At The Backroads

Torrey Pine, Dusk

Torrey Pines State Reserve is my favorite place in San Diego to enjoy the ocean, to hike, to hear the pounding waves, to see wildlife, and to enjoy sunset. There are 8 miles of hiking trails at the Reserve on top of the bluffs. For those who wanted more miles to hike, can combine the different hiking trails. For us, since we usually park on the shoulder of North Torrey Pines Road, if it is low tide, we would usually walk along the shore first, for what you see on top of the bluffs are different from what you see along the shore. Along the shore, you have the naturally painted and sculpted sandstone cliffs on sight.

Sandstone Cliffs, Late Afternoon

If we come to Torrey Pines at about 30 minutes before the sunset, we would usually start walking on the shore first before going up the bluffs so we are assured that we watch the sun kiss the horizon, and not being hidden by any bluffs or trees on top of the reserve.

Sunset @ Torrey Pines

We walk towards Flat Rock which is 1 mile from the North Entrance. Then, after watching the sun disappearing in the horizon, we would climb up the stairs towards any of the trails to the top of the Reserve.

Stairs To the top of Torrey Pines State Reserve

Since 2 weekends ago, I featured the sunset we had at Broken Hills, yesterday, we took the Beach Trail instead. As the sun disappeared, and as we moved up the hill, the sky slowly changed color from yellow to orange to pink.

Torrey Pines State Reserve, Dusk

Torrey Pines State Reserve, Dusk

Torrey Pines State Reserve, Dusk

The Torrey Pine @ Dusk

Torrey Pine tree is the rarest native pine in the United States. The seeds of Torrey Pines are edible nuts. They only grow in two places on Earth, one here at Torrey Pines State Reserve, and the other at Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands National Park off Santa Barbara Coast. 

What is special about this tree? Let me quote Hank Nicol (http://www.torreypine.org/parks/torrey-pine.html )

“What is special about Torrey Pine? It is not the rarest pine in the world. The Dalat pine is. It isn’t even the rarest tree in California. That’s the Monterey cypress. The Torrey pine doesn’t grow to a great size like a redwood. It doesn’t grow to a great age like a bristlecone pine. It isn’t known for excellent lumber like a sugar pine. Torrey pine wood is brittle, rots easily, and doesn’t even make a good fire. The Torrey pine doesn’t even have the dubious distinction of being endangered. So, “what’s special about a Torrey pine?” The Torrey pines along the sea cliffs suffer from persistent drought. Their roots are growing in poor sand which can hardly be called “soil”. The trees are blasted by storms and cooked in the sun. Some trees die, but the species lives stubbornly on. Some trees, like some people, develop character during hard times. That’s what I think is special about the Torrey pine…, character! ”

The Torrey Pine @ Dusk

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