Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Images of Devils Slide

Power Spot
Devils Slide Comes Alive with
Clouds and Fog
Devils Slide is a stretch of rugged coastal terrain about 10 miles north of Half Moon Bay and about 10 miles south of San Francisco. It's a highly unstable formation with many slides and transportation disruptions. Sometime after 1906 the Ocean Shore Railroad was completed from San Francisco to El Granada. The railroad operated at a loss but major slides along Devils Slide sealed the doom of the railroad and in 1921 operations ceased. Highway #1 replaced the railroad but it as well was plagued by frequent land slides that closed the road for months at a time. Finally a new modern tunnel was completed in 2013 and it solved the major slide problems for now!

The old section of highway #1 that was bypassed by the tunnel is now a part featuring the 1.3 mile trail called Devils Slide Trail.

Fog and Clouds Collide at Devils Slide
Devils Slide is about 3 miles from my house and I visit frequently especially when there are interesting cloud, fog and storms that attract my photographic interest. However there are many attractions for lovers of wildlife and nature to satisfy ones sense of adventure and wonder! For example bird lovers will enjoy the Peregrine Falcon pair that reside on the highest part of the promontory, or nesting Common Murres, Cormorants, Surf Scoters, Shearwaters, terns, gulls, pelicans, hawks and other birds.

Sometimes whales can be spotted feeding and traveling close by on their migration. Humpbacks, Grey Whales, and Blue Whales, plus Bottle-nose Dolphins are some commonly sighted.

Clouds, Mountains, Flowers and Ocean
If you want to get you eye knocked out
If you want to get your fill
If you want to get your head cut off
Just go to bunker hill
When a physical place calls to you, quiets your mind, and stops the world, some times is called a Power Spot - a physical location which brings an individual into balance with the earth, the non-local web of all information, and with herself. A location which enables us to focus or meditate, where we are in our most impeccable balance. Don't know where this definition comes from but loosely it can be contributed to Carlos Castaneda! A lot of my photographs comes from such a spot, which is actually a turnout off of highway #1. Bunker Hill, part of the Devils Slide promontory features an old WWII military bunker and is called Bunker Hill.  A funny and unexplained situation along highway #1 is many of the turn outs and pull-offs are off-limits, especially Bunker Hill,  to motorist and well as hikers, and the San Mateo's  Sheriffs do patrol and chase people from these spots. Why they are so concerned with this is beyond my comprehension but I've had cops several times give me the circling finger to move on....which I do! 

 
 

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