Category Archives: Orange County

Hiking in Crystal Cove State Park and camping at Lower Moro Campground

My overnight backpacking trip to Crystal Cove State Park this past August was a bonanza of photographic opportunity. I loved the dew-covered flowers, saw two rattlesnakes mating, got a night self portrait, saw a bunch of insects and spiders, and got some fun atmospheric shots of foggy trails and spiderwebs. If you want to see my pretty pictures from the trip, follow those links.

But, in looking at the traffic coming to my blog, a lot of folks are searching for information on camping at Crystal Cove State Park. So, as a final Crystal Cove wrap-up post I’ll share some pictures of the trail and our campsite.

My REI Quarterdome T2 tent set up with rainfly at Crystal Cove State Park's Lower Moro campground.   A picnic table is visible in the background. (Marc C. Perkins)
My REI Quarterdome T2 tent set up with rainfly at Crystal Cove State Park's Lower Moro campground.

While I loved my short trip to Crystal Cove’s inland campground, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind:

  1. There is no water available in the park except at the parking lot. So, you’ll need to carry in enough water to last for your entire trip.
  2. The campgrounds are a couple of miles away from the parking lot, and there’s a few hundred feet elevation gain, so you’ll need to be backpacking and give yourself enough time to get there before sunset.
  3. There are rattlesnakes.  There will soon be baby rattlesnakes.
  4. The park is centrally located in Orange County, and may get crowded during peak periods. While we were the only people at the entire campground when we went, friends have reported finding the Lower Moro campground entirely full, and having to hike on to the campgrounds further inland. You’ll also be sharing the trail with day hikers and mountain bikers, so don’t expect a lonely wilderness hike.

You’ll start out your trip at the new Crystal Cove State Park day use area, which comes complete with lots of parking, bathrooms, water fountains, a path to the ocean, and numerous picnic tables.

Crystal Cove State Park opened a new day use area in the summer of 2011.  This photograph shows the row of picnic tables that is adjacent to the parking lot.  There is a path that leads to the ocean, and also a path connecting the day use area to the trails leading into Crystal Cove State Park's inland wilderness. (Marc C. Perkins)
The new day use area at Crystal Cove State Park.

The trail leaves from the end of the parking lot, and after climbing all the way to the top of the coastal hills, you can look back on Crystal Cove State Park:

Continue reading Hiking in Crystal Cove State Park and camping at Lower Moro Campground

Fog and dew at Crystal Cove State Park: Atmospheric shots

I fell asleep and awoke to fog while camping in Crystal Cove State Park a few weeks ago. The flowers became beautifully covered in dew, so I spent most of my free time photographing them.

But what struck me as I was doing my closeup work was how much the fog changed the feel of the park. When the fog rolled in a few hours before sunset, the landscape changed from a dusty, hot California hillside covered in dry grass to something moodier, almost creepy.

A trail winds off in the distance behind scraggly foliage into a fog shrouded unknown up a hill.  Taken in Crystal Cove State Park on a foggy afternoon, just before sunset.  I love the creepy feel of this. (Marc C. Perkins)
A trail winds off in the distance behind scraggly foliage into a fog shrouded unknown at Crystal Cove State Park.

As the wisps of fog blew by, trails that used to be perfectly visible became shrouded in mist. The plants transformed from water-starved sticks to haunting menaces, stalking trails that led into nothing by grayness.

Mist on a foggy morning shrouds the trail as it passes through bushes in Crystal Cove State Park. (Marc C. Perkins)
Mist on a foggy morning shrouds the trail as it passes through bushes in Crystal Cove State Park.

And the spiderwebs seemed perfect for Halloween, the little droplets of water sometimes looking like a thousand little eyes peering out at you.

