Wednesday 20 January 2016

Pacific Coast Highway Part 2

It was another gorgeous sunny morning, honestly whoever says you get tired of constant sunshine has never lived in England in the winter!!
 
Our first stop was at a viewpoint over looking Piedras Blancas Lighthouse, it’s a lovely spot.   Guided tours of the lighthouse are available.
 
A little further along we saw a sign for the elephant seal viewing area, they are beautiful animals.

We thought they were huge and that the  beach was pretty full.   One of the volunteers told us they were juveniles and that come December the huge males would arrive and it would be so crowded you wouldn’t be able to see the sand on the beach.   They were pretty noisy but again when the huge males arrived it’d be even noiser. 

This colony of elephant seals didn’t exist before 1990 and since then it’s bloomed and now the population is more than 15,000.   There is a boardwalk to keep people off the beach so the seals and the people are safe.   As while the seals probably wouldn’t hurt you, if they decide you're a threat they move fast and have teeth! 

Some juveniles play fighting, well at least I think they’re play fighting!

 
You can find out more about the seals at http://www.elephantseal.org and they also have a webcam.
 
We were amazed at the amount of pampas grass that grows in places all along the Pacific Coast Highway.
               
It’s easy to see the work that must go into maintaining the road.

In the cove behind the tree ‘chair’ boats were hauled up the cliff face to keep them clear of the surf.  DB wanted me to climb up on this ‘chair’ for a photograph, I declined as climbing up wasn’t a problem, but one slip climbing down……..

We stopped at Mill Beach Picnic area and watched the surf for a while.

As we’d driven along earlier in the day sea mist was drawing back from the coast, in places we could see it still lingering just off shore.

At another viewpoint, surfers were taking advantage of the waves.


On our way back we stopped at San Simeon, watched the surf, meandered along the beach,

and walked to the end of the pier where we took this photograph of Hearst Castle, but that’s whole other story.

Have fun, we are!

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