Stacks and Rocks

Murky Morning. Cayucos Beach.

Surfers. Cayucos Beach.

Sea Stack. South Beach.

Before I meandered toward Morro Bay on September 10^th I braved the morning fog and drizzle on Cayucos Beach for one last shot of the empty strand. Then I drove to the southern most point on the beach for a photograph of two surfers walking south and another of a sea stack cloaked with cormorants. Five miles south I entered Morro Bay and drove straight to Morro Rock for a wide view back at downtown Morro Bay and the smokestacks that still stand after the power plant closed a dozen years ago. A sailboat motored to open water along spit of land.

Power plant in fog. Morro Bay.

Motoring to open water. Morro Bay.

Since the power plant closed the plan has been to demolish it, but the town can’t afford to tear it down. It’s a situation that suits most locals just fine. To them and to me for that matter the three stacks and Morro Rock are the symbols of the tourist town. The town’s nickname is “Three Stacks and a Rock” after all.

I’m more drawn to the stacks than the rock anyway, especially in dense fog.