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Monterey, Big Sur, California in January?


joe_austin1

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I am considering a trip to the California coast (San Simeon to Elkhorn Slough) for marine wildlife and birds. I

had originally selected January as the month to visit as that seems to be the peak time for elephant seals. It

also seems to be the peak time for rain.

 

I would appreciate any suggestions, comments, from folks familiar with this area about the wildlife photo

opportunities and the weather at that time of year. I am traveling from Maryland and am wondering if a typical

January week in Big Sure would yield enough good weather to make it worthwhile.

 

Thanks,

Joe.

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Joe, January is the right time to visit as far as the elephant seals go. We visit the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Viewpoint, which is 4.4 miles north from the entrance to the Hearst Castle on Highway 1, annually during our trip to Los Angeles every Christmas. Further north on Highway 1, the Ano Nuevo Reserve (to the north of Santa Cruz) is also a good place to view elephant seals, but in January, you are restricted to guided tours at Ano Nuevo so that your time to photograph will be limited as the guide will move the group along.

 

You can see my Nikon D300 portfolio. Pretty much all of those images were captured along the California coast in December, 2007. (The pelican images were captured in La Jolla near San Diego. That is a lot further south from where you are planning to visit.)

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=792355

 

The issue is that it rains here in California during the winter. There are somewhat frequent rock slides on Highway 1 around the Big Sur area. Potentially you could be blocked for a couple of days and need to make a detour. That is not predictable beforehand. Make sure you have back up plans. There are a lot of alternative places to visit in this area.

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As Shun said, winter weather on the Big Sur coast can be unpredictable. I was there at the end of January, 2006 and was lucky to have decent weather--cloudy but not too foggy. Here's a sample:

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=568666. Santa Barbara to Montrery and return in two days. Suggest you plan on more time if you can.

Have a good trip, Karen

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I should point out that if you have a choice, I would travel on Highway 1 from north to south. We are on the West Coast so that most of the view points are on the south-bound (Ocean) side. When you drive from north to south, you simply pull over to the many viewpoint look outs. When you drive from south to north, you need to cross in-coming traffic every time. It is not a huge deal, but it is more convenient going south.
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January is usually the rainiest month of the year on the coast of California. Storms usually move through fairly

quickly though and the breaks between storms can provide some dramatic skies (clearing storm, etc.). We do

sometimes get back to back storms that can leave it rainy for a full week, though. You need to be prepared to

work with the weather in terms of gear and planned subjects.

 

Do check ahead for accommodations. Some places close for a month or two after New Year's holiday period.

 

Frank

Coastal Northern California

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If you would like to view the California Elephant Seals, late December, January and February are the right months.

See the

<A HREF="http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523">

Ano Nuevo Reserve web site</A> (which means new year in Spanish as that location was discovered by the Spanish

around new years day, year 1603).

<P>

The guided tour is from December 15 through March 31. I have been there 3 times, twice with the guided tour, and

there were a lot of elephant seals. (In fact, I was there on January 1, 2003). I was also there in late November a

couple of years ago, and there were very few animals around. That was why they didn't require a guided tour.

<P>

In other words, November wouldn't be the right time to visit if you want to see those marine wildlife on the

shore/beach. You are better off taking a chance with the weather. Most likely you won't be rained out for the entire week, but the weather is hard to predict.

<P>

Additionally, the Elkhorn Slough is a great place to see sea birds and sea otters. They have a boat ride for wildlife

viewing or you can rent a canoe/kayak to get closer. You can photograph otters from a close distance at the harbor

in Moss Landing; keep in mind that they are mainly there in the morning.

The harbor is right next to a power plant that has two very high smoke stacks. It is across the street from the <A

HREF="http://wenchilada.com">Whole Enchilada Restaurant</A>. (The Mexican food there is quite good, but it is a bit pricy.)<div>00QwX9-72827584.jpg.92089253e66ac73d39ca8f657fc4e3ef.jpg</div>

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The "Friends of the Elephant Seal" operate out of the San Simeon area, providing docents for the Piedras Blancas colony, etc. Their site has information on the migration and beaching schedules, etc. My only January trip to that area, for a funeral for a friend in Cambria, was dreary a couple of days but not too stormy, the day driving in and the day driving out were generally nice. Figures. It's always worth considering that there may be road problems on the Big Sur stretch of the highway and going 101 from San Luis Obispo to Salinas is not a bad drive, just not nearly as spectacular. There were a number of fires in the area this year so storms and rains could easily cause more than the usual road problems from slides and flooding.
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Joe. Ano Nuevo requires reservations in advance for the elephant seal tours. They are very popular, and walking in is

chancy. Here's the website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523. I also agree with the North-to-south route. Fly into

SFO, go to Half Moon Bay and head south. There's nice lodging in Half Moon Bay, CA that you can find - including the Ritz

Carleton if money's no object. The San Mateo County coast from HMB south is spectacular and the weather can be

wonderful or awful - it's a bit of a crap shoot in January. The California Gray Whale migration is also on in December, so

you might catch some of it from, say, Pigeon Point Lighthouse in early Jan. The lighthouse also has a hostel if that sort of

thing appeals. Have a great time.

