Saturday, March 31, 2012

Beaches in South of Half Moon Bay


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On a sunny Saturday morning, we decided to explore the beaches along the southern coast of Half Moon Bay. A little over an hour's drive took us to the first beach to the south of Half Moon Bay, San Gregorio State Beach.

San Gregorio State Beach

What
  • Beach
  • Birds

More Info
  • $8 car parking fee (applicable to all the state beaches along CA-1 S for that day)
  • Restrooms
  • Barbecue Pits
  • Picnic tables
San Gregorio State Beach

Although we thought that the $8 car parking fee was ridiculously high, we were glad that we could use the parking ticket for all the other state beaches as well. There are plenty of parking spaces available and the beach was mostly occupied by people who had come in big groups to enjoy a nice BBQ next to the beach. We also noticed over-excited kids playing with sand and water. As we walked to the beach, we noticed a cave next to it, overlooking the beach - a nice place to relax and read a book. There is a short, narrow trail that took us to the top of the cliff overlooking the beach and the rugged coastline on either side. The freezing weather made it uncomfortable for us to spend too much time here. 

Pomponio State Beach

What
  • Beach
  • Birds
  • Lagoon

More Info
  • Restrooms
  • Barbecue Pits
  • Picnic tables
Pomponio State Beach

Honestly, the Pomponio State Beach was not too different from the San Gregorio State Beach. The shallow lagoon serves as a good playtime for the kids. We spent a few minutes here and took off. It looked like every beach along this coast had barbecue pits for those interested to have a ducky lunch along the shores on a beautiful sunny day.

Pescadero State Beach

What
  • Beach
  • 1 mile walking trail to Pebble Beach

More Info
  • Restrooms
  • Plenty of parking spaces

There are several places along the cliff where there are short flights of stairs that take you down to the beach. We walked towards the edge of the rocky, uneven cliffs (at a safe distance) to see the beautiful ocean and the coastline. A paved 1-mile walking trail along the ocean took us to the Pebble Beach and as the name sounds, the beach shore is typified by pebbles.

Bean Hollow State Beach

What
  • Beach
  • 2 mile  Arroyo de los Frijoles Trail 
  • Tide pools
  • Shorebirds
  • Harbor seals
  • Beachcombing
  • Small pebbles formed over a million years ago

More Info
  • Restrooms
  • Plenty of parking spaces
Bean Hollow State Beach at sunset

Bean Hollow State Beach is perhaps one of our favorites amongst all the other beaches that we visited that day. This beach was originally called by the Spanish name "Arroyo de los Frijoles", which means “Creek of the Beans,” and was later Americanized to Bean Hollow.

To the right is a short stairway that lead us to the beach shore which has small pebbles that were formed more than a million years ago. The rock formation here looks very interesting and it is called Tafoni. They are formed by "cavernous weathering" process, which involves the interaction of winds and salt sprays in the rocks. 

Tafoni Rock Formation

The beach also features a 2-mile trail along the ocean with a detour that takes you to the tide pools. Unlike the visitors center in Natural Bridges State Beach that displays the time of the high tides and low tides, there is no visitor center in this beach to provide information about the tides. 

A board at the beginning of the trail displayed pictures of the rich marine life that could be seen in these tide pools. As I am one of those folks who get excited by tide pools, I was looking forward to see them. Unfortunately, we could not walk down to the rocks to see the tidepools because the pathway was too quaggy. However, the trail itself was pretty nice; it was bedecked with wild flowers and the walk along the ocean was refreshing.

There are reefs offshore where you might be able to spot harbor seals and shore birds. Though we did not catch sight of them, we still enjoyed the dramatic view of the ocean waves crashing against the reefs.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

What
  • Pigeon Point lighthouse (tallest lighthouse in California)
  • Whaler's Cove
  • Fishing
  • Prisoner's Rock

More Info
  • Restrooms
  • Plenty of parking spaces
Pigeon Point Lighthouse

As we were driving further south from the Bean Hollow State Park, we caught the sight of the magnificent 115 foot lighthouse standing tall on the Pacific Coast. No wonder it is one of the most picturesque lighthouses. One can simply sit here for a long time and just watch this beautiful lighthouse with the fierce ocean waves in the background.

The lighthouse got its name from Carrier Pigeon, a clipper ship that hit the rocky surface and wrecked in 1853 near this headland.

In December 2001, a portion of the exterior frame fell off from the lighthouse and since then it has been closed to general public. The California State Park system has spearheaded an effort to raise funds and repair the lighthouse; they estimate that it would take seven to ten years to repair it after they receive sufficient funding. We certainly do not want to lose the tallest lighthouse in the California coast.

Whaler's Cove and Prisoner's Rock

To one side of the lighthouse is the Whaler’s Cove, which appeared to be a popular fishing spot. The cove is also characterized by the Prisoner’s Rock, home to several shore birds. I found it interesting that the rock was named Prisoner’s Rock because fishermen get here during low tides for fishing and eventually get trapped here when the tides become high.

Any beach along this coast offers a gorgeous view of the sunset. We stopped at Bean Hollow State Beach to watch the sunset and went home after a tiring day.

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Saturday, March 3, 2012

Fresno Blossom Trail


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Fresno Blossom Trail

What
  • White and Pink blossoms; Yellow mustard blossoms
  • Kings River

More Info
  • Best time is between end of February and mid of March
  • Free drive-through the blossom trail
  • Take a print-out of the blossom trail map
  • Stay updated on the latest information here

Being aware of a 3 hours drive from San Jose to Fresno, we planned in such a way that we would reach Fresno at around 2.00pm in order to avoid having the sun right above our heads. The drive was very pretty scenic, exposing us to beautiful mountain vistas on either sides of the freeway stretching for miles.

San Luis Reservoir

Half-way through the drive, we came upon the gorgeous, shimmering blue waters of the San Luis Reservoir. If you miss the first scenic viewpoint, do not panic as I did. The freeway extends along a part of the reservoir and there are several viewpoints, where one can pull over and sometimes even walk close to the waters. The day being clear and sunny, the water was literally sparkling and there were flocks and flocks of birds near the shore. I even noticed several windmills on the other side of the mountains.

After passing the San Luis Reservoir the landscape changed, giving way to flat meadows and agricultural lands, stretching as far as the eye could see.

After a long drive, we reached the Fresno Blossom Trail. Although there were sign-posts at every junction of the blossom trail that helped to keep us in track; carrying a hard copy of the trail map just made it easier.

White Blossoms

There are no designated parking spaces at the trail, so one would need to pull over to the side of the road to see the astounding beauty of the white and pink blossom trees, walk amidst the blossoms and take pictures. The vast spans of blossoms of the same color make it look all the more stunning. I thought this would be one of the apt places to take wedding photo shoots.

Yellow Mustard Blossoms

Along the trail were the yellow mustard blossoms as well. It was breathtaking to see the boundless varieties of the colorful blossoms with the snow clad Sierra Mountains, visible in the distance in the background.

Orange Grove

Orange Blossom Trail, as stated in the trail map took us through the orange grove, where we saw vast stretches of orange trees and the trees were clothed in ripe oranges. The Orange Blossom Trail was a pretty long drive and the trees here were not too different from the bunch of orange trees that we saw in the main blossom trail.

The Kings River runs across the trail and it is probably a nice place to stop by. After spending a little over 3 hours driving through the blossom trail, we were totally exhausted and could not wait to return home and call it a day!

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