Yesterday, I had some business out at Monterey, on the California coast. It's a three hour drive from the home ranch, but all three kids were on spring break, so since actual work time (as opposed to drive time) was short, I loaded everyone in the car and we motored on out. We ended up with the entire afternoon free, so after lunch in Monterey at an English style pub, we drove south on the famous Highway 1, past Carmel, to Point Lobos State Reserve.
Here, there exist one of only two naturally occurring groves of Monterey Cypress in the world, picturesquely perched on a rocky headland.
From the Reserve's webpage:
At Point Lobos, the Monterey cypress makes a last stand. Botanists believe that during Pleistocene times, some half-million years ago, when the climate was wetter and cooler than it is now, huge forests of cypress grew along the coast—indeed, throughout North America. When the world’s climate warmed, the cypress retreated to a few damp spots. Nowadays, the grove at Point Lobos and another across Carmel Bay at Cypress Point are the only two native stands in existence.
The Monterey cypress, with the help of humans, can cross hot and dry regions and become established in cool areas elsewhere. In fact, this rare conifer is easily grown from seed and has been successfully distributed all over the world, so it’s puzzling why the trees’ natural range is so restricted.
This time of year, the Grey Whales are migrating down from Alaska to their breeding grounds in Baja California, and they hug the shore to avoid pods of hungry Killer Whales. They can easily be spotted by the observant hiker by watching for their spouts, and in fact we saw at least two on our walk. Both were very close, just off the point where the swells start to break on the rocks. The Killer Whales must indeed be a threat to push them in so close.
From the Reserve's webpage:
At Point Lobos, the Monterey cypress makes a last stand. Botanists believe that during Pleistocene times, some half-million years ago, when the climate was wetter and cooler than it is now, huge forests of cypress grew along the coast—indeed, throughout North America. When the world’s climate warmed, the cypress retreated to a few damp spots. Nowadays, the grove at Point Lobos and another across Carmel Bay at Cypress Point are the only two native stands in existence.
The Monterey cypress, with the help of humans, can cross hot and dry regions and become established in cool areas elsewhere. In fact, this rare conifer is easily grown from seed and has been successfully distributed all over the world, so it’s puzzling why the trees’ natural range is so restricted.
This time of year, the Grey Whales are migrating down from Alaska to their breeding grounds in Baja California, and they hug the shore to avoid pods of hungry Killer Whales. They can easily be spotted by the observant hiker by watching for their spouts, and in fact we saw at least two on our walk. Both were very close, just off the point where the swells start to break on the rocks. The Killer Whales must indeed be a threat to push them in so close.
From here, the next stop is Japan.
The kids saw this little harbor seal, and named it Ernie. In a week I'd bet they could have Ernie eating fish out of their hand.
The crew in a formal shot. I'll likely see this one on their Facebook pages soon.
Beautiful shot of your kids. Looking at the coast reminds me of my fondness for fishing off the rocks in California and Oregon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brock. I wish I had time for some rock fishing. If I lived on the coast I'd be doing it all the time.
DeleteGreat pic of your children. The Cowman and I used to occasionally take the long way back to Cal Poly on highway 1, always beautiful, always an adventure.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brighid, it was a great drive, and extra fun to hang with the kids. Soon they'll all be off doing their own thing, so I gotta take advantage now while they are still available to me.
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