John & Anne Wiley

2011/12/12

Confusion of Caves

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 20:54

Looking at pix from our flight along Palos Verdes revealed a confusion of caves. Because the coast there was so interesting, we circled back for another look at the Pt. Vicente light and in the process got multiple views of the sea caves just past it toward San Pedro. For some sound geological reason the sea caves are on small points of rock that jut out into the sea like this.

8079 Two Caves?

8079 Two Caves?

If these two caves joined in the middle, would it be one cave? How many people paddle kayaks into them on calm days? After this closer look at the cave on the right above, would you be concerned about falling rocks?

8081 Right Cave

8081 Right Cave

You can see even more loose stones in this closer view of the cave on the left.

8082 Left Cave

8082 Left Cave

But another pic taken later created cave confusion. The top pic shows two caves, right? Well have a look at this.

8085 Two Caves?

8085 Two Caves?

Same spot, but from this different angle you can clearly see another small cave! It was only by looking more carefully at details like the paths and vegetation on top that I realized this spit of rock harbors at least three caves. This angle also better shows the tide pools on the rock shelf. I guess the only reason there weren’t crowds of people exploring this whole scene is that access is much more difficult than the well-worn paths on top. A little further along is a smaller spit that really does have two caves at the end.

8083 Two Caves and...

8083 Two Caves and...

This area is now certainly on our list of places to visit from the ground! But just to attempt more confusion in the meantime, a different angle revealed two caves and a dimple.

8084 Two Caves & Dimple

8084 Two Caves & Dimple

2011/12/08

Secret Shore

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 19:55

Flying along the coast is ordinary magic. Places we’ve walked, ridden bikes, and boated reveal themselves anew. The enchantment that shorelines have on human consciousness is expanded and enhanced when we fly low and slow along the beaches and bluffs. Having done that so much now in the last several years, for us it has become ordinary magic. Luckily for us, the magic itself is never ordinary. A constant feast of serene beauty flows past in a sedately moving panorama.

7950 Dume to SMO

7950 Dume to SMO

Point Dume in the foreground, past Santa Monica (KSMO) and into the haze of L.A. All along this path secrets are revealed. Patterns of kelp and sea floor appear in the ocean.

7961 Past Dume

7961 Past Dume

We see the patterns of human activity, and the way buildings, streets and cities fit in relation to one another.

7988 SMO to LA

7988 SMO to LA

Part of the magic is how flying along shores we’ve strolled takes us to new lands of memory, mingling past with present. There’s even a future element, as charming new spots like Venice beckon us to explore from ground and water level.

8005 Venice Grid

8005 Venice Grid

When we experience L.A. from the ground it usually involves a lot of time in traffic, enclosed in a metal cocoon and surrounded by concrete. From the air, it still has a romantic relationship with the terrain from which it emerged.

8020 L.A. Story

8020 L.A. Story

2011/12/07

Rock and

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:22

Does a missing word come to mind in the title of this post? Well, to start off here’s a rock.

7925 Rock and Road

7925 Rock and Road

Guess that’s the old Highway 1 in front of the rock near Mugu, but in the contest with engineers the rock seems to have won. Looks like there were some great pullouts there for tourists and lovers, but now all the action is around the white catering truck with blue awning at the upper right. Next some rocks circling a circular structure surrounded by “beehive” huts in homage to ancient peoples’ village life.

7932 Rock Around

7932 Rock Around

Further past Mugu if you combine rocks and a big bank roll, you can put a beautifully curved mansion on the water like this.

7940 Rock and Bankroll

7940 Rock and Bankroll

Last up tonight, a hard place with a scary name. Well, it sounds scary aloud but on the chart it’s just Point Dume. There is a nearby invisible line pilots must not cross though. It’s the restricted airspace for jets taking off from LAX that passes just a few hundred yards past this rock. No jets ever fly there, but it’s a hard rule regardless.

7953 Rock & Hard Place

7953 Rock & Hard Place

So to fly low there for a good look you have to fly offshore to avoid annoying people on the beaches and trails, but close enough to shore to avoid the hard and fast LAX airspace. Carefully flying between the rock and the hard place, you get this nice view of Point Dume with no downside.

2011/12/05

More MV

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random — John @ 07:37

I have to share a few more of the low quality pix from our Monument Valley flight, because they’re just so fun to look at! Gotta go back. Meanwhile, here are more shots thru the window. First up is the context as we approached, showing how cool all of the rocks are in the area.

0275 Approaching MV

0275 Approaching MV

We came in high, wanting to ensure we weren’t disturbing people and to get an overview. Quite a delight to see this formation from above.

027 Tribe Overview

027 Tribe Overview

To me, it’s a small tribe striking out across the plain with a tall scout out front. Next another overview, lower and closer now as we come in from a slightly different angle. Yes, that’s the propeller in the middle thru the windshield over Rusty’s nose.

0280 Prop Totem

0280 Prop Totem

Maybe these pix are only disgusting due to the low quality. I find them distasteful when comparing to what they could have been, and to what we saw. But my hope is they give you some clue of how incredible this place is to explore by small plane. For example, in the following shot imagine how differently we’re seeing it than those people in cars at the bottom right.

0281 Point of View

0281 Point of View

We saw many more sculpted towers than we snapped, and few of the snaps came out well due to the cheapo camera and windows. Still, here’s one example that’s passable. Doesn’t that look like a sculptor’s portrayal of someone looking back at the fortress on the right?

0288 Statue

0288 Statue

2011/12/03

Memory vs Memento

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random — John @ 22:10

I don’t recall any time that our memento from a flying trip matches the power of our memory. Most often the mementos that come closest are the photos, and sometimes our diary or blog entries from the day. Zubair said in email today that he’d searched the blog for references to the 2007 flight that stands out among our most powerful memories. The reason he didn’t find any is that back then Anne was sometimes uncomfortable with the windows open while we were flying, and we had only a low-resolution snapshot camera. Thanks to his reminder though, I reviewed the pix and found this one that came out ok.

0292 Monument Valley

0292 Monument Valley

This pic is actually good enough that I’m putting a larger version on my Photo Page. Monument Valley is among our absolute top bucket list places for a return flight with open windows and Nikon SLR (or better) camera. The topic actually came up because I was coaxing Zubair to fly and meet us there with his family. Anyway, here’s another pic that better reflects what we saw while also demonstrating the drawbacks of camera and closed windows.

0290 Relective Memory

0290 Relective Memory

You can see the interior of Rusty (the plane we flew back then) reflected on the inside of the closed window at the right, and the camera’s inability to capture detail or the “dynamic range” of rocks in shadow against bright background. What I most see reflected here though, is the powerful emotional experience of wandering at will amid these towering stone sculptures. Many of the “monuments” evoke our ancestors who themselves wandered here, now represented as individuals standing alone, in silent families, and in small quietly mournful tribes. I wish these mementos could better convey the memories of flying there, a collection of moments outside of time.

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