Sunset on Montana Part I
(side note: My parents house in Anaheim Hills is currently 4 miles from a wildfire. Several of my friends in the area have already evacuated. Lets hope the winds don't pick up. You can see the coverage if you Google 'Sierra Fire'. Last Tuesday I took a hike and I've been waiting all week to post the results. So though my minds on the fire, I present Tuesday Morning (not the store))
The morning started early. Sleep left me at half past five, and to spite my pleas it never returned. I begrudgingly left my bed at six, then set about my morning rituals wondering what the next step in my day would be.
Five empty hours spanned between now and the beginning of tech. It would be a shame to waste the daylight with books or videogames. Oso Flaco was near by but cost money, and the dunes wouldn’t be open till ten… … …My early morning lethargy was finally broken by the idea of returning to Montana Del Oro, this time seeing it in sunlight.
Upon my arrival the sun rose over Valencia Peak, throwing pastel colors over the morning clouds.
Valencia Peak, the one I climbed a few weeks ago
Spooners Cove were I parked
The ground was damp and there was a chill in the air. The season’s first poppies huddled against the cold, wet with drops of dew.
Our State Flower the California Poppy
I ventured out on the rocks to get a closer view of a flock of storm-petrel (I think). While on the grown they are perfectly camouflaged, but when they take flight they reveal a bold black and white V.
The rock out cropping I went out on
A layer of granite(?) hidden in the sheets of red shale rock
They were too fast for me to get a shot of them in flight, although I managed to get pretty close to them, keep in mind I don't have a zoom lens.
My pursuit increased in difficulty as the rocks grew slippery with algae and colonies of turban snails. While protecting my camera from ocean spray I managed to slip and land in a puddle. Two gulls perched above me let out a cry that sounded more like a cackle then a birds call.
From my new vantage point, the ground, I spotted the largest rock crab I’d ever seen. Unfortunately, the bugger was rather shy.
His about the size of my hand (no small hand jokes!)
I climbed back up to the trail and set off to show the cackling gulls a piece of my mind…
This joker is a Western Gull, you can tell by the red mark on his beak
After the last gull took off, something caught my eye. Not ten feet from the puddle I fell in, swam a sea otter. I cursed myself for leaving, but was too lazy (and wet) to climb all the way back down. So I set my camera down wishing, not for the first time, I had a telephoto lens; and simply watched the otter play while I dried in the sun.
I'll post more later today. Sorry for the size again, if anyone knows how to put in a LJ cut with pictures please tell me.