A parade of minor Pacific low pressure systems over the last few days brought sporadic wind, rain, and (for us) cold air from the Gulf of Alaska.
The result: A spectacularly clear day in Carlsbad, with temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s and a bracing onshore breeze.
The action line: A leisurely end-to-end bluff-top ride through the Carlsbad State Beach campground 5 minutes down the hill. Just to commune with the ocean before sunset.
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I've never seen the La Jolla Peninsula this clearly from Carlsbad. It's about 30 km south from this vantage on the bluff.
The peninsula marks a dome-shaped upwarp at a mechanically unfavorable bend in the Rose Canyon Fault, a major accomplice to the San Andreas. At the latitude of Carlsbad, the fault's about 5 km offshore. It's job: To help the Pacific plate (Earth's largest) slip past the North America plate (6th largest) on its way to the Aleutian trench. Both fun and humbling to think about such big doings going on right under your nose.
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Cameras just can't do justice to the beauty of the orange sunlight on the blue water at this time of day. I come here often to see it in person.
Kandinski, the Russian impressionist painter, once lamented that Nature gets away with color combos he couldn't. Blue and orange usually clash, but here they're in perfect harmony.
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A geographic feature as prominent as the dark ridge on the skyline to the north (also about 30 km away) surely has a name, but I have yet to find it. All I know is that it runs the length of Marine base Camp Pendleton north of Oceanside.
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Gratuitous turtle shot on a dogwalk earlier in the day.
