A short but magical coast ride
Yesterday afternoon's absolutely magnificent 13.5 mi Coast Highway ride featured temps in the upper 60s, a chilly onshore breeze, and the clearest air and most vivid scenery colors I've seen in our 4 years here. The photos below have only been resized. They don't do justice to the color I saw in person.
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The views were good enough to warrant 5 stops in the 5 mi I was actually right on or above the water. Usually tried to put in 150-225W between stops and to and from the Coast Highway to get a little exercise, but it was a deeply relaxing ride nonetheless.
In fact, if the ride had come with its own soundtrack beyond the music of wind, waves, birds, and bike, it probably would have sounded a lot like the above. Listen as you look through the photos to get the proper mood.
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The 5 mi coast segment started on the bluff above Tamarack Beach (above) near Agua Hedionda Lagoon and proceeded south to South Ponto Beach at Batiquitos Lagoon. I ride through here a lot and had never seen the color pop like this!
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You'll see 2 recurring skyline landmarks ~40 mi apart in these photos: Saddleback Ridge (above) in Camp Pendleton, some 17 mi WNW of Tamarack...
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...and the La Jolla Peninsula some 22 mi SSE of Tamarack. Most days, these coastal uplands are just dark featureless hulks on the skyline, bookends to the stretch of coast locals call North County. But this day, they seemed much closer and showed exceptional detail.
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The faint landmass low to the horizon on Saddleback's far west (left) here is Santa Catalina Island, some 63 mi WNW from this spot.
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Next, a quick stop at a favorite vantage over the south end of Tamarack Beach. The house marks the north end of the very posh bluff-top neighborhood of Terramar Point.
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Next stop, a chance to get much closer to the water at North Ponto Beach. The closer the waves, the more you feel their energy and rhythm. Swell comes to our shores from all over the Pacific basin and adjoining Southern Ocean, with the longest-period waves (up to 20 seconds) having traveled the farthest.
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Next, a quiet campground overlook above South Carlsbad State Beach. La Jolla's getting closer. At upper left, South Ponto Beach nestled between this bluff and the next one south, where I'd turn home.
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Next, a stop on the berm down on South Ponto Beach. The chilly wind had picked up, and only a few hardy beachgoers and a patrolling lifeguard remained.
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Last stop, the bluff over the south end of South Ponto Beach, where I had a close encounter of the wonderful kind with a southbound flock of pelicans — here ascending on the cliff-face updraft. No wings were flapped.
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As you can see from the handy compass rose, the coastline here runs roughly NNW-SSE.
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If you zoom in, you can see more skyline landmarks to the north: Santa Margarita Peak (~3,000 ft) to the far right at the south end of the Santa Ana Mountains, and to its west, Santiago Peak (5,689 ft) at the north end.
