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A Point to ponder

VIEW FROM THE POINT (Clockwise from left) Whaler’s Cove,

“Welcome to Point Lobos State Reserve (Park)” the yellow brochure starts and follows it up with some very unwelcome orders.

Crossed out pictures clearly illustrate the “No” list — “No Smoking”, “No Collecting”, “No Dogs”, “No Games” and “Don’t Disturb/Feed Wildlife”.

You’re allowed to drive in and park, enjoy scuba and free diving, picnic, ride bikes — all strictly regulated by where, when and how.

Closing time is half an hour after sunset. Huh? Just check out the daily sunset times posted at the entrance.

Otters

For those with a rebellious streak, a warning appears in red letters: These rules are strictly enforced! The marine bio-reserve is “fully protected by state law from disturbance”.

Can manage all that? Read on. “Don’t bet your life! Avoid disaster! Remain on the designated trails, within the wire guides.

Stay away from rocky cliffs and the shoreline!” And pray you’re immune to poison oak.

“It’s everywhere and dangerous to humans allergic to the oil found in all parts of the plant.”

And the friendly final tip: “Do not touch this plant!”You would still want to brave Point Lobos.

It’s a tooth-shaped, tree-clad headland on the California coast, from whose edge (careful there!) you get a magnificent view of the Pacific.

The land/seascape is a medley of Alcatraz-like sheer high rocks, irregular coves and rolling meadows. Puff your way up to the sea-lion point and look at the sea-lions indistinguishable from the mid-sea rocks on which they sun themselves. You don’t need any expertise to spot the differences in rocks around.

The craggy stone heads to the North are precious granite that solidified underground 80 million years ago.

The southern boulders got thrown up from the seabed only 55 million years ago, and remain sedimentary.

Scuba divers

That bumpy collection of water-rounded rocks you stopped to admire on the way up are conglomerate. Every stone is a collector’s item, hey, drop it!

A shoreline of coves and beaches – pebbles in some, fine-grained sand in others. “Cliff-hanger” cliffs, a sea of big and small rocks, salt-spray winds. Trails that lead to Points with awesome views. See that dark log of seaweed that bumps at both ends?

That’s a sleeping sea otter, next to the harbour seals. December through May, you can watch migrating grey whales dive and surface, all for free. Humpback and blue whales splash about in summer, spouting mist, pushing up tails (flukes) before the big dive. Elephant seals with teary eyes flip sand on themselves. Black cormorants, brown pelicans and grey gulls set up a cacophony. The loud-mouthed one with the bright red bill is the oyster-catcher, circling to pick up shellfish at low tide. Mule deer graze, bush rabbits scamper.

Set aside the paranoia about poison oak.

See how shady the route to the top is.

That lone Monterey pine on the jutting rock holds a fortune in timber.

Others line the trails, along with Monterey cypresses, whose gnarled trunks and contorted branches tell a tale of survival on granite cliffs at continent’s edge.

A palette of wild flowers fill the meadows – no picking! The best show is the Bluff (true!) lettuce hanging off crevices in clusters. They look dusted with sugar, but sorry, unreachable.

Withdrawing tide leaves a garden of water plants. Careful! The rocks are covered with slippery algae.

At Whaler’s Cove park within inches of the shoreline, breathe in the sea and breathe out jealousy. A group of snorkel-strapped divers walk into the kelp-filled water and disappear. Wow!

The real surprise is half-way up the headland — mounds of shell fragments and mortar carved out of bedrock! The kind lady at the shack-turned-museum of photographs and prized fish-heads explains: “Native Americans fished and cooked here.

Europeans came in the 18th Century. Since then, PL has had cattle pasture, whaling stations, a cannery, a shipping point and residential lots. The Chinese and the Portuguese came here too.”

Ownership of PL went from hand to hand, once to settle a card game.

End 19th Century, one A.M. Allan bought the property and passed it on to the State Park System.

More acres were included, the surrounding submerged areas were added and by ’73, it became the first underwater eco-reserve in the U.S. But before that happened, the dramatic high cliffs, crashing waters and rocky sea were captured in Treasure Island, Women on Pier 13 and 25 other movies. “Regular outdoor location,” said the docent.