Pacifica Jaunt

[cyan_blue]

Pacifica has a ready answer to the summer heat... the lovely, rocky, blissful-blue shore. Today my friend Mark came to visit us, and we took him to some of our favorite beaches right here in town.



That's a picture of the right half of Shelter Rock Cove, a hidden patch of beach that's nestled at the base of the southernmost Pacifica ocean cliff. I found a painting of it online here, back in March - it used to be a popular summering spot in the 1930's. The left half of the cove is Pacifica's trademark promontory, visible for miles along the coast.

Here is a more close-up picture of the jetty, with that precise shade of heavenly aqua that makes me sigh happily and relieve about 10 degrees of tension...



And nearby it, a close-up of the rocks on the shore:



The only down side of this trip was our discovery that the public-access cliff path down to the cove had been planted-over - where there used to be a grassy stair, now there is just an impassable hillside of wildflowers:



The wildflowers are pretty, but I really would like access to the cove. I dislike it when the public is barred from enjoying wildlife treasures. The only other ways in are a private road (we tried it; there was a gate barring the way) and a hike (or boat/surfboard ride) around the rocks at the base of the cliff, while keeping a careful eye on the tide levels. We weren't wearing the right shoes for that one today, but someday...

We left the cove area, and emmett_the_sane suggested that we get aqua frescas at Playa de Acapulco. We got some tamarindo flavored ones, which were just the thing. (They were so good that I picked up another one later, near my work). Then we went to the Oceana exit area beach, where we got our feet and legs wet in the icy cold waves:



That one is my favorite - the wave crashing down on the shore, with the light shining through the green to make it all translucent.

And here is my friend Mark, managing to emulate the seagull behind him:



Mark is an old friend - I met him at a computer-circus camp in Connecticut when I was 15. He tried valiantly to teach me C and Pascal, but my mind was more on newsletter editing, primitive Mac graphics, and fire-eating. We also went to the same college. He and his wife Fran are heading back to their home in Wisconsin on Sunday; they were here for a year while she did a writing fellowship at Stanford. We just got the good news that her manuscript on 1920-30's Russian History was accepted by a publisher today. I will miss them - it's weird to think that I have no idea when I will see them again. Wisconsin is not exactly on the beaten path for me. I may have to just make a trip sometime to see the various Midwest friends, but it may be years before that happens.

Anyway, so there is some of Pacifica's finest. It doesn't take a whole lot to bribe us to take you on a tour of our sweet coastal town, so do come on by!

Comments

nice photos

[ossie.livejournal.com]

its a shame Florida doesnt have any hills or cliffs, just flat scenery everywhere I go,

thanks for sharing,

take care
ossie

Re: nice photos

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

I'm also from the East, where terrain heights are a gradual progression. I was so incredulous the first time I saw the California coast... I never knew that mountains could touch shoreline before.

Re: nice photos

[roosterbear.livejournal.com]

That's one of the reasons that I don't think that I'll be on the East Coast for the rest of my life, because I do love mountains, and ocean. And one just doesn't get both together out here, at least that I've seen.

Re: nice photos

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Perhaps in Maine, New Hampshire, or Nova Scotia... the ocean cliffs...

[quillon.livejournal.com]

Its been years since I've been out there...

I might be mistaken, but is that where the ruins of that old bathhouse used to be... I've forgotten the name of it. It was built into the cliffside and from what I read awhile ago, it collapsed or fell into the sea or something..

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Could well be. We weren't able to get down to where the buildings were. There is an URL for a book about it, which gives a bit of the history:

http://www.surfpedropoint.org/shelter-cove.html

[2wanda.livejournal.com]

great pictures. and what a beautiful day it was to go for a beach hike, and take pictures. thanks for sharing them with us.

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[adamchristopher.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the great photos, as always.

You had fire-eating on your mind? Do tell.

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

It was a circus camp, and I was in the fire-eating group. Yum...

[catbear.livejournal.com]

beautiful photos! thanks for posting 'em!