January in Monterey

January in Monterey is much nicer than July.  The countryside's greener; there are few fewer tourons.  The weather is more variable, with less fog and stratus than in summer, occasional storms (nice to sleep when rain's pounding on the roof), and more sunny, warm days.  We've had five days this month with temperatures in the seventies.  This rarely happens in July and August, believe it or not.  We also have a touch of winter; two days have had freezing temperatures.  And...the surf is bigger and wilder!  These surf pics were taken on January 26.  I was just going to take a quick look, but I realized that I had stumbled onto a rare combination of big waves, looming fog, and gentle winter light that was magical.  I stayed for much of the afternoon. 

Here a wave is breaching the sand berm between the ocean and the lagoon at Carmel River State Beach.  In the background, fog shrouds the neighborhood above the beach.

Point Lobos, swathed in mist as a breaker thunders ashore.

The waves crash at the Carmel River estuary with massive force.  The water is deep until just a few yards from the beach, so the waves build up more than in most areas, and then break abruptly very close to shore.  They were about 15 feet high on this day.

Winter surf has exposed some of the rocks near the lagoon. The light was fabulous...you don't get this kind of color in the summer.

Another wave crashes.  The larger breakers sent water into the lagoon, but the river couldn't quite break through to the ocean.

A thundering breaker.  Water would splash 20-25 feet in the air in the most dramatic cases.

That's fog in the background, not an impending rainstorm.  While fog is much less pervasive here in January than in summer, it's by no means rare.

Nature at her majestic best.

Tsunami?  No...but this is a good 15-18 foot wave.  The waves at the estuary tend to break simultaneously on a long front, with immense power...great for photography, bad for surfing.  You never see any surfers here.

A huge splash.  A thunderous roar. 

As afternoon deepens, the light just gets better.

A couple friends from Denver visited me earlier in the month, and we decided to splurge and stay at the Ventana Inn for a night.  This was my room.  Gorgeous, luxurious, peaceful.  Went to sleep with a real fire crackling.  The service was outstanding, the food succulent.  It's nice to be decadent once in awhile!  We'll be back.

This was the deck outside my room, with a hot tub and a hammock.  It was very nice to soak in the tub, then sloat out in the hammock for awhile.

Winter's Surf

I think winter is a far nicer and more interesting time of year in the Monterey area than summer.  Summer brings gray skies, throngs of tourons, brown grass, and small, unobtrusive waves.  All of these things are minimized during winter, and not infrequently you get a day like this one, January 6...with bright skies, mild air, uncrowded beaches, and thundering, majestic surf. 

These pix were taken at Carmel River State Beach, where the waves are usually larger and more powerful than elsewhere in the area.  There's a steep dropoff a few yards from shore which allows the waves to barrel in at full strength, then abruptly crash on the sand with massive power.  There was a high surf advisory in effect when these pix were taken.  This breaker is probably about 12-14 feet high; the crashing water can bounce twice as high into the air after the wave finishes breaking. 

The low winter sun, of course, provides nice light.  It's not a black sand beach; just looks that way with the underexposure.

Seagulls hangin' by the Carmel River lagoon, separated from the surf by a sand berm.  Pelicans also like to kick back here in between feeding forays.

At low tide, fine patterns are created on the beach by water percolating from the lagoon through the sand to the ocean.  The lagoon is about fifty yards to the left of the picture, the ocean about ten yards to the right.  If you were up in a satellite you would see patterns of erosion very similar to these, extending dozens of miles across desert regions.  But here on the beach, the area encompassed by this pic is perhaps eight feet by ten.

The winter surf has exposed these rocks at the shore.  When the river breaks through the berm and flows into the sea, it often runs right through these stones.  During the summer, gentle surf covers the rocks with sand.  I've always liked this beach...every time I come here, it looks different.  And you see various critters...gulls, pelicans, otters, seals, cavorting all over the place.  It's a very interesting spot.

Winter Surf!

Big waves crashin' at Carmel River beach today...Weather Bureau's high surf advisory lookin' good!  Haven't had much big surf this winter...it's always fun to go to this beach and watch.