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It's been a while since I've been there but you were allowed past the fence in some areas. The fence was keeping people off bluff edges and sensitive dunes to avoid damage and falls and in a couple of lower areas, keeping seals from the parking lot and highway. They were building more boardwalks at the time and things may have changed more recently with higher numbers of seals and visitor interest. I'd suggest calling the "Friends" to get current info. If the beach is crowded with the seals, there may not be safe working space down there.
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The image below shows the setting at Piedras Blancas. There is a fence on one end of the beach, but for the most part, there is no fence. You view and photograph the elephant seals from a boardwalk just above the beach. It is a very long boardwalk so that you'll have many different angles. You can also see a car in the background; that is Highway 1. There is a huge parking lot with a large sign indicating that it is a wildlife viewing area.

 

You are pretty much restricted to shooting from a fairly high angle, but from reasonably close distance. I mainly used a 200-400mm/f4 zoom on my Nikon D300 (DX format, 1.5x crop).

 

I captured this image on December 24 last year (2007), so it is quite recent. And of course it was a sunny day in late December. I drove down to Los Angeles (where my parents live) in almost every Christmas in the last 8 years, and I think I had rain maybe twice.<div>00Qxrb-73267584.jpg.81e0e4a36a636dcf4ab2f07309db862d.jpg</div>

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Don't pass up Ano Nuevo just because they require being on tours Dec-Mar. I've gone there twice on tours, and

both times the docents were quite understanding about giving you time to photograph. I got some great photos of

elephant seals from 50 feet away, almost eyeball to eyeball (not the adult males, though--tweeners. A 5,000 lb

adult male is an imposing creature!) But telephotos are indeed the order of the day. 200mm to 400mm is the

order of the day. I took a monopod and found it useful. But be prepared for wind and rain.<div>00QzX1-73913584.jpg.0b292bf7635cd6d3d11502f2f966e845.jpg</div>

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This summer there was a devastating fire in the Big Sur backcountry (my front yard) that burned 180K acres. Resultingly, we anticipate major mudslides and debris flows with this coming winter's rains. There's the potential for Highway 1 to get washed out (cut off) both N and S of the community of Big Sur with residents and visitors stranded. This last occurred in a big way in 1998 (without the assistance of fires denuding the hillsides), also in 1983 and 1978.

 

Piedras Blancas is to the S of all this however, and Ano Neuvo far to the N. The more interesting scenery is found between these two well-know Elephant Seal haul-out beaches, unfortunately right smack in the path of the affected area and potential slide/flood/debris flow areas.

 

That all said, clearing storms do often present the best light of the entire year on the coast. Expect storms at intervals of every 3-5 days in an typical January, with glorious weather for a couple of days in-between.

 

Plenty to do even if you can't get to Big Sur, though. Might also consider taking a whale-watching tour while you're on the Monterey Peninsula.

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Thanks for all these great responses. I must admit the threat of road closures has me re-thinking the trip as a drive down the coast road was going to be a highlight.

 

Any recommendations on whale watching tours or floating tours of Elkhorn Slough? Are there any that are big lens friendly?

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Joe, check out this image of the Elkhorn Slough Safari. I have never taken this tour myself as you need to book a few days in advance as they get crowded. You can see it'll be tough to use a long lens on board with so many passengers. I took this picture from a rental kayak. That is another option.

 

http://www.elkhornslough.com/<div>00R14G-74581584.jpg.594e04e4c3301443d712031689424cb1.jpg</div>

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The difference in drive time between driving from Monterey to Salinas to Paso Robles on 101 then west to the coast on 46 or 101 to San Luis Obispo and then back and driving down 1 all the way from Monterey isn't that great, so even if you find out that the road is closed at some point in the Big Sur area, you could still go around the other route and back up from the south/east if interested in the Piedras Blancas/San Simeon area. You just have to kind of deal with the weather as it is at the time. There have been times in the past where 1 was closed for several months (perhaps longer?) due to slides and other damage to the road.
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Google: "ca highway conditions". Or, there will be a big sign as you leave Carmel. The highway has been closed a lot this year

and there is another fire just getting started down there now so it may be closed again. But, January is a long way off.

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Joe, are you picking up a rental car in Monterey? Most likely the rental car agency will have this information. Otherwise, local police, local TV/radio station web sites, etc. will also have this information.

Road closing on highway 1 at various sections and closing to the Yosemite National Park happen on a regular basis around here in the winter.

 

Just have a flexable plan. There are a lot of things to do around Monterey. I live in the Silicon Valley, about an hour from Monterey. I would say we have the best weather year around here.

I am heading to New England for the fall foliage next week, and most likely I'll see rain for a couple of days. That is simply part of nature photography.

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If you have net access:

 

http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi

 

If not, you can call: 1-800.427.7623

 

 

But as others have pointed out, especially in the event of major closures and incidents, there would be signs in

the Monterey and Carmel areas at the north and San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, Cambria areas at the south as well.

There's always some possibility of sudden damage in any of the storms, etc. We had friends in business in

Cambria and long term closures were really bad for business as through tourist traffic along the coast is pretty

important to the small communities along there. We drove through one time and had delays for construction and

repairs but it's kind of hard to complain about spending 20 more miutes overlooking the Pacific and one of the

big bridges, etc.minutes

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