Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay is one of the most beautiful stretches of coastal highway in the country. There are countless sandy-beach coves, many completely inaccessible from the cliffs above – yet there are dozens of roadside parking turnoffs and state parks to explore, to surf and, of course, many places to eat.
Half Moon Bay gets hit not only by PCH tourist traffic, but thousands weekend Highway 92 mountain hoppers from the Silicon Valley. So, it certainly competes with Carmel-By-Sea for fancy shops and restaurants. But not for me, or the locals.
I drove up here on Saturday, with the sole intent to shoot roadside wildflowers with my new 100mm macro lens. The plan was to drive up, scope out some sites, have lunch, and then stop for photos on the way back in late afternoon warm sunlight.
After a near-perfect lunch, I headed back to the car, opened the truck and unpacked my gear – discovering I left the 100mm lens at home. Damn. Oh well, the drive home was so glorious on its own it didn’t matter.
