There once was a time when I thought Tina and I had really nice neighbors. Ron is an ENT doctor who still does all his own yard-work and gardening. I think he and I may be the only ones on Rockledge Drive that still do that. :) His wife Jeanann is a super nice person who would do anything to lend a hand. So they had us fooled into thinking they were truly nice people.
...
Until they found out we were going to Costa and said we simply HAD to take a trip to Witch's Rock beach! You can get to Witch's Rock by charter boat which I'm now fully convinced is what all the sane people do in the world. The insane ones opt for driving there through Santa Rosa National Park. Even though I'd read online that it was a rough road and the park ranger at the entrance said the road was in terrible shape, we'd had it recommended to us by people we though were good friends. How bad could it possibly be?
The road starts off easy enough leading you into a false sense of security. It soon gets more rocky with potholes ready to bottom out the vehicle.
We were rewarded with our first spotting of a deer in Costa in the wild. While it was nice to see a couple of them at the Jaguar Rescue Center, it's always more special finding them in the wild.
But after a 2 1/2 hour drive where the last 45 minutes were over a road our GPS system didn't think existed, we made it to the beach known as one of the best around for surfing. Obviously it wasn't the best of days for surfing, but it was a perfect day for hiking. In the second pic you can see our destination of Witch's Rock.
Due to the unique shape of this beach line, the waves travel a long ways up before finally settling into the flat area above. As such a lot of things wash up on this beach.
It was a little more than 1.5 miles down the beach to Witch's Rock. It was so named because a witch one of the Indian tribes blamed for a volcanic explosion was banished to this rock according to legend. Doesn't seem like an overly hospitable place.
We did finally run into a lone surfer who was a guy who worked for a non-profit doing fish stocking up in Idaho and the job affords him to spend 2 months every year down here in Costa. Somehow I'm in the wrong line of business. Also down at this end of the beach is a HUGE salt water estuary attracting birds, fish, and crocodiles. Our Idaho friend told us the crocs hang out in this estuary for part of the day and then swim out in the ocean (right past surfers if they happen to be out there) and down to another estuary at the far end of the beach.
While taking this second pic I was constantly being yelled at by somebody who will remain unnamed (but who's not from Idaho) about getting away from the estuary and it's crocodiles.
The path back took us into the wooded area above the beach. Believe it or not all these tree's are alive and healthy even though they make it look like your walking through the middle of an evil forest.
It was a lot hotter up in the wooded area without the benefit of the ocean breeze but it was another unique portion of nature of the wildly varying country.
Thank goodness we had 4 wheel drive for the ride back up because those rocky area's are even more challenging when going up hill.
Until the next post ...
Esté Bien!
PS - Our neighbors are still really nice people.
...
A bit insane perhaps but that's probably why we get along! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment