California Coast and Pacific Ocean
During our stay in Jalama Beach, we decided we would take a nice long hike south, along the California coastline to Point Conception. Andree had done some research and found out by leaving the campground and heading south along the beach for 6 or so miles, we would find a small path that lead us up to the cliffs overlooking the ocean and hopefully the lighthouse. Little did we know, things had changed since the hike was first posted on the web!
This was also going to be a nice long hike for master terrierist, Sierra…who we decided we would left off leash once we got past the initial crowds dotting the beach. After a mile or so of being dragged down the beach by Sierra, and turning the corner we say nothing but empty beach for miles and miles…so we prepared to unleash Sierra, and potentially never see her again as it was even odds she would just take off running after a bird and never come back or swim off in the ocean after a ship miles offshore. With baited breath we unleashed Sierra…and she promptly stood right by our side. She’d wander off down the beach for a few years, and then stop to make sure we were following her. When she did chase off a hundred yards or so down the beach after a flock of birds…she’d give up, locate where we were, and rush back as if her life depended on it. Holy crap…maybe she is trainable after all!
No longer having to worry about chasing down Sierra we continued south towards Point Conception, passing numerous retaining walls and old draining pipes from the cliffs above. It was a desolate stretch of beach, I don’t think we saw anyone else for the next 5+ miles. Eventually we reached the path leading up towards the bluffs overhead, and promptly ran in to a no trespassing sign. Now, there were two ways to read this particular no trespassing sign. The hike clearly stated you could enter the trail and take it until it reached the Coast Guard station and the sign was off to the side of the path…so one could interpret it was imploring you to stay on the trail. The other, literal interpretation was…stop, and return back. After some discussion we opted for option A and headed up the trail…where we were greeted with fields of rolling wildflowers overlooking the turquoise blue ocean crashing along the California coastline. We spent an hour or so along the bluffs, even venturing towards the Coast Guard station…where our bravado ended after glimpsing a man in a helmet roaming the grounds and we returned back down the trail…comforted in the fact that we had been able to chase down our dog who had run off in to private property. Bad Sierra.
A long journey back completed our 11 mile loop and we rewarded ourselves with the famous Jalama Burger from the camp market and a few beers as we watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean and the campfire warmed our tired feet. We also had a nice laugh at the realization (after talking with the store manager) the bluffs were now off limits and the only reason we didn’t get stopped by the warden was that he had to journey to Santa Barbara for the day.
The above photo is of the California Coastline and processed with Topaz Simplify.
Sean Scanlon is a travel and landscape photographer based in Southern California, home to an amazing array of photographic wonders. He has traveled the world, journeyed on long and desolate desert roads, and spent many cold and shivering mornings waiting for the sun to rise while his partner in life, Andree, wonders what in the world she is doing up at 4am in the morning. His photographs have been presented on museum walls in Melbourne, Australia and countless numbers of family and friends.
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