This spider web was covered in dew on a foggy morning at Crystal Cove State Park.  It looks creepy to me, especially since the droplets look like they have little eyes in them. (Marc C. Perkins)
The droplets of water on this spiderweb are especially creepy to me, as they almost look like they have eyes in them.
A spider web covered in varying sizes of dew droplets. (Marc C. Perkins)
A spider web covered in varying sizes of dew droplets.
A spider web covered in dew on a foggy morning at Crystal Cove.  This web has a cool shape: it's like a bowl on the bottom, with support strands running vertically. (Marc C. Perkins)
A spider web covered in dew on a foggy morning at Crystal Cove.

Photographers: How do you work in fog to capture the feel of it, without just ending up with pictures that look under-contrasty and bland?

Hopefully these images will please Greg, as he’s ribbed me about my lack of grayscale work.

More pictures

To see more pictures from the trip, head to my Crystal Cove State Park Wilderness Gallery or view my flowers, insects and spiders, self-portrait, and rattlesnake mating blog posts from the trip.

Getting There

Crystal Cove State Park: Located along Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) between Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach in Orange County, California. I camped at the Lower Moro Campsite, which is about a 2 mile hike in from the parking lot. Parking is plentiful at a new parking lot and picnic area past the Moro Campground (for RV’s), but you must pay either a day use fee for the state park or an overnight fee. The park is currently open from 6am – sunset; their website has lots of good information on it.

The insects and spiders of Crystal Cove State Park: bees, butterflies, and more!

I’ve already posted a few pictures from my recent backpacking trip to Crystal Cove State Park (flowers, self-portrait, rattlesnake mating). But as I was photographing dew-covered flowers on the foggy morning, I couldn’t help but notice the spiders in their spiderwebs.

This orb weaving spider is standing so that it appears to have only four legs.  Its cephalothorax is also covered in fine white hairs.  Seen on a beautifully foggy morning in Crystal Cove State Park, there are a few drops of dew on the spider itself and its web is covered in drops.   My best guess is that this is in genus _Argiope_.  I have a shot of this with better depth of field (all of the web's water droplets are in focus), if you would prefer that (but the background becomes distracting). (Marc C. Perkins)
An orb weaving spider in a dew covered web standing so that it appears to have only four legs. My best guess is that this is in genus _Argiope_.

I had to get up closer, of course:

This orb weaving spider is standing so that it appears to have only four legs.  Is it trying to pretend to be a vertebrate? Its cephalothorax is also covered in fine white hairs.  Seen on a beautifully foggy morning in Crystal Cove State Park, there are a few drops of dew on the spider itself.   My best guess is that this is in genus _Argiope_. (Marc C. Perkins)
Up close and personal, this spider (probably in _Argiope_) is just gorgeous on a foggy morning.

And, you know me, I’m not satisfied unless the subject is spilling out of the frame, but I’ll spare you from a third picture of the same spider in the same post.

Since I know spiders are everyone’s favorite critter, here’s another one I saw that morning:

A brown and tan orb weaver spider stands on its dew covered web in front of an orange background. (Marc C. Perkins)
A brown and tan orb weaver spider stands on its dew covered web in front of an orange background.

But I saw more than just spiders that morning. After the fog burned off, the day warmed up and a ton of insects came out to go about their business. Chief among them were dozens of bees buzzing around this plant:

A honeybee (_Apis mellifera_) forager samples the wares at an all-you-can-eat buffet of white and purple/yellow spike-inflorescence flowers in Crystal Cove State Park. (Marc C. Perkins)
A honeybee (_Apis mellifera_) forager samples the wares at an all-you-can-eat buffet of white and purple/yellow spike-inflorescence flowers in Crystal Cove State Park.

While most of the spider and flower shots I’ve already posted used my new macro lens on a tripod, the rest of theses shots tested out how the lens performed hand-held with fast-moving subjects. It worked very well, auto-focusing quickly and allowing me to get decent depth of field with shutter speeds fast enough to freeze motion:

A honeybee (_Apis mellifera_) forager sticks her antennae and forelegs into a small purple and white flower at Crystal Cove State Park.  The bee's pollen basket (corbicula) on her hind legs are stuffed full with tan pollen. (Marc C. Perkins)
A honeybee (_Apis mellifera_) forager sticks her antennae and forelegs into a small purple and white flower at Crystal Cove State Park. The bee's pollen basket (corbicula) on her hind legs is stuffed full with tan pollen.

