also hungry at this point!

Fortunately, we soon came to an area where the fishing boats tied up and there were two places selling crab sandwiches. One was a small hut which only had a couple of items on the menu and the other was a bigger looking place with a wider menu but a lot less people. We figured the simple option of doing one thing and doing it well might be the case in the hut and went for their crab sandwiches. They were excellent. No wonder the place had a line outside it.

Suitably reinvigorated, we headed up to the headland. Here you had a view back to the bay but a more interesting view of the cliffs and the shoreline. A stroll up the cliff path was in order (that crab sandwich needed to be burned off) and the appeal of more crashing waves on rocks was too much for us to resist. The sun was shining and the wind was not too strong so it was a really nice place to be and, while we weren’t alone in thinking this, with so much space, it never felt like you were in a busy place. What a great end to the trip.

Pacific Coast Highway

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Returning from Mendocino County provided the option of driving along the coast heading south. The Pacific Coast Highway is a great choice if you have time on your hands and we did have. Therefore, we headed this way. The run down the coast is a combination of great views, long runs along the cliffs and the occasional area of twisting road around the inlets that occasionally cut into the shoreline. When the road is quiet it is a lot of fun. If you get stuck behind a bunch of RVs, it suddenly is a little less enjoyable.

We stopped a number of times en route to enjoy the view. One diversion out towards a lighthouse provided a lovely overlook of the shore including a bay below us that was full of sea lions. Despite the crashing waves, this area apparently provided a bit of shelter and the sea lions were seemingly taking it easy behind the protection of some rocky ledges.

There are lots of areas with large rocks slightly offshore. This reminded me a lot of the coast of Oregon (which, since we weren’t that far south, is probably not that surprising). Heading south we were looking into the sun so had some lovely reflections of the light off the water. Occasionally the edge of the road was very close to the top of the cliffs so you do have to stay focused as you drive along but it is a beautiful area on a sunny day. I imagine if a storm is rolling in from the ocean, it is also dramatic but a little less welcoming.

Point Cabrillo Lighthouse

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A lighthouse usually attracts the attention of tourists. I’m not sure what it is about them that fascinates people so much but it works. Point Cabrillo has a beautifully restored lighthouse that we took a look at. It is about half a mile from the parking lot to the lighthouse but this didn’t seem to deter too many people. The walk down was a long straight road so you could see where you were going the entire time. With a sunny day and a gentle breeze off the ocean, it couldn’t have been nicer.

The lighthouse was shut down and replaced by a marker beacon many years ago but a group got together and restored the building and reactivated the light. It is now an official navigation marker again. The next step is the restoration of the surrounding buildings. This is still in progress but you can rent out the old lighthouse master’s house if you wish. A lovely spot and a nice looking house. Might be a bit creepy at night though.

Amazingly enough, I did manage to get a few times with nobody near the lighthouse to grab a shot sans tourists. A lucky break but one I was grateful for. The rocky coastline is a very attractive place on a nice day but it doesn’t take too much imagination to see why a lighthouse would have been needed. Some of the exhibits in the building itself amply demonstrated this. The light bulb itself was surprisingly small. For those camera people amongst you, the optics these guys use are pretty impressive.

Whales

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A short distance along the coast from our beach overlook we came to a lighthouse. This seemed like a popular part of the shoreline on a Sunday, even though the weather wasn’t great. I imagine on a sunny day, it is full of people along here. We strolled along the shore and out towards the point on which the lighthouse was built. The sea was looking very calm and out a distance we could see a number of kayakers in a loose group. Initially we had no idea what they were up to and assumed it was just a nice place to be. Then we saw something we had not expected.

A plume of spray followed closely by another signaled the presence of some whales. They were not far offshore and were coming in our general direction. I don’t know how to recognize whales unless they are of a few distinct types but I know that they get grey whales along here so I am going to guess that this is what they were.

They made pretty good progress along the coast and the kayakers were following at a discrete distance. I suspect for some that had been waiting ahead of the route, they got a pretty good view as the whales came through. We tracked them for a while. The problem with taking pictures of whales is that you don’t immediately know where they are. The clear their blowholes and you get a nice plume but that is often the first sign and it is dissipating by the time you get the camera on it. However, the shots are secondary in this compared to being there to see it.

Sunset

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Sitting on the deck of our room in Albion provided a beautiful view across the Pacific as the sun was setting. As is usual with sunsets, you never knew exactly what you were going to get. One night it all looked quite promising but the cloud cover low on the horizon meant it all went dull rather than getting dramatic. On another evening, though, we had some high level clouds that started picking up the low evening light very nicely resulting in some great skies.

One evening the sun set in front of us with nothing much to obscure our view. While I was happy to be sitting on the deck watching it go down, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to grab some shots of it. A long lens meant some bigger views of it as the atmosphere distorted the view of its last gasps of west coast light. After that, someone else was getting the benefits.

The strange shapes the atmospheric distortion produces were really interesting to watch. The roundness was replaced by all sorts of shapes including one that looked more like a Mayan pyramid. It changed so often that I had to keep shooting. Only as it was almost done did I realize that I really should have been videoing this as well to show just how quickly it retreated below the horizon and how much it changed apparent shape while doing do. (As an aside, I do know that the refraction of the atmosphere means that I am seeing an image of the sun on the horizon when it has actually already fallen below the true sightlines.)

Having missed this video opportunity, I shall have to be ready to try that out in future. Meanwhile, I shall continue to enjoy the memory of the speed and rapid changes that the sun went through in the last moments of the day.

Mendocino

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A weekend away after a bunch of home moving activities seemed like a great idea. We had an invitation away for the Thanksgiving weekend which we would have liked to have taken but the travel involved meant it was not going to be a practical proposition. Instead, we decided to drive a couple of hours north to Mendocino and have a short break there as compensation for the missed trip to friends.

This turned out to be a great idea. We chose a weekend when the weather was gorgeous and the number of people was limited. What a combination! While we were staying in Albion, a little way south of Mendocino itself, we decided to head there on the day we arrived and take a look around. It is a cracking little town. It is a combination destination with people who are getting away from the hustle of life being there as well as city folks doing the same thing if only for a day or two.

There are lots of little shops to deal with the tourists and the place is very picturesque. It is planted right on the coast and you can walk out onto the headland to see the waves crashing in while looking back at the town on the cliffs behind you. Seeing as it was later in the day and the sun was low given the time of year, it all looked even better!

One feature of the town I particularly liked was the use of water towers. You could see the evolution of the towers around the town. Some of them were as designed with a timber framework holding up the water barrel. Others had decided to enclose the tower structure to provide some additional room space under the barrel. Then there were those that had gone the whole hog and got rid of the barrel and converted the tower into part of the home. The distinctive shape was still there which is what gives it all away.

Other little details of the place appealed. The weathervane on the fire house was rather cool. If you like chocolate, you would have several places to visit to sample their wares – something that made Nancy a lot happier than me! All in all, a great place to wander around and relax in.