Point Lobos State Nature Reserve

August 18, 2013

Soundtrack:

• The National -- Trouble Will Find Me
• Ryan Adams & the Cardinals -- Easy Tiger

When my parents came down for a weekend in March, I took them to my two favorite weekend adventure spots.  On Sunday we went to Yosemite Valley.  They had never been there before.  On Saturday we went to Point Lobos.  They'd never been there before, either.  I'd put these two small plots of land up against any as the finest examples of natural beauty this country has to offer.  For me, these are two spots that guarantee to restore a peacefulness to my soul.

Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos State Nature Reserve, CA

I hadn't been back to Point Lobos since taking my parents there in March.  I got a bit of a late start and didn't actually get to the reserve until 4:30.  I had been planning on hiking the entire loop around the reserve, but there was no way that was going to happen given my late arrival, so I just did what I normally do and drove to a few spots and walked around a bit at each spot.

Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos State Nature Reserve, CA

There was a huge fog bank rolling in on Sunday.  If you've never seen one, these things can be dramatic from outside the bank.  A huge wall of fog will come in from the ocean.  It might be a hundred feet high and will span the entire horizon looking out the the ocean as far as you can see to the North and to the South.  It's an amazing sight from outside.  Once the fog overtakes you, though, well, it's just fog. 

Coal Chute Cove, Point Lobos State Nature Reserve, CA

I started out at Whaler's Cove.  I've never actually walked around the cove.  It's a shorter walk than it appears to be from the parking lot.  Well worth it, too.  From the parking lot, the first thing encountered is the Whaler's Cove Museum.  There are  a bunch of whale bones outside the museum that I'd never noticed before.  That's what I get for just driving by, I guess.  I saw a number of seals as well as a great blue heron eating fish from a log floating in the cove.

Harbor Seal -- Moss Cove, Point Lobos State Nature Reserve, CA

Moss Cove and Coal Chute Cove are located to the East of Whaler's Cove, which is where the trail around Whaler's Cove leads.  It's easy to get right down to the water in either of those smaller inlets.  I didn't bother.  There were a couple of families with kids I kind of wanted to avoid.  I know, I know, I'm a crotchety old man.  So be it.

Weston Beach, Point Lobos State Nature Reserve, CA

After walking back to my car, I drove out to Weston Beach.  Sometimes that can be a good spot to see sea otters.  There weren't any inside the little cove there, though.  I saw one just outside the inlet.  It was the only otter I saw all day.  I drove to the Southern tip of the reserve after that to the aptly named Bird Island.

Bird Island, Point Lobos State Nature Reserve, CA

Cormorants.  Gulls.  Pelicans.  Herons.  You name it, it's probably out there if it's a bird that likes being around water.  Cormorants seem to rule the island, though.  I'm sure they numbered in the thousands out there on Sunday.  I overstayed my welcome.  Walking back to my car, a ranger met me and told me I was the last person in the park.  They close the place at 7:30.  Oops.  He was really nice, though.  He wasn't mean or anything, said he enjoyed the short walk out to find me.  We had a nice conversation on the way back.  I think park rangers probably have the best jobs in the world.  They all seem so nice.  I haven't met a cranky one yet.