Of course there were more than just bees and spiders out. My hiking partners spotted this cabbage butterfly flitting around on the trail, and the macro exceeded my expectations by allowing me to capture this image in the few seconds I had before the butterfly flitted away 1:

Continue reading The insects and spiders of Crystal Cove State Park: bees, butterflies, and more!

Location alert: Flowering agaves at Little Corona Beach

This past Monday I found myself in possession of a rare bit of spare time around sunset, so I zipped down to Little Corona Beach, which is just off Pacific Coast Highway in Corona Del Mar. My primary purpose for the trip was to try out my new three-stop neutral density filter, but I found a nice surprise at the entrance to the beach:

Two flowering agaves on the bluffs at Little Corona Beach, seen just before sunset.  I love the combination of classic California coastal bluffs in the background and the inflorescences in the foreground.  However, I don't like the sign in the foreground ... (Marc C. Perkins)
Two flowering agaves on the bluffs at Little Corona Beach, seen just before sunset. I love the combination of classic California coastal bluffs in the background and the inflorescences in the foreground.

The agaves were absolutely gorgeous, especially since their quickly-growing inflorescences could be composed with classic California ocean scenes in the background.

Two flowering agaves on the bluffs at Little Corona Beach, seen just before sunset.  I love the combination of classic California coastal bluffs in the background and the inflorescences in the foreground. (Marc C. Perkins)
Two flowering agaves on the bluffs at Little Corona Beach, seen just before sunset.

These inflorescences won’t be around forever. Just like the Agave I photographed earlier this year (gallery 1, gallery 2), the inflorescence will grow to a certain height, burst into flower, and then die (and then likely get ripped out by the landscapers, which is what happened to the one at OCC). Also, agaves typically flower only once during their entire lives.

So, local photographers, this is your only chance to capture these agaves at their peak. I’m no botanist, but my guess is that they’ll quickly grow too tall for their tips to be included in a sea-scape composition without a ladder. I don’t know how long it will be until they flower, either, but my guess is we’ve got a few weeks (as I didn’t see any flower buds present yet).

If you do go and photograph them, I’ve got only two requests:

  1. Respect the fence that protects the agaves and their surrounding vegetation. The bluffs are very delicate, and local groups have been working very hard to re-vegetate the area.
  2. If you do get some good shots, I’d love it if you could share them with everyone by posting a comment here linking to them.

Continue reading Location alert: Flowering agaves at Little Corona Beach

Rattlesnake mating: frantic sensuality in the grass

[Update February 28, 2012: Thanks to a most-excellent comment by Bryan Hughes, I now know that this is a post about aggression between two male rattlesnakes, not a male and female snake mating.]

A few weeks ago some friends and I camped overnight in Crystal Cove’s Lower Moro Campground. The morning was beautifully foggy, and I took a bunch of flower closeups while the dew was still around. But the sun eventually burned through the fog, and we packed up and headed for home.

As I was hiking I heard some rustling in the grass next to me beside the trail. Accustomed to hunting for lizards, I turned and looked to see what it was. Lizard? Bird? Rodent?

Rattlesnake.

No, wait.

Two rattlesnakes.

About that time my legs decided that they really didn’t like being about two feet from two writhing rattlesnakes, so my hiking partners and I quickly moved away. But luckily for us, the snakes were in the throes of passion, and didn’t seem to notice us at all. So, I pulled out my camera and started snapping.

My favorite shot of the bunch is this one:

I'm pretty sure these are two southern pacific rattlesnakes (_Crotalus oreganus_ helleri) mating.  I first noticed the pair when I was only a foot or two away from them on a trail; after moving a bit away I captured this shot of the two snakes wrapped around each other.  Sadly, I think my presence may have interrupted them. (Marc C. Perkins)
Two southern pacific rattlesnakes (_Crotalus oreganus_ helleri) mating. Click on the image to see it larger.

