Shark Tooth Beach

Hwy 1 Davenport, CA

By Kimberly Maroon

Many Trips.

From the very first time, road tripping with Ellen O’Reilly, I knew this spot was going to be on repeat. I already started missing it when I was there. I loved being in the cove. Even with people there, it still felt like a secret treasured place.

The experience was so different each time. Different times of day, different weather, or elements to the beach. I guess that’s what the California Coast is all about—a dynamic landscape, always in a state of flux. Capturing images of this landscape felt like a reverse of street photography. I have spent the greater part of my life focused on the people in moments in places, the people are the movement, the dynamic element. With a camera, