Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

It's been a while since I've posted anything.  I kind of went through this last year in spring, as well.  Winter is the best time of year in Northern California for getting outside.  There's snow in the mountains, birds fill the wildlife refuges and the ocean and skies are full of drama.  In spring the clouds go away, the birds go away and while the tourists never go away they are out in bigger numbers.  With all that, I lose my drive to get out.  My wife basically shoved me out the door on Saturday.  "Stop moping and go do somethng," she said, or at least something along those lines.

Whalers' Cove -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

It was a hot weekend, so I headed down to Carmel where I figured it would be cooler.  It wasn't just cool, it was downright cold.  Well, for June, anyway.  I went to Point Lobos which was a lot less crowded than normal.  It's never super crowded like Yosemite Valley or anything, but sometimes parking can be a hassle.  That wasn't the case on Saturday.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

I took less than 150 photos.  That's not a lot for me.  I was pretty happy with a few of them, though.  Hopefully this was the start of me getting back into the groove again.  We'll see.

The Old Veteran -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Headland Cove, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Half Moon Bay to Point Lobos

It was a wonderfully rainy day yesterday.  It was the kind of rainy day that left a person mostly dry but kept everything in sight wet.  Not always soaked, mind you, things were sometimes in a state of drying out but had obviously been very wet only an hour or two ago.  It was the kind of day the Oregon coast does often and well.  We get these types of days less frequently in California, but our coast knows how to put its own spin on just such a day.

Half Moon Bay, CA

My first stop on the day's route was at Half Moon Bay.  No special reason other than that's where Highway 92 ends.  When we lived on the Peninsula this was our beach town.  It has a couple of nice golf courses and a few nice views and a large surf break known as Mavericks.  Throw in a couple of surf shops and chowder houses and I'm not sure there's much more to this nice little town.  Pumpkins and Christmas trees, I guess.

San Gregorio State Beach, CA

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk

My plan was to drive South down to Point Lobos.  Unlike some drives, making it to my destination was kind of important to me this time.  I haven't been there in a while because it's not at all dog friendly and most of my recent coast trips have been with Pongo.  I specifically left him behind so I could go to Point Lobos, so although it actually wasn't at all important whether or not I reached my destination it felt important to me if for no other reason than Pongo's sacrifice should not go in vain.

Pescadero State Beach, CA

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Brant

It's hard to drive by Moss Landing without stopping for a few pictures of the otters.  I wasn't sure how the photos would turn with no sun peeking through the clouds.  My big lens needs a lot of light.  I got a few shots that weren't too bad.  I also saw a couple of brants.  They aren't rare birds, I guess, but they are rare for me to see.

Gull and Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Headland Cove, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

By the time I got to Point Lobos the sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds.  It was off and on, but when it was on it was pretty spectacular.  Not much else to say.

Allen Memorial Grove, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

South Point, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

South Point, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Headland Cove, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Salinas National Wildlife Refuge & Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

March 15, 2015

Soundtrack:

• Led Zeppelin -- Led Zeppelin IV
• Pearl Jam -- Yield

It was a busy week at work that rolled into the weekend, but on Sunday I was able to take off for the afternoon and headed down South to take a few photos at Salinas National Wildlife Refuge and Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.  It was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Salinas National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I didn't have a lot of time to spend at the Salinas refuge.  It was a spur of the moment stop.  I hiked around a trails that loops through the hunting area.  It's off season and relatively quiet.  If you want to get away from crowds this is a nice place to go.  I saw one other person the entire time.  I also saw a river otter, but he disappeared in the river before I could take a photo.

Salinas National Wildlife Refuge, CA

It's a pretty area.  I'll have to go back when I have time to explore the place more.  There's no auto tour or anything here, you've pretty much got to hoof it everywhere.

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

As usual, Point Lobos held nothing back.  It was a beautiful day and the animals were putting on some entertaining shows.

Anna's Hummingbird --  Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

 Headland Cove, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

The sea lion population was down.  They weren't out on the islands, either, they were right on the beach and rocks of Sea Lion Cove.  I'm not sure why they decided to move to the mainland, but it meant the trail down to the cove was closed.  That's OK, it keeps people from harassing them and sadly they need the protection.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

The gray whales are migrating up the coast.  I saw a lot of them offshore.  I need to go on a whale watching tour.  That has to be a lot of fun.  I've only been out on the ocean in a boat once and boy did I get sick.  I'll have to prepare better for the next trip.

Gray Whale -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Gibson Beach, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

September 7, 2014

In better light that picture above would be extraordinary, wouldn't it?  If I was a serious photographer, I'd stake that site out to get that particular shot in the right light.  I might back up a little to try to get more of the dead cypress trees into the shot.  Then again, I like the way the rocks are set up in this shot,  I might just keep it as is.

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

I spent the day at Point Lobos.  Love that place.  Great views.  Great wildlife.  Great trees.  It's one of the world's beautiful places.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Harbor Seal

Challenging light was the theme of the day.  Bright sunlight.  Dark clouds.  Shady trees.  You name it, I was probably dealing with it.  After battling the redwoods last week I was hoping to get off with an easy day.  No such luck.  Still, no complaints.  I don't think a rough day can be had at Point Lobos.  There's always some kind of magic in the air there.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer

A bumped into a young buck in the cypress grove.  He was a little nervous of me at first and remained a little wary throughout our encounter, but he ended up moving closer to me and crossing the trail only a few feet in front of me.  I didn't move one way or another.  I would never approach a wild animal, mind you, but I'm never quite sure what to do when they approach me.

Colombian Black-tailed Deer -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

The Old Veteran -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

I usually stop to get some pictures of the Old Veteran tree.  It's so much cooler than the more famous Lone Cypress on Seventeen Mile Drive.  Still, it's just a tree, and not even approachable.  It sits on the side of a cliff and there two spots about ten feet apart and two people wide on the opposite side of the cove that have clear views of the tree.  That's it.  Pictures are either taken from the left spot or the right spot.  On this particular day, clouds had obscured the sun by the time I reached the old tree, which you can kind of tell from the pictures.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Brown Pelican

After for struggling with the light for a few hours at Point Lobos, I decided to change up the venue with the last hour or so of sunlight available.  I drove to Pacific Grove to catch the sunset on the beach there.  The situation was a lot better.  Almost immediately after getting out of the car I saw a whale (a humpback I think) just off shore.  I also saw sea otters and a couple of flocks of brown pelicans.  I watched the sun set then drove home, listening to the Giants game on the way.  Not a bad day at all.

Pacific Grove, CA

Pacific Grove, CA

Pacific Grove, CA