Monterey Bay

August 13, 2016

Things are looking up.  It's August.  Autumn is just around the corner.  With that comes birds and the rut and colder, more interesting weather.  The summer doldrums are almost over.

Pelagic Red Crab -- Monterey, CA

Pelagic Red Crab

My son and I went on a whale watching tour on Saturday.  He'd never been out on the open ocean.  This was my third excursion.  My first time was salmon fishing with my grandfather and brother out of Newport, OR.  It was a disaster.  My brother and I both got sick.  We weren't all that into fishing, anyway.  I'm sure we were a big disappointment to my grandfather, and it's something I regret to this day.  I'm still not into fishing, but today I love being out on a boat in the ocean.  I've taken been on two whale watching cruises in the last year, both times the tours were almost cancelled because of rough waters.  I wish I could share this with him.  I'm not sure Grandpa would see the point of looking at animals in the ocean he couldn't catch and eat, but I suspect on some level we'd be able to connect.

Common Murre -- Monterey, CA

Before getting to the boat, we spotted a lot of little red crabs swimming and resting under water on the rocks that line the harbor.  I had never seen these before.  We couldn't figure out if they were crabs or prawns or something else altogether.  I looked them up when I got home.  They are called pelagic red crab, but they're actually related to lobsters.  They're not usually found in Monterey because the water is normally too cold.  They're considered a sign of El Niño.

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale

Those are my two favorite whale photos from Saturday.  That's the same whale, the shots were taken a few seconds apart.  I was zoomed in too close on that first one but I like the look of it.  That second one is easily the best whale photo I've ever taken.  The whale raise his/her tail very high and then went straight down with the tail actually falling over backwards in the descent as see in this little picture to the right.

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

Humpback Whale -- Monterey Bay, CA

We had a number of good looks at whales on Saturday.  I didn't get any shots of the first few, I was frankly caught gawking.  These pictures don't convey the majesty these animals hold in their natural settings.  Get out there and see them for yourself

Monterey Bay, CA

 I'll be honest, my twenty-five year old son enjoyed the whales, but it was the sea lions he liked the best.  Millenials.

Pacific Grove, CA

Monterey, CA

Monterey, CA

Monterey, CA

Soundtrack:

• Ryan Adams -- Love Is Hell

Pacific Grove Golf Links

Golf!

Black-tailed Fawns

Saturday Sam and I joined Jim and his father Jim, Sr. for a round at one of out favorite golf courses: Pacific Grove Golf Links.  It's a municipal track on Point Pinos.  I've seen it described as one of the best municipal golf course in the country, and you won't get an argument from me.  Harding Park and the Presidio in San Francisco offer more difficult golf challenges, but Point Pinos is one of the Pacific Coasts most spectacular locations.  What Pacific Grove Golf Links lacks in challenge--from the tips it's a par 70 at 5,732 yards with a rating/slope of 67.9/113--it makes up for in scenic beauty matched only by the Monterey Peninsula's finest course like Pebble Beach and Cypress Point.

Black-tailed Deer --  Pacific Grove Golf Links, CA

You cannot play a round of golf at Pacific Grove without encountering deer.  These are urban deer who are accustomed to being around people.  That makes for some nice opportunities for photographs without even working for them.

Pacific Grove Golf Links, CA

Black-tailed Deer

There's nothing special about the front nine.  The holes are packed tightly into a few block of housing real estate.  I do not like housing development courses, but Pacific Grove isn't that kind of course.  It predates that awful approach to building golf courses.  While the front nine routes through real estate land, few houses actually line the course.  The course borders are often streets rather than back yards.  The back yards that do line the course never seem to come into play.  Well, except for one particular back yard that juts into the course at a hard right angle.  It shouldn't be in play if you're hitting the ball right, but the hole isn't visible for a lot of approach shots on this particular par five so that nasty corner comes into play more than it probably should.

Pacific Grove Golf Links, CA

This course is all about the back nine.  These holes are all out on the point, unprotected from the elements.  The ocean can be seen and the wind elements felt and heard on every fairway.  The holes wind through the dunes which will come into play on wayward shots.  That's the kind of sand you don'tr want to be in.  It is heavy and unforgiving.

Pacific Grove Golf Links, CA

Pacific Grove Golf Links, CA

Pacific Grove Golf Links, CA

The back nine surrounds the Point Pinos Lighthouse on all sides.  It's a cute little lighthouse that makes a nice centerpiece for the dune holes.  How many golf courses have their own functioning lighthouse?  Ha.  I thought of one other: Harbor Town in South Carolina.  Never been there, but that's a course I'd sure like to play.

