12-12-13 - Beautiful Dreams

Today I woke up to warm silence and the taste of the sea. There wasn't any light shining through the cracks in the window coverings, so I knew it had to be early. I rolled out of bed, strapped on my hiking boots and a jacket and stepped outside. From the hillside vantage point we had parked on I could see 180 degrees of black cliff coastline meeting open ocean, punctuated with small islands of jagged black rock. Behind us were dry brown hills covered in scrub brush and low trees. I hiked up a small rocky hill nearby to get a better vantage point of the sunrise. On top was a flat patch of earth covered with dry pine needles and dead grass. I planted myself on the ground, took a deep breath, and took it all in.

As the sun slowly filled the sky with waves of pink and purple, the world around me began to break its hush. Small brown birds in the scrub began to sleepily call to each other in short chirps and whistles. Far below, where the waves hissed on the rocks, sea lions began shouting their indignations at each other. The males sound similar to howler monkeys, sending unbelievably loud and low roars booming out in all directions, while the females sound like disgruntled people in an argument, yelping and protesting their innocence. Their calls have become a soundtrack to the California coast for me, always present. Farther out to sea an occasional puff of vapor would go blasting up from the surface of the water, accompanied seconds later by the loud popping breath of the gray whale that made it. It was so quiet and still I could hear each breath before they dove back below to feed in the rich coastal waters. Even farther out I saw a commotion of sea birds closely followed by a pack of black fins, slicing and diving at amazing speed through the water. It was a pod of Orca whales hunting the same glut of fish that the gray whales pursued.

I stared at the beauty of the scene for a long time before going back down to the van. I had never in my life seen such a concentration of wildlife in one area. It was incredibly beautiful and precious to me. I went back into our cozy van and made a pot of French press coffee for Dave and I, followed by fried potatoes and fresh fruit. We quietly ate, sipped our coffee, and relaxed in the long awaited warmth of the sun.

We continued South down the coast on Highway 1, enjoying rugged beauty and nice weather. Suddenly, while glancing at a beach as we drove by, I gasped. There were massive forms sprawled all over, like haphazardly scattered giant, smooth, gray boulders. We pulled over quickly to get a second look. Upon examination, they weren't boulders. They were Elephant Seals! Not 5 feet away from us their massive bulk speckled a sandy swatch of beach. They all appeared to be dead, bellies up to the sun, cast up on shore to rot. Then one of them would let out a snuffling cough and heave itself into a new position or lazily scratch at a flipper, and the illusion of death was erased. The three small females in the picture below were fussing and coughing at each other like grumpy old women. The males are massive, like huge cattle without legs. They look as though they would be too fat to even move, until they lazily itch their face with a flipper, or awkwardly try to roll their bulk around. The seals had just arrived and the huge males were preparing to spend the next three months fighting and fasting, building a harem of lovely seal wenches and battling other males for the right to a prime patch of rock and sand. By the time the breeding season is over, they'll be a tiny shadow of their former bulk. Their size belies their ferocity, and the massive males will rear up and strike each other over and over with deadly sharp teeth. Nearly all of them bear white scars from these battles. For short distances, they can even outpace a human on land! For now there is peace, but the breeding season soon starts. The seals are wise to enjoy the sun on the beach for now, as there are great white sharks and orcas out at sea that patrol the water leading to the beach with ferocious intent. We spoke to a volunteer who told us that just last week a 17 foot great white had been spotted just off the beach by a bouy camera.

Later we found ourselves out in agricultural land, little patchwork squares of fields bordered by green mountains. We stopped at a farm stand where we bought some of the best and cheapest produce I've ever seen! Avocados, grapefruit, onions, potatoes, and beautiful oranges brimmed over in the crates, and the owner handed out slices for us to sample.

We ended up staying at a truck stop that night, where massive 18 wheelers rumbled in the dark next to us, making me feel very small indeed. Luckily, the memories of the coast lulled me to sleep.