El Capitan Beach near Santa Barbara

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Thursday, May 03, 2012



We traveled yesterday. We followed highway 1 along the coast. Just below San Simon and stopped along a beach that was covered with seals. On closer inspection they were much larger than the harbor seals. The beach was packed with several thousand elephant seals. It turns out that they come to this beach almost year round. We were able to get very close to them. Many were molting. They make the most unpleasent grunting sounds. It reminded me of visiting Uncle Pauls Pig farm in Jorden.

We arrived at El Capitan campground about 4 PM. Our campsite overlooked the ocean. We took a long walk along the ocean and watched another spectacular sunset. We ate a late dinner and fell asleep with the waves crashing just below our camper.

Today woke up early today and went down to the ocean with coffee. We just stepped on the beach and we saw a Humpback Whale and her calf breaching just 30 yards from us. It was a breath taking site. This is the end of the migration season so we were lucky to see these giant creatures. They stay close to the shore to protect the calves from being dround by killer whales in the deeper waters. As we sat and finished our coffee we saw two more whales with calves and many Bottle Neck Dolphins. There are many brown pelicans here also. They fly very low and close to shore. I love their old man faces and the way they look at you when they fly over. We loved to watch them circle then dive after fish in the surf. They rarely miss. There are many whimperels, spotted sandpipers (with thier bobbing tails) and other unidentified shore birds.

We took a bike ride in the morning and walked along the beach again. The beaches have the most beautiful rocks that are rolled smooth. We have always collected rocks when we travel but we had a hard time limiting the ones we can take home. Later in the afternoon we drove to Rufundio Beach. The cliffs and surf are lined with the most amazing shale rock formations that are sculpted by the ocean. In many places the cliffs have caves where ground water seeps through. Beautiful crystals and velvety moss cover the walls of the caves.

We barbequed on the beach tonight and saw more whales and another beautiful sunset. Tomorrow we head to Palm Springs.

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