Montery Bay, Carmel, and many areas around–like Pebble Beach–are well known. Most people visit Point Lobos National park but end up visiting only one side. That side is huge by any standards. The rocks in the water are mini mountains; the waves are giants, and the water is crashing so loud you can barely speak. Marine life is abound. But there is another side! It is totally calm; the water is covered by a foamy layer of algae floating. In fact, if you look close enough at the shoreline, it is really a line of caves! I have never seen anything like this before.
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The trip to the “other side” is a hike of various roads turning left and right with no name so in following the map of the park it is still a great puzzle where you may end up. The hike is not a hard one in terms of steepness but the terrain is rough from the rocks and the many branches that have fallen and its unevenness. Not very easy to find your footing and the place is full of poison oak.. something to definitely avoid touching by accident as you try to grab anything in site for your balance.
So when we finally got a first look of the “other side” I felt a huge relief, thinking “well, we are already there”.. no.. another 15-20 minutes… but the view was definitely worth it.
The view here shows you the water and what appears to be a “rounded” shoreline.. those are all caves; hundreds of them. A most amazing sight! Since we went at the time of the year when the June Gloom was expected, that is what you see being lifted for about 15 minutes mid-day. The trees here are covered with lichen and everything is very soft and cushiony; probably years of accumulated lichen and pine tree leaves several feet high that create a carpet that one can barely stand on without falling over. A most amazing place. It also put nature in perspective for me. Nature is huge and we are so tiny yet we have such a huge impact on it. It is an eye opened to go there!