It had been about 1 3/4 years since I first visited Newport Beach’s Crystal Cove State Beach, about 3 miles south of downtown NB.  Crystal Cove State Park has three main features:  The beach itself; the cottages along the beach’s periphery and the semi-arid canyons which lead up into the coastal hills.  With my friend Janet, who lives in the area, I made a second exploration of the first two on the morning of April 1.  The beach was experiencing a rising tide, the opposite of what we had seen the first time I was here, in the Fall of 2011, just after I had brought my son to San Diego Naval Base for his tour of duty, which is now approaching the end of Year 2.

I walked down to the beach, from Los Trancos Parking Area, using an underpass, which has a delightful series of murals, mostly painted by Newport Beach school children.

The Los Trancos area has a few short trails of its own, with pleasant coastal hill scenery.

The tunnel is safe and scenic, as well.

Along the beach, I found limestone and shale rocks, with various degrees of barnacles, lichen and moss growing atop, and in the crevices.

The last photo shows a rock which could have been used as currency, back in the days of huge stones representing extreme wealth.

The drought in SoCal is far from over, yet I saw more vegetation here this time, than in October, 2011.

The cliff on the right was barren last time, and I explored its crevices, imagining the Luiseno people using it for a seasonal residence, in pre-Spanish days.

The cottages, as Janet has mentioned, are in disrepair on the north side of the restaurant.  There has been serious deterioration, over the past two years.

The flowers, however, are showing California resilience.

I plan to re-visit the area in October, 2014, and stay for 2-3 days in one of the cottages that is still available for overnight rent.