Thursday, October 7, 2010

Beachcomber Regional Park

The next stop on our hidden beaches tour was Beachcomber Regional Park. This one is a photographers haven, beauty and variation in every direction. Unlike the previous two places we stopped, this one had a small parking lot at the edge of the road and a sign posted. The path we took down was steep in areas yet  manageable with a little help on the downward roll, thankfully we were informed of an easier route to go back on.
This is the view that greeted us at the base of the steep path; an arbutus tree overhanging the sea. We asked a couple sunbathers where the balancing rock lie, but they said they have never seen one and had been coming there for twenty years. I felt a little disappointed as that was my reason for picking this beach to visit. We headed towards the arbutus as I am curious about the view around the corner.
The shape of the arbutus above the rock reminded me of a puzzle piece that should interlock.
We rounded the corner where quite a few people were swimming and enjoying themselves in the hot afternoon sun. We crossed the rock sheet and headed across the point for another vantage point.
And there it was, the balancing rock.
It surprised me that people can spend twenty years in a place and never see what is there. Maybe that is why we are artists, to point out the obvious that gets overlooked.
 Rock seams filled with barnacles.
Shadow play.
Purple starfish in water-trapped crevices. The tiniest pools teem with life, including minnows.
A cool looking square hole filled with barnacles, seaweed and a hermit crab or two.
Perforated rock looks like cooled lava.
Crab assortment.
Looking back up as we head back towards the path we cut across the back end of the point into a trail through shoreline vegetation. I take a look back and...
am glad I did.
The arbutus trees are extremely big in this part of the forest.
Tree tops filled with chickadee song as they flitted happily about joined by brown creepers whisping along the tree trunks.
As it was full sun most shots taken upwards are silhouettes aside from this shot, which is greatly cropped to show you the brown creeper.

May your heart and soul be filled with love and joy.

1 comment:

Carol Blackburn said...

Hi Teresa, looks like such a lovely place to spend some time. Great photos. Wishing you a wonderful evening.