Santa Monica Mountains - Coral Canyon Drive - Post Fire Moonscape and The Green Flash…
Day Off, My first thought is were is the nearest State or National Park. The closest of both is the Santa Monica Mountains, north of Malibu, Ca. NPS Map of area:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/samo/maps/maps.htm
This Famous area has too many points of interest to list here. I do plan to explore every inch of this marvelous Mountain Range. It is a conglomeration of many State and Federal Parks, plus Mulholland Highway, the westernmost extension of Mulholland Drive, it runs right thru the middle. What a fun drive! Picture this, mountain roads, Hard left, hard right, tires squealing, Motorcycles passing you at breakneck speed, scenery that makes your Jaws drop. Pictures to follow, this time I had too much fun just driving…
This trip, our mission was to go to this legendary Place, Solstice Canyon. Right in Malibu.
http://www.nps.gov/archive/samo/maps/solstice.htm . So…
We did our drive down Mulholland, turned onto Malibu Canyon drive and headed into Malibu. Turned on PCH, the Pacific Coast highway, Heading north, turning left at the 76 gas station, Coral Canyon Drive. we did not know it but Solstice canyon is closed till March, 2008 due to the horrific fires that destroyed 49 homes. Tragedy stuck this awesome, beautiful scenic area. I guess some careless idiots, started a forest fire:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fire25nov25,0,1465891.story?coll=la-home-center
So, I drove up Coral Canyon Drive, the road that parallels Solstice canyon, Wow what a drive and the fire also struck here, but they were very lucky, most homes were spared. We came around this one turn near the top and saw this moonscape scene above. Nothing can prepare you for the smell and the utter barrenness. It looks just like a Moonscape, less the astronauts…
After a scenic ride thru Malibu and the PCH, we saw the sun setting and stopped for a Shoot. Just seconds After the sun set…
I caught my first Elusive post sunset Green Flash on Film… Below.
Top Photo Taken on: 12-02-07 3:30PM
Model:Nikon D80 Shutter Speed:1/125th Second F-Stop:f11 ISO:100
Focal length:11mm Lens: Tamron 11-18mm
Bottom Photo Taken on: 03-25-07 4:47PM
Model:Nikon D80 Shutter Speed:1/320th Second F-Stop:f16 ISO:400
Focal length:200mm Lens: Nikon 70 - 300mm VR
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