New Year's Day Tidepooling

January 1, 2014

I know, this is more than a month late, but I guess, better late than never. :)

The low tide that day was at 3 pm, so, we actually first went hiking and birding at Lake Hodges in the morning. We only went to La Jolla Shores for tide pooling after lunch.

Before going down the tidepool area at Dike Rock in Scripps Coastal Reserve, we stopped first at Scripps Biodiversity Coastal Reserve on top of the bluffs, which is commonly called the "The Knoll."

@ The Knoll

The Knoll is one of the places that we love to watch the world below us. :) It is not really at high elevation. The coastal bluffs are just about 400- 500 ft above the shore. It is here where we often see hundreds of leopard sharks below, playful dolphins, and migrating whales. On that New Year's Day, we were entertained by dolphins, one of  the awesome New Year's gifts we got from Nature.

Playful Dolphins, as seen from the Knoll

About 2:30 pm, we left the Knoll for tidepooling. It was at negative low tide that day, so I knew I would enjoy the exposed tide pool creatures a lot. From La Jolla Shores Kellog Park parking area, we walked North towards Dike Rock, which is North of Scripps Pier. 

Scripps Institution of Oceanography Pier

New Year's Day was family day at the tidepool 

( all those people you see are walking towards tidepool )

Tern on the Shore Oftentimes unnoticed by others

 Everybody's Favorite, especially kids ( tidepooling )

Sea Stars ( I put the lady in picture for size comparison )

While kids, and adults too :) were busy tidepooling, two peregrines were also busy by the bluff enjoying their food.

Peregrine Falcons with their hunted prey (photo shot by hubby )

Dolphins that we saw from on top of the bluffs were also there close enough to the tidepool, they were simply playing. I guess, they had enough food so they were teasing surfers and also tidepoolers. :)

Dolphins near tidepool

 ( pictures were taken by hubby- I was busy tidepooling with the other kids, haha )

When we had enough of the tidepool, we continued walking North towards the shore just below the Knoll. I love this part to take photos of low lit cliffs reflected on the sand at low tide.

Late Afternoon sun-lit Cliffs Reflected on Sand, Scripps Coastal Reserve ( La Jolla Shores )

One very inspiring sights we saw was this old couple in the picture below. Who says getting old meant simply sitting by the house? These two were still very strong to enjoy life and sweetness in togetherness outdoors. 

Hubby and I always get inspired seeing older couples in the trails or outdoors enjoying their togetherness. We would smile and would tell each other that we would continue to be like them too. Enjoying sweetness and togetherness in the great outdoors even when we would already be old and very gray.

Aside from the inspiring sights of family and kids enjoying the tidepool and the outdoors, I saw a lot of couples celebrating their togetherness that day too. New Year's Day was one sweet, SWEET day.

Couple Enjoying Togetherness

It was not only a day for families and couples, singles enjoyed their time at the sea too. One of them was this diver, who on seeing him, I could not help but admire, because he had the heavy oxygen tank, yet he still had to climb up 500 ft to go back up to civilization. 

Lone Diver

Trail Back To Civilization Above ( that's the trail the diver had to walk up )

Truly, when you have found your passion in life, there is no stopping you from pursuing what you love to do. Am sure, for the diver, it was all worth it, because this is the area where the underwater canyon attracts so many divers. The underwater canyon at Scripps though is more for advanced divers because it is a very narrow gorge underwater. 

The top of the cliffs here is where we were in the first picture above. Now, you get to see what it was like above the cliffs, and on shore. In the picture below, hubby is looking up the cliffs, checking for peregrine falcons, hawks and ospreys. 

When it was about sunset, we started walking back South to Kellog's Park in La Jolla Shores. We did not want to be walking on rocky shore by the Dike Rock area in the dark. We caught sunset by the tidepool area.

 Sunset from Dike Rock Tidepool

After sunset, we walked very fast back to the park, however, I can't help it but take picture of the pier again at low light, despite having no tripod. 

Scripps Pier at dusk ( hand held shot only, did not bring tripod because of our long walk and tidepooling )

It was a wonderfully blessed New Year's Day.

PS....I am glad I finally have written about New Year's wonderful gifts to The Joys of Simple Life tidepooling.  

♥♥