One thing common about most of our stops along the coast on our tour of the Pacific Coast from Big Sur to Olympic National Park has been sea stacks, rocks and islands that were once part of headlands but are now part of the ocean. The most famous is Face Rock in Bandon, Oregon.In case you don’t see the face, Peggy provides a clue. Face Rock comes with a Native American story about its origins. A native princess went swimming in the ocean carrying a basket with a cat and kittens. She was grabbed by a ferocious sea monster who tried to force her to look at him so she would be his slave forever. She resisted by looking up at the sky, where she remains today. Her cat and kittens can be seen off to the right.I like the creation story. Geologists have another. Sea stacks are created by the constant pounding of the waves against rock, at first creating a cave. Over time, usually millions of years, the cave enlarges until it becomes an arch.Such as this arch, which is still connected to the mainland in Mendocino. (I used this photo a few weeks ago on our Mendocino Headlands Post.) Eventually the arch will fall down and leave behind a new sea stack. We found it interesting that we could see a speck of light in the middle of the arch. Possibly a new sea stack will be created sooner rather than later.Peggy and I walked through a sea cave on the Bandon coast that will eventually create a new sea stack. This is a photo of Peggy.She took this photo from the other side of the cave looking out toward the ocean, which brings me to another point. Face Rock was not the only impressive sea stack off of the coast of Bandon. There were bunches.A closer view. The Fickle Finger of Fate, perhaps. (Those of you who are older may remember Rowan and Martin’s Fickle Finger of Fate Award that they gave out on their weekly TV show. For example, the US Congress got one.)Peggy and I promptly named this Sea Lion after the sea lions we saw posing along the Noyo River in Fort Bragg.You can see why.Another impressive sea stack. I’m thinking Man in the Moon at half phase.Group photo…We came back to the Face Rock Overlook to check out the sea stacks as the sun set. This is the Cat and the Kittens. In case you can’t see them, neither can I. Several photographers were down on the beach hoping to catch a good sunset.This was the view looking south from the Face Rock Overview.A close-up.The sunset was also good for catching waves splash over rocks.Face Rock, backlit by the setting sun. In line with our ability to see creatures of all sorts in natural settings, Peggy found a pair of eyes staring back at her when she took a final sunset photo. That’s it for today. Next up we will feature our day of exploring tide pools in Bandon.Sea Stars were everywhere when we checked out the tide pools at Devil’s Kitchen in Bandon, Oregon.
Wandering through Time and Place 