There the two have just picked themselves up after reaching up vertically and coiling around each other so much that they fell over. To see the entire sequence of them coiling, here’s a five-image composite:

A five image sequence of two southern pacific rattlesnakes (_Crotalus oreganus_ helleri) mating.  I first noticed the pair when I was only a foot or two away from them on a trail; after moving a bit away I captured these five shots of the two snakes wrapping around each other.  The top four images were captured over no more than 2 seconds total, and the large image was taken less than 7 seconds after the top four. (Marc C. Perkins)
A five image sequence of two southern pacific rattlesnakes (_Crotalus oreganus_ helleri) mating. The top four images were captured over no more than 2 seconds total, and the large image was taken less than 7 seconds after the top four. Click on the image to see it larger.

Shortly after that, however, either they were done or they noticed us. One of them slithered off into the bushes, while the other almost seemed to stand guard, staring out at us with tongue flicking.

Shortly after the amazingly-fast coiling seen in my prior images, the two snakes separated.  One slithered off into the brush, while the other started paying just a bit too much attention to me and my colleagues for my tastes.  So, we decided to part ways amicably; I even got a nice rattle as the snake slithered away. (Marc C. Perkins)
Shortly after the amazingly fast coiling seen in my prior images, the two snakes separated. One slithered off into the brush, while the other started paying just a bit too much attention to me and my colleagues for my taste. Click on the image to see it larger.

We took the hint and started to move off, and the guard snake did the same, giving us a nice rattle as it crawled into the brush.

It was easily one of the most exciting animal encounters I’ve had while hiking or backpacking. They were incredibly fast as they coiled and writhed, and their ritual was entrancingly beautiful.

Continue reading Rattlesnake mating: frantic sensuality in the grass

Flowers of Crystal Cove State Park: The joys of a foggy morning

A few weeks ago I went backpacking with a couple of friends in Crystal Cove State Park’s inland section. We camped overnight at the Lower Moro Campground, and were the only ones there. It was wonderfully peaceful.

Fog rolled in a few hours before the sun went down, so sunset, moon, and starry night shots were all out. But the fog hung around until well after dawn, leaving everything covered in a beautiful shroud of dew the next morning. It made for perfect macro photography, and my companions were patient enough to let me spend some time trying to capture the beauty.

I woke up to a foggy morning at Lower Moro campground in Crystal Cove, and found this beautiful little purple and white flower covered in dew.  I love the few strands of spider silk connecting the flower to its stalk, also covered in water droplets.  A botanist friend of mine identified this as _Stephanomeria sp._, a plant in Asteraceae. (Thanks Jeremy!) (Marc C. Perkins)
A beautiful way to wake up. I love the few strands of dew-covered spider silk connecting the flower to its stalk. A botanist friend of mine identified this as wreath plant, _Stephanomeria sp._, a plant in Asteraceae. (Thanks Jeremy!)

The same plant was also covered in tiny flower buds, which the dew accentuated gorgeously:

This small green and purple flower bud growing out of a stem is covered in dew on a foggy morning at Crystal Cove, and the dew is lensing the background into focus.  The few strands of spider silk are also covered in dew. A botanist friend of mine identified this as wreath plant, _Stephanomeria sp._, a plant in Asteraceae. (Thanks Jeremy!)
A small green and purple flower bud (_Stephanomeria sp._) covered in dew on a foggy morning at Crystal Cove.

I also got a picture of the same plant with both a flower bud and flower in the same frame, but I won’t bore you with that in this post.

