Tag Archives: coast

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Beach, Mouth of Little Sur River

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Beach, Mouth of Little Sur River
Cloud shadows on water as fog dissipates above Point Sur and beaches near the outlet of the Little Sur River

Beach, Mouth of Little Sur River. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cloud shadows on water as fog dissipates above Point Sur and beaches near the outlet of the Little Sur River

In many locations along the Big Sur coast on this mid-summer morning, the fog was breaking up as I drove south from the Monterey area, heading for the newly reopened section of the Pacific Coast Highway near the small town of Gorda. I stopped as I came to this familiar sight — a place where the road descends and provides a series of evolving views of the beaches near the mouth of the Little Sur River near Point Sur.

As the clouds begin to thin, alternating bands of light and shadow move across the landscape, and from moment to moment this changes to scene. I tried to time this photograph for a moment when key features of the landscape were illuminated — the curving beach, sections of the shallow ocean, and some of the more distant headlands.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog

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Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog
A coastal inversion layer is visible as fog thins above the rugged Big Sur coastline

Coastal Bluffs, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A coastal inversion layer is visible as fog thins above the rugged Big Sur coastline

The quality of the Big Sur coast is, I think, the sum of a lot of contributing factors. As you drive south (my usual direction of approach, as a San Francisco Bay Area resident), the expanse of the Pacific Ocean extends to your right, and it may be brilliantly lit, completely fogged in, full of storm clouds, or just plain blue. Because the route alternately drops to the water level and climbs up above the headlands, this view expands and contracts. Surprisingly, it can be quite warm here, especially when the fog clears on a summer day and the road climbs. Views may be intimate as you pass through forested sections and around tight turns, or they may stretch to the horizon and far to the north and south.

On this mid-summer visit remnants of fog were still dissipating as I passed through. In places it sat thickly on hilltops, while elsewhere it had cleared and the light was brilliantly bright. This view appeared as I began my descent from one of the high places, and the top of the coastal inversion was clearly visible.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Pacific Ocean, Clearing Fog

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Pacific Ocean, Clearing Fog
Fog clears over the Big Sur coastline near Point Sur and the Little Sur River

Pacific Ocean, Clearing Fog. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Fog clears over the Big Sur coastline near Point Sur and the Little Sur River

It has been over a year since big landslides and bridge collapses during the very wet 2016-17 rainy season completely closed the Pacific coast highway though the rugged Big Sur region below Monterey. It is the nature of this roadway, which in places clings precipitously above the ocean, to suffer regular closures, but most of them are quite temporary. This time, however, two of them were quite major. A bridge just south of the town of Big Sur lost its structural integrity when one of its support columns slipped — it had to be knocked down and a new bridge constructed. That bridge opened up months ago, giving better access from the north — and letting me get to my favorite Big Sur Bakery! But another slide much further south, near the small town of Gorda, presented much bigger challenges. A good part of a mountain slipped down into the Pacific, creating a major engineering and construction issue.

The good news is that the route re-opened this past week. I decided to wait past the weekend — with its inevitable tourist traffic — and head down there today. I went as far as a few miles beyond the southern slide before turning around to retrace my route back to the north. (One unfortunate realization – the Monterey Peninsula has now become a virtual suburb of Silicon Valley, with traffic jams and the works. Even on a Monday, when the weekend crowds are gone, there were just too many people on the coast highway by the middle of the day as I started my return trip.) I made the photograph at a location I’ve shot many times before, the outlet of the Little Sur River near Point Sur. Each time I go here I look for new overlooks, trying to find a slightly different view of the scene, and today I tried several new ones. Bonus: On a July day when temperatures inland were in the ninety degree range and higher… coastal fog dropped the temperature here to the low sixty degree range!

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Rocky Shoreline And Spray

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Rocky Shoreline And Spray
Spray from surf mutes a rocky Northern California shoreline scene

Rocky Shoreline And Spray. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Spray from surf mutes a rocky Northern California shoreline scene

This rocky and exposed beach, open to the Northern California Pacific Ocean, first caught my attention as I headed north on the first day of my visit to redwood country. I had made the long drive up the Central Valley, the long traverse out to the coast at Eureka/Arcata, and then traveled further north to the redwoods on my way to my final destination in Crescent City. Perhaps unexpectedly, in many spots along this coastline you don’t actually see the ocean or the shoreline itself — the route tends to be inland a ways and/or travel through forests. So when the road came around a bend near sunset and arrived at this spot, where the waves are literally only feet from the edge of the road, it made quite an impression. I stopped briefly but did not see a photograph at that time, and I travelled on.

Several days later, as I departed the Redwood National and State Parks area (and after making a final stop at Prairie Creek State Park), I again came down a hill to this beach. I stopped again, but this time the conditions were quite different. There was active surf coming onshore, and the waves had stirred up a thin, low fog that hugged the coast. Overhead higher clouds indicated the passage of a weather front. From this spot it was easy to see how littered this coastline is with the boulders and sea stacks that are left behind as the ocean erodes the shore.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.