Day II; Cambria and Big Sur

The winds had died off by early morning, and yesterday's cold front and "gail force" winds had left a thin salt and mineral crust on just about everything. I drove through beautiful Big sur, where recent wildfires and rock slides had left almost all public lands ruined and closed... The jade was waxy looking and dark- it jetted off the cliff like it had been sculpted to do so....
I woke up and it was surprisingly quiet. I guess that I just expected the same intense wind that we had yesterday and into last night. I packed the tent- it was still a bit wet and even a little sticky from the ocean's mist and the dew. I was packed very early; I certainly wasn't ready to leave this beautiful stretch of the Pacific ocean!
I walked down the the same beach that I had spent much of yesterday on. The air was quiet and the sky was just light enough to see the rest of the campgrounds. There was a chill in the air, but I expected it and had come prepared- even then, it was probably only 40 degrees or so. I got to the beach in time to witness the peak of sunrise and the birds began coming from every direction. I recognized a small, bright egret from yesterday, and a flock of seagulls that had adopted a small Canada goose. I walked the beach. There was tar here, too. I gathered some abalone and a handful of clear, root-beer colored agate. It seems that all of the jade here is the same light, milky kind as what I found yesterday. One piece is as large as my hand! I walked back to towards the camp as the sun and the surf rose- I was still the only one on the beach. The seagulls erupted; the goose did not hesitate to follow them over my head and to the far side of the sand.
I noticed a team of large birds in a lawn-type area off to the left of the road about halfway to the car. I heard them before I saw them- they sounded like quail. I was very excited to find such a large group of the Gambels' Quail. I approached and knelt slowly; They only made a bit more noise. It was when I stood again that they freaked.
The two dozen or so birds instantly split up into three or four groups- multiple birds grabbing onto a lead one. Each group sprinted for the cover of an isolated bush or to the thick stand of Lespedisia from which I assume they came.
Individually, the quail was rather awkward-looking when it ran; Like a round cannonball shot across the ground. The bird runs wildly without regard for obstacles or even direction. A neck appears- one that was not noticed when the things were just sitting or feeding. Atop the thick, tapering neck is a birds chubby face and a long black flag sticking strait out of the very top of its head and bent back with the wind. Little twig-legs popped out of the body like pistons on an engine to propel the quail and the bird floats.
I waited at a small outfitter shop in San Luis Obispo for about half an hour. I needed to replace the faulty fuel canisters that I had bought. The shops owner was nice- cut me a deal on what I needed.
I would have loved to stop in the small fishing community of Morro Bay, but they had all of the exits on the highway messed up- Cambria offered a similar experience. In cambria, I visited nothing but the hidden, colourful beach. It took a bit of effort to follow the "coatsal access" signs all of the way to the beach, but I made it. I walked down the old wood stairs- they were thick and rough- something like the wood you'd expect to find on an old pier or holding a railroad together. This section of the beach had potential- I recognized a thick-leaved thing growing on the sandy wall above the steps and you could hear the gulls immediately.
it was the sight of a giant tangle of Kelp that met me when I found the shore. The blob rolled around between many ragged boulders and under a thick, white mist so that it resembled some unpleasant sea-creature. the stench of a rotting kelp-monster was enough to fog this cloudless day. A wave came at me and he seamontser seemed o roll and writhe with the swell. The scene was somehing worthy of an old seaman's story. I walked between the exposed rock for just a few minutes- there was nobody else here. I gathered some jade from the bright beach and split- I was headed for the Big Sur area! A vista point offered a nice break from the driver's seat. I must have chosen the right one!
The beach just below the small pull-off was covered in NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEALS!

Only one of the creature was close enough to see clearly; he looked like velvet. Big brown eyes and a monster nose!

There were several hundred spread out on the beach south of me- every one of them seemed perfectly happy just laying in the sun. Some were huge- others were more like a giant harbor seal. A male N. Elephant seal can reach lengths of over fourteen feet, and will weigh multiple tons! The giant nose thing that hangs off of their face is used for vocalization during breeding season. They were wonderful to see- though they did nothing more than bask in the sun!

I gave a quick glance at a map and my rock-book. I was to look for Willow Creek, just a mile past the town of Gorda; I was hunting for Jade!

It was not to long after I got on the road and started into the steep, winding cliff sides of Big Sur's country that I started seeing dark , waxy deposits of something in the road cuts. Though I drove past many of them, I couldn't help but think about the possibility of the blck-Green blobs actually being the gem that I was headed for?
I past several other patches of it on the wall above the highway and decided to stop at the next sight of the stuff. Though even once I had made up my mind to stop, I past the spots to quickly to put my breaks on and risk anyone who might be coming around a bend to fast. I hit Gorda and was even more sure that the mysterious globs of dark stone to my right had to be Nephrite!
It was only a half mile further that I was able to slow down and pull off. I did; The black rock was just a few hundred feet back on the side of one the largest road cuts that I had driven past. Greys and browns and tans and waxy-green rose many feet from both sides of the road here.
I made it to one of the areas and picked up a hunk of the material- I held Jade!

