September 7, 2013:
Mine and Kevin's Annual BIG SUR PILGRIMAGE!
One of my favorite places in the whole world. One of the most beautiful places on Earth. AND I FORGOT MY CAMERA! So my apologies, you all have to settle for my cell phone photos. And an iPhone it is not.
We started this years trip with a quick admiration of the view at Napenthe (see history and stories about Napenthe, Orson Wells' gift to Rita Hayworth), and then we headed to the "Feathers in Flight" benefit for Ventana Wildlife Society. They take care of the condors and have bought the population back from the brink of extinction in the 1980s.
Kevin and I each make a donation to Ventana every year as part of our pilgrimage. But we don't normally go to this benefit because it is usually not actually IN Big Sur. This year it was at Julia Packard's ranch (as in Hewlett-Packard), right in the heart of the magic land. And there was a special guest: a condor named Dolly, visiting from the L.A. zoo!!!! She had a broken wing and is in rehabilitation, that's why she is in captivity.
MEET DOLLY:
Kevin's photo of me and Dolly. CHEEEEEEEZ!
A California condor's wing span is 9 feet.
Sorry for the bad photo quality, but I wanted to show you the inside of a condor's wing!
The event also had other feathered guests: various raptors attending for educational purposes. Red tail hawks, peregrine falcons...all the favorites.
It was a sunny day on land, but the water was covered with a thick marine layer o' fog.
The EMI house (owner of EMI records) used to be a good place for condor spotting. But apparently the residents got tired of the birds perching on the roof all the time and installed sprinklers to deter them. Here Kevin is patiently waiting for a condor while he listens to bellicose sea lions below. (This photo is the edge of a cliff.) In years past we have had close range fly-overs at this spot. No such luck this visit, perhaps due to the new sprinkler system or perhaps due to timing.
Oh, are you taking my picture?
A break in the Marine layer at the coast made for dramatic effects. Click this one for a big image!
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur. Normally I take photos by the waterfall, but it was shrouded in too much fog. I was drawn to this misty scene instead.
Kevin in a tree cove at Julia Pfeiffer Burns. A childhood hideout spot. Kevin grew up in this area, so every trip he shows me a new secret treasure off the beat and path.
As per our traditions, after explorations we had dinner at Napenthe and waxed meditative at the fire pit, talking to interesting people passing through...
See you next year, big birds! Sending love and gratitude to the Great Condor Spirit! Ho!
(My "past life" as a California Pomo. -though the Ohlone, Esselen, and Salinan were the tribes that inhabited Big Sur.)
