La Loberia Cliffs

It's been a little bit since I actually hiked out to the cliffs at La Loberia, but I figure photos are always appreciated.   Past La Loberia, the sheltered bay with massive waves further out, a trail cuts across the rocky beach and the scrubby grass behind it.  And by "rocky beach," I really mean "rocky."  There's approximately 0 sand, so it's a bit of a trek to cross the rough, black basalt, even though the distance isn't that far.  I had to constantly watch my steps to ensure I did smash a toe into a rock or twist an ankle (there's not a whole lot of ankle protection in chacos).  After the rocks, there was a stretch of similar terrain further back from the shore- the rocks were still there, but surrounded by grass and dirt.  After all the level walking, I finally reached the uphill section to the top of the cliffs.  There were a couple small walls, a couple meters high, and some steep scrambles, but nothing too terrible.  At the top of the rise, it was an easy walk over the flat surface (the unbroken top of some 2-million year old lava flow) to the edge, where the rock dropped away and only the sky, wheeling frigate birds, and crashing waves was before me.  

waves crashing to the right of the point

birds on the cliffs

From the main point of the cliffs, they wall is concave to the left, create a walled-pool where breaking waves congregate to surge over the broken rocks at the water line.  The dark blue of the Pacific turns a little lighter as it approaches shore, then cuts to white from all the froth below the cliffs.  A group of turtles was riding the waves  just beyond the frothy zone, rising up as the waves rush along the surface, then sinking back down as the wave passes.  The cliffs are also a major nesting ground for the sea birds of the islands.  A lone pelican perched at the top of the cliffs, and blue-footed boobies and frigate birds nested on the surface, staining the ledges white.  The boobies were mostly sedentary, but many of the frigate birds, las frigatas wheeled overhead, swooping low over the top of the cliff, just a few feet above me, before turning back over the ocean or to continue over me to the far side of the arch to nest on the rocks.  It looked like the pecking order had the frigate birds at the top- a couple times a saw una frigata swoop down to a ledge where a boobie was perched, and the boobie always left to search for a new perch while the frigate bird claimed the stolen ledge.

the wave going out