A Walk on the Beach at Low Tide

Low tide sunsets are always the best. These are a few photos I took after a late afternoon surf session at Rincon. I love all the different shades of color.

Sunset at C Street

California Street (aka C Street or Ventura Point or Surfers Point) is one of my favorite (and most consistent) surf spots around Santa Barbara. C Street is a series of point breaks that offer a variety of waves depending on your ability level. Apparently, this spot used to be heavily "localized" and outsiders were not welcome. However, after the city built a parking lot and boardwalk, it became a lot easier to access... and you will see many different types of characters in and out of the water. It's a fun place to hang out on a summer afternoon... and the surf can get epic on a long period northwest swell. I took these photos after an evening surf session (waves were rather small). The tide was very low this day (during high tide, the rocks will be completely covered).

Stone Wall

As I was walking through the Shaolin Monastery (aka Shaolin Temple), I came across a stone wall that had a narrow rock shoved into a crevice. Everything I saw at the Shaolin Monastery seemed to have some sort of significance. Therefore, I thought there might be a story behind this as well... and I started taking some photos of it. As I was doing this, a tour guide walked past (that spoke English) and I asked for an explanation of this specific wall. She just giggled at me and said something in Chinese that sounded like "silly white person"... so I don't think there is anything special about this wall. Nonetheless, the picture came out pretty well and I can pretend that kung fu masters use this wall to practice throwing rocks and swords. 

Peru - "El Brujo"

In reading/seeing my previous posts, you can judge that my main purpose for going to Peru was to surf. However, the country has a unique history and culture... and I felt that I needed to visit a couple places with historical significance (since I didn't have a chance to go to Machu Picchu). I was also exhausted from surfing non-stop and needed to relax my body. Lucky for me, there was a major archeological site close to Chicama called El Brujo.

El Brujo is a series of temples built on top of each other and then covered with dirt. If you were driving or walking past it, it would have just looked like a hill. The reason Peruvians built temples on top of each other was to signify a change of government... and so that they would literally be ruling on top of their ancestors (the ancestors would be buried in the temple underneath). The temples served as the main worship area and the rulers would stay there. If you've ever seen the Mel Gibson movie Apacalypto, you will also know that the temples were used to conduct a massive amount of human sacrifices. Blood was very significant to Peruvians.

Inside the temple were intricate carvings and paintings (I also saw a mummy). However, the most interesting/spectacular thing to me was El Brujo's location. As you drive you through the coastal areas of Peru, it feels like you're on the surface of the moon. The coastal areas get about a half of inch of rain per year and there is absolutely no life... just a lot of rocks and sand (A LOT OF ROCKS!!). Every 50-100 miles though, you would come across a stripe of green that would stretch from the coast to the mountains. This stripe of green is where the rivers would come down from the Andes mountain range (it was also where all the towns were). The archeological site of El Brujo is situated on a patch of desert between the ocean and a lush green area (where a river comes down). It was striking to see the contrast of desert, green farm land, and bright blue ocean in one area. These are a few photos I took from El Brujo (what you can't see is all the wind that was trying to blow sand inside my camera and face).

Maine Coastline

I took this photo on the northern most end of York Beach (in Maine) where a giant point sticks out into the ocean. I like to imagine that if the swell was big enough, came from the right direction, and the tide was right... a wave would break the entire length of the point. I don't think that this is actually possible, but it's fun to imagine!

Low Tide and Washed Up Objects

When there is a big swell, you can always find interesting things washed up on the rocks during low tide. Here we have a busted up lobster trap (which is a common site in Maine... not so common in the rest of the world though). I don't think this will be catching any lobsters again.

The No Fun Zone

Driving along the coastal route in Maine, there are many beautiful little beaches tucked away. However, most of them are covered with "NO TRESPASSING" signs. There are no surf at any of the beaches (that I know of)... so I don't really care to go to them. However, I've never agreed with the concept of owning a beach. I think they should be open to the public (although, I guess if I owned property next to a world class surf spot, I wouldn't mind making it private for myself).

Musing by a Fountain

Musing by a fountain.