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.