Nearby there was a shrubby aster covered in bright yellow flowers:

This yellow Asteraceae flower is a composite flower (capitulum)consisting of multiple individual flowers attached to the same base.  Here the flowers on the outside of the composite flower (the ray florets) are open, but the inner flowers (the disk florets) are still closed.  The ray florets fuse their petals into one giant lobe.  See the next picture to see the same plant's flower with the disk florets open. This is most likely one of the several species of tarplant, possibly _Deinandra_. (Marc C. Perkins)
This yellow Asteraceae flower is a composite flower (capitulum) consisting of multiple individual flowers attached to the same base. Here the flowers on the outside of the composite flower (the ray florets) are open, but the inner flowers (the disk florets) are still closed. The ray florets fuse their petals into one giant lobe. This is most likely one of the several species of tarplant, possibly _Deinandra_.

Some of the inflorescences were just starting to open (above), while others were almost fully open (below):

Continue reading Flowers of Crystal Cove State Park: The joys of a foggy morning

Seabirds Food Truck: An excellent choice for your mobile food needs

She's sometimes busy cooking, so ordering isn't always instantaneous, but the bit of a wait is always worth it. (Marc C. Perkins)
Chef Stephanie Morgan of Seabirds takes an order.

Gourmet food trucks are all the rage right now in Southern California. Luckily for me, there’s a gathering of them every Thursday from 11-2pm at the Orange County Fairgrounds, which is just a short walk from my office at OCC. And there are other meetups nearby as well: SoCo Collection has food trucks Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday at lunch and Fridays for dinner.

A colorful menu for colorful food that's differnet from your typical food truck sliders and quesadillas.  I got there too late to enjoy their breakfast fare (that whole waking up early thing is hard). (Marc C. Perkins)
A colorful menu for colorful food that's different from your typical food truck sliders and quesadillas. I got there too late to enjoy their breakfast fare (that whole waking up early thing is hard).

Many trucks focus on meat, meat, and more meat, possibly with fries on the side. While this is delicious and all, there’s a decided lack of non-potato vegetables and non-meaty entrees. Don’t get me wrong; Louks has their delicious felafel gyro, Chomp Chomp has a great tofu burger, Flying Pig has their crunchy tofu bun, Crepes Bonaparte has a variety of non-meat fillings, Spud Runners has excellent grilled cheese sandwiches, and Chunk ‘n Chip’s ice cream sandwiches are to die for, but my favorite truck has to be Seabirds.

At Seabirds, their specialty is fresh and flavorful vegan burritos, tacos, burgers, soups and more. But don’t let the vegan designation scare you away: their food is delicious.

You know you want to try some of Seabrids's Jerk Jackfruit Tacos :) (Marc C. Perkins)
You know you want to try some of Seabirds's Jerk Jackfruit Tacos 🙂 They take jackfruit, process it so that it's somewhat meat-like in texture, and then coat it in Jamaican Jerk spices; it's delicious topped with salsa in a fresh corn tortilla.

They do wonderful things with jackfruit; the taco above is probably my favorite menu item. Another fan favorite is their beer-battered avocado tacos:

Continue reading Seabirds Food Truck: An excellent choice for your mobile food needs

Orange County Fair 2011: Action Shots

I’ve already posted about Michelle’s and my entries into the Orange County fair, which I visited about a week and a half ago. But after checking out our entries to see how we did, I had a whole afternoon free to spend at the fair. So, of course, I took pictures.

The ferris wheel was just gorgeous in the late afternoon light:

The Orange County Fairgrounds RCS ferris wheel, seen at the 2011 Orange County Fair.  The cars are numbered, and labeled with "La Grande Wheel." (Marc C. Perkins)
The Orange County Fairgrounds RCS ferris wheel, seen at the 2011 Orange County Fair. The cars are numbered, and labeled with "La Grande Wheel."

And an ox with a wooden yoke was being walked around, and didn’t mind a closeup:

A black and white ox at the 2011 Orange County Fair, with a wood yoke to pull a cart. (Marc C. Perkins)
A black and white ox at the 2011 Orange County Fair, with a wood yoke to pull a cart.

