On the Edge of the Ocean
There is no shortage of beautiful panoramic views throughout the city of San Diego, California. One could clearly run along Harbor Island with it’s scenic view of the downtown skyline, take a hike around the Historic Lighthouse at Pont Loma, or handpick anyone of the famous beaches along the coast from Ocean all the way up to La Jolla. And while I was tempted to run in each of these locations, I was persuaded by my co-workers that Sunset Cliffs was the ideal locale to run ocean-side.
I arrived to work at 6AM and left at 2:30PM in order to take full advantage of each and every day since clear blue skies and 75 degree weather were a constant fixture in this city. My co-workers apologized for the poor weather because “it was partly cloudy” (until 10AM) and then the sky cleared like clockwork everyday! I would say San Diego-ans are spoiled rotten but they aren’t. They just chose to live in a place where the weather is picture perfect 95% of the time!
My good friend Pat grabbed me from a beach social at Mission Bay (an after work get together of course) and drove toward sunset cliffs as we prepared for an hour long trek overlooking the sea…
When we arrived at the cliffs, we a saw signage posted every couple of hundred feet: Danger. Sheer Unstable Cliffs. STAY BACK.
Ever so carefully, I walked near (just near mom) the edge of the cliffs and prepared a little commentary before our run. The panoramic view was breathtaking. To the left and right as far as the eyes could see were an endless amount of cliffs parallel to the sea. Below me – a solid couple hundred foot drop to the ocean floor. In front of me – a glowing sun symmetrically reflecting off the sky and calming body of water.
We zigzagged through the sandy path (about 5-10 feet from the cliffs) carefully avoiding bystanders sitting in chairs sipping on cold beer, couples comfortably nestled up together on towels and cars hugging the roads absorbing the ever-changing scenery. I wish I had a time lapse camera to capture the sunset throughout the duration of this run; however, I was able to secure a handful of images along the way. I will have to put the other images in my mental vault and store them away for safe keeping.
As the sun continued to set, we headed back towards the car. The sun was about to dip into the sea so we quietly filmed a wrap-up so as not to disturb the locals from enjoying that special moment of their day. As the sky turned into night, I found myself snapping one last shot.
I became lost in my own thoughts but I wasn’t lost at all…I was just in paradise.