Pacific Grove Golf Links, CA

Sam and I had planned to go whale watching after the round of golf, but the excursion was cancelled due to high winds and surf.  That was a bummer.  I took Sam to Moss Landing instead to see the raft of sea otters.  Not as dramatic as whales, but still pretty cool.

Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

We saw more brown pelicans than I've ever seen in one place before.  It's hard not to like pelicans.  They look so awkward but sometimes I wonder if they don't take themselves a little less serious than most birds.  We also saw a golden eagle on the other side of 101.  That made for a pretty good day of both golf and animal sightings.

Brown Pelican -- Moss Landing, CA

Brown Pelican -- Moss Landing, CA

Monterey

Plan B

August 15, 2015

August can be a good time for whale watching in California, so that was my plan for Saturday.  I drove down to Monterey to see if I could get onto a late afternoon excursion.  If not, I'd still be able to hang out down there and possibly see some whales from the shore.

Monterey, CA

Fish Jumping

All of the afternoon whale excursions were cancelled on Saturday due to high winds.  I decided I'd drive up around Point Pinos and then maybe head down South.  It was very hot and I thought about going for a swim before heading out, but I thought better of it after thinking how I'd feel in wet shorts for the rest of the afternoon.

Harbor Seal -- Monterey, CA

I'd parked on the pier at Fisherman's Wharf.  A lot of folks were out fishing and they were having a field day hauling in mackerel.  There were a couple of seals below the pier who were acting lively.  I thought they were just having fun with all the good fishing.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.  They had both been hooked by fishing lines.  Pretty sad sight.  I didn't actually know this until I got home and looked at the photos.  It's obvious in the pictures what's happening, but they were moving so much I didn't get a good look at what was going on.  I'm sure the fisherman just consider them pests and were probably annoyed that the seals fouled up their lines.  It's not an uncommon sight to see seals and sea lions with lines or wires stuck around their necks.  I suspect this isn't too uncommon of an injury as well.  It's unfortunate that so many interactions between men and wildlife end with death or injury for the animals, especially senseless stuff like this.

Harbor Seal -- Monterey, CA

A sea lion a little way out from the pier was having a better time of it.  He/she was leaping around, often with a fish in mouth.  The sea lion seemed to be doing as well as the fishermen on the pier.  It was a pretty good day for everyone without a hook in their mouth.

Sea Lion -- Monterey, CA

I headed to Pacific Grove next to see if I could spot any whales or dolphins from the shore.  I wasn't expecting to see anything, but I have been lucky on occasion.

Pacific Grove, CA

I did end up getting lucky with the whales.  I spotted two not too far from shore.

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Point Pinos can usually be counted on for a few good shots.  Between the rocks and the ocean and the lighthouse there's usually something worth shooting.

Point Pinos Lighthouse, Pacific Grove, CA

Point Pinos Lighthouse

These pictures are all a bit hazy.  It was like this all over yesterday, in San Francisco and San Jose and even in Pacific Grove and places South.  The speculation I heard is that it was smoke from wildfires.  Could be, it's definitely not the normal fog for the area.  It looked more like smog, but we don't get a whole lot of smog.  All of the Bay Area's foul air blows into the Central Valley where folks in places like Modesto get to choke on it.  I'm sure it works similarly for the Monterey area.

Garrapata State Park, CA

I decided to drive South and look for good spots for pictures until I ran out of light.  My first stop was Garrapata, where I hiked a short distance out to the edge of the cliffs.

Garrapata State Park, CA

A woman asked me where she could find find a good spot to watch the sunset.  I told her just drive until you find a spot you like, there's something amazing around every turn of this highway.  I don't think I was exaggerating.  Plus, I'm not a big sunset guy, so I'm not really sure what constitutes a good place to watch a sunset.  I've got sunset pictures coming up from this trip, mind you, but I'm opportunistic in that regard.  I enjoy a good sunset if it smacks me in the face.

Rocky Point, CA

I made it as far South as the Rocky Point Restaurant, which is about ten miles South of Carmel.  The views are amazing, and it was a warm night so I decided to have a beer and watch the sunset from their porch.  I guess I could have sent the ladies here, it turned out to be a nice location with comfortable seats facing the ocean.

Rocky Point, CA

That's pretty much it.  I drank my beer, took some pictures and headed home.  Not bad for a Plan B kind of day.

Garrapata State Park, CA