The vein was several feet thick here- thicker than the spots I had seen before; I took some photos of the wall and waved to a honking car that was probably laughing at me. Maybe 5 or 6 pounds? that's all I took of the dark greenstone. Some was very black and other stuff was a very light green- there was not much of the in-between. Even scored a hand-sized piece of lime-green, fibrous actinolite. The stones were secured in the trunk and I could see WillowCreek's bridge only a quarter-mile off. Down the hill and I was there.
the beach at willow Creek is easily accessible; you can drive the steep road straight down to the beach! It is long and the sand is coarse and dark. The creek itself comes from a deep canyon and spills out onto the beach where is it wide and clear. It spills out the jade that its taken from the Santa Lucia Range. There are several parts of the beach that host a coarser stone. Rocks and boulders form small areas of rip-rap on each end; this is where I am told to search for the valuable, gemmy crystal.
Immediately I found a hunk of the dark stuff.opaque, but it was still nice. You can tell jade apart from other green stones on the beach by scratching it with a pocket knife; Jade is harder than steel and will not scratch. Most pieces here do not require such a test for positive identification- much is translucent to some degree...
A man walked past me to return to his vehicle; An older, rough-looking guy who did not appear to belong on the beach. He held a sack of stones in his hand. I spotted another knelt and starring at the ground close to the water; I knew exactly what he was up to!

A SanFransico man; Gary had abandon his family on the far side of the beach. He stood on his hands and knees above a wet, grey hole and brushed the sticky pebbles off of his hands to show me his favorite piece of jade. It was a small thing- no larger than a dime, but it did glow in the sunlight. The most brilliant green you've ever seen! "hoping to get out of buying a Christmas gift..." he told me."The wife loves this stuff!"
I placed the piece back in his hand and thanked him. He wasted no time in getting back to his work! I walked maybe sixty feet closer to the pacific ocean and knelt to the ground; There was no jade on the surface, but it was a matter of inches before I exposed a beautiful, polished gem! I returned to the car within minutes with a handful of Jasper and Jade. It took several hours to fill an opened soda can with the most beautiful material on the beach.
Gary rushed towards me. He was very excited about something... He asked if I was having any luck, but I knew that such simple conversation was not why he was standing over me. When he couldn't keep it in any longer was when he told me about the Jade outcropping that he had discovered on a bluff above the creek. The raw stuff that I identified just before I reached this area.
I shared his excitement and he took me up the creek a bit to point me in the direction of the rock. I spent a last few minutes gathering the glassy stuff from the coarse beach and headed up willow creek. There is a small trail that starts under the Highway's bridge and ends at the Jade. I followed the trail through a bit of thick brush and a stand of some beautiful, tall grass with great-big heads.

the stone was the same kind that I found up the road- dark, waxy greenstone. There was a lot more of the light-coloured fibrous stuff in this outcropping . It looks so fragile; individual filaments are much thinner than any hair you could pluck from my head- barely visible.

I gathered enough to fill the pouch that I made out of the front of my t-shirt. The stash was very heavy by the time I made it back to the car.

I stashed the jade and hit the beach one more time for some photos. Gary and his family waved at me from their big red pickup. Hope he got some good ones!

Knelt down to pick up a suspicious dark stone. It was of a smooth, oblong shape that should be a pendant- It just seemed to have been carved and polished like something that needed to be around my neck.

It was jade, but it was very dark; I held it to the sun for a better look at anything the rock had to offer. It was amazing- even in the sun, the center of the stone is as dark as it could be. a few sections of the edge, and the two ends of it are all the same brilliant crystal-green that had been displayed on a few of the finest small pieces. there is a streak of that colour that runs across the stone with some odd white blooms sprinkled in it- reminds me of the milky way. The stone is gorgeous- a work of art- and is by far my favorite for the day; It still needs to be hung around my neck but I am afraid to hurt it or to take anything away from it by changing it with a small hole- cant say I would even have it polished! This one is PONAMU.
I was ready to go- completely satisfied with my rocks!
The plan was to spend the night just a short ways north- there are many state and NFS parks and campgrounds. They were all closed. Every one of them!
I made my way up the coast over the course of the afternoon; The land is burned and dry. Warnings of the rock slides were as common as the hand-painted "Thank you Firemen" signs that sat in front of homes and businesses. It was nothing less than mind-blowing to see such vast, steep acreage scorched and bare. It was beautiful and peaceful in a strange way. It was dead and ugly in another. I was far north of Big sur by sunset; Went a lot further north than I expected to today; there were just no open campgrounds. The area is too busy to pull off on the side of the road.
I still don't know what to think of the burned land. I need to see the fire.