2012 California Road Trip

Part V On Scenic Highway 1

After leaving the very beautiful Morro Bay, we headed north up the Central California coast on scenic highway 1.  This stretch of road features great seascapes with rock in the sea and on the beach,  rocky cliffs and nice ocean vistas.  Just north of San Simeon there is an elephant seal colony.  These guys are great to watch as they lounge in the sand. 

The next few shots are along the coast between Morro Bay and San Simeon.

Kathleen on a overlook enjoying a great beach and beautiful sunny day.

 Drift wood on a nice stretch of beach.

 Lots of rocky beaches as you drive north.

Elephant Seal Colony

About 2 miles north of San Simeon is nesting area for the elephant seals.  They come here in large numbers between November and March each year.  The bulls have fight of the females, they mate and have calves.  They head back out to sea around March or April and return again in November.

The first 2 photos show a few of the seals lounging on the beach.

 This is an elephant seal pup sun bathing.

 This seal, it seems, is just enjoying the warm sun

 I think this guy was sleeping and enjoying the sun.

We left the seals and drove north toward Big Sur.  We passed great rocky beaches and a nice light house.

 Another nice beach.  There is great access to the beaches before you start climbing to higher elevations and away from the shoreline.

There are beautiful views as drive toward Big Sur.  The mountains drop right down to the shoreline and it is a very impressive vista.

From here we headed across the Mojave Desert  to drive on old Highway 66 in Arizona and New Mexico.