February 16, 2019 The North Coast of San Nicolas Island

This Saturday was bright and sunny, but cool and breezy. I hiked down to the north coast of the island with my camera and 21mm lens to see what I might see. The previous few weeks had been quite wet. This meant that the dirt road along the north coast would be closed because it was muddy and washed-out in places. No biggie — I don’t have a vehicle anyway. And, it meant that the yellow flowers on the coreopsis gigantea plants were starting to come out. This island had only a couple of inches of rain last winter, and it was a bleak and brown and dead-looking island for most of 2018. But, about 8 inches of rain from December to mid-February has turned it nice and green now.

The images below are from the coastline area from about the base of Cardiac Hill (just north of Nicktown) eastward about two miles to the pavement at Beach Road (just short of the Water Plant. The sandy beach areas were awash with sea lions and elephant seals. Or one or the other. Or harbor seals. Or all three, or two of the three. Every 100 to 200 yards along the coast there is an interesting outcrop of rock where the waves crash. It is a dynamic area, a landscape photographer’s playground.