And this ride looked terrifying to me, but most of the people on it seemed to be having great fun:

Continue reading Orange County Fair 2011: Action Shots

Orange County Fair 2011: A Winner is Michelle!

I’m not the only person I know who entered the fair this year: Michelle also entered. She’s not a photographer; she’s a crafter, and this year she decided to enter a project into the Recycled Products Paper Crafts division.

Now, I may be biased, but her project is just awesome. She saved up security envelopes we’d received in the mail, precisely cut out 4″ squares of paper from un-damaged portions of the envelopes, and then folded these recycled-security-envelope-origami-paper pieces into a kusudama, or ball origami.

A still life detailing how Michelle
A still life detailing how Michelle's recycled security envelope kusudama (ball origami) was made. In this picture the project itself is only half finished, with two additional flowers (each consisting of five individual squares of cut out security envelope) next to it. One flower is facing away from the camera, so you can see the USPS bar code from the front of the envelope its segments were cut from. Different sizes of individual squares of paper are shown below the project.

Each individual flower consists of five segments that each started as a 4″ square of paper cut out of the same pattern security envelope. These five segments were folded individually, and then glued together into a flower. The entire project is made from 12 of these flowers glued together, and then hung from leftover embroidery floss from an old cross-stitch project. This picture shows how it’s displayed at the fair:

Michelle won first place  at the 2011 OC Fair for a kusudama (ball origami) project that made from recycled security envelopes.  This is the way her project was displayed.  Each individual unit of each flower was folded from a 4"x4" square of paper cut out from a security envelope we
Michelle's recycled security envelope kusudama (ball origami) displayed at the 2011 Orange County Fair.

Unlike with my photography entry, Michelle hadn’t received any e-mails inviting her to an award ceremony before my visit to the fair on Wednesday. So, it was with much excitement that I searched out her project in the craft exhibits, and saw this:

Michelle won first place  at the 2011 OC Fair for a kusudama (ball origami) project that she made from recycled security envelopes.  This is the display label for her project. (Marc C. Perkins)
Michelle won first place at the 2011 OC Fair for a kusudama (ball origami) project that she made from recycled security envelopes!

Congratulations, Michelle!

I, of course, took a ton of pictures. During this process a few groups of people stopped by to look at the project. All of them looked at it initially, thought the overall pattern was pretty, and started talking to each other about it (while I grinned happily inside). Then they started looking closer, read the description, realized it was made from security envelopes, and started to inquire about how Michelle must have done it. It was at that point that I had great pleasure to introduce myself and explain how it was made. It was a great afternoon, and a pleasure to meet so many friendly folks who think Michelle is as awesome as I do.

More pictures

To see more pictures from the fair, head to my Orange County Fair 2011 gallery.

Getting There

Orange County Fair: The Orange County Fair runs from July 15 to August 14 at the county fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA; they conveniently have a directions page here. Since I can just park on OCC’s campus and walk to the fair, I don’t know what the parking situation is like, sorry.

Photographing animals at the Newport Beach Animal Shelter

I’ve started volunteering with the Newport Beach Police Department’s Animal Control Unit to take pictures of their dogs and cats so they can add pictures to their Petfinder website. Last week was my first session with them, and I had a great time photographing about 20 animals in one afternoon.

First up were the dogs. Many of them were super-exited to be let out for a photography session, and thus just a smidgen hyper.  But this white husky was downright calm:

A white female siberian husky (Marc C. Perkins)
A white female siberian husky shakes the hand of an Orange County Humane Society worker.

And lots of the dogs had perfect “adopt me” expressions

A male brown bicolor terrier / American Pit Bull. N053 (Marc C. Perkins)
A male brown bicolor American pit bull terrier.
Beauty, a black female terrier / pit bull. (Marc C. Perkins)
Beauty, a black female pit bull terrier.

There was also a regal chihuahua, and a Pug who was just adorable:

Continue reading Photographing animals at the Newport Beach Animal Shelter