Natural Escape - October 1998

Click on photos for larger image "Immense volumes of foam roll up from the cataract-base, and, whirling about in the eddying winds, rise often a thousand feet in the air ... Incessant roar, reinforced by a thousand echoes, fills the canyon." From "The Falls of the Shoshone" in Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada by Clarence King

The quotation from Clarence King obviously does not exactly fit the images - he was writing about a waterfall in the mountains and the images are of the Pacific Ocean coastline. But the idea is the same - the incredible force of the water pounding on the rocky shore, creating droplet-filled clouds above the surface and a blanket of foam following the incoming waves. These were taken along Highway 101 south of Carmel, California. That highway is one of the most popular drives in the US; mile after mile of ever-changing coastline greeting the ocean. The road curves and twists incessantly, which makes driving and sightseeing a particular challenge.		If You'd Like To Explore Some More... There are several nature writers whose work I really enjoy reading, including Edward Abbey, Barry Lopez, Joseph Wood Krutch, and Henry David Thoreau and Everett Ruess. To see a list of their writings, please visit the Natural Escape Writer's page, and spend some time browsing through the titles.