Montana de Oro…”Mountain of Gold”

Just five miles away from where we are staying is a gift that keeps on giving.  Montana de Oro, a California State Park, whose name comes from the golden wildflowers that bloom in spring.  Except for the fleeting time the wildflowers are present, it is a brown and dusty place, due in large part to the drought conditions that plague this part of the country.  As a tourist, everyday is almost a guarantee that your outdoor activities will not be interfered with by rain.  As a local, the water you use is precious and used sparingly...unless you are a farmer and then there seems to be plenty, but that is another story.  

The cliffs here on the coast get a fairly consistent beating from the Pacific Ocean, but the surrounding rock in this park is unique.  I’ve only been here a couple of times in the past, but if I come to visit, I come here.  The cliffs, the pounding waves, the color palette of the rock layers that seem to diagonally heave out of the Earth, and the light that plays off all of the above, makes every visit a first.

Our first visit this trip was with Mimi, whom we are sitting for, as she chauffeured us around the area to give us the lay of the land before she made her exit.  She wet our appetite with Spooner’s Cove, a relatively small rocky beach inlet, with a large-ish rock that protrudes upward from the beach and attracts adventurous climbers to its top with the promise of being anointed with sea spray as your reward.

Looking back into Spooner's Cove from the Bluff Trail.

Our second visit found us unloading our mountain bikes from the back of the truck, to ride the Bluff Trail.  We saw young and old, walkers and joggers, and riders, both horse and cyclists.  It was about 21/2 miles of cliff hugging, camera-clicking vistas.  Each cove different from the last.  Sea lions and sea birds looking in at us as we strained to look out at them.  A view that doesn’t seem to get old. 

Bike helmets...what can I say...

Me taking pictures of Beth taking pictures is always a great picture!
(Well, for me anyway)

These slabs of rock that were laid down
horizontally, have been tilted and now exposed
to be so unique to view.

Oh, there was this guy.  Not a rattler, but they too are around.

And tonight, our third visit (so far), to watch the sun set and snap a few more photos.  We grabbed a few layers for warmth if needed, a telephoto lens, a flashlight, and placed them in a pack.  A few minutes later, we joined other like-minded sunset seekers, back on the Bluff Trail, and followed a spur that took us down below the cliffs.  With the tide out, the exposed rocks were more dramatic and tide pools became accessible.  I began clicking off pics (I was about to make a comparison of my camera clicks to that of a gun firing off rounds, but that seems a bit inappropriate these days) and before I knew it, the sun began air brushing the clouds in the sky with colors only nature can offer up.

Our shadows grow long as we wait for the sun to go down.

Beth captures me on the rocks, getting in photographer mode.

Everywhere you turn...so cool!

I love a good cairn!  This one left on the beach for
us to find.

Love these guys...until they start poopin'!

Who doesn't love a good sunset photo to remind you of where you don't live!

With the lighting slipping away, we peered into a few tide pools.  Tiny fish, sea anemones, and red-shelled snails, have us talking about making yet another visit to this special place just to explore some more.  We headed up and off the small rocky beach that within a few hours would be submerged under water again, as more waves would inevitably be back to pick up where they left off.  And so goes the life of a rocky coastline.

So unreal!

Without having made the leap in thought that all the brown vegetation and dust from the trails is attractive to view at Montana de Oro State Park, it is well balanced out with the view of the ocean, for sure.  We will be back for more tide pool discoveries and I may even get some mountain biking in, just to bask in the browns and get baptized in it’s dust…adventures await us.

My Zen from the Road:  I know I get all jazzed about photographing cool things and places.  And I know that I am sooo after the money shot that I will never try to sell.  And I know that the next time we head to this picturesque state park, I will still tote my camera along for more shots that will sit idly by in iPhoto and eat up more space on my computer.  But also being toted along on the next excursion (as we witnessed another couple setting the example this evening), will be a bottle of wine, a couple of glasses, and some be-here-now-ness, so I can just enjoy the moment with Beth, as the waves role in and the sun sets one more time…while not experiencing it through the lens of a camera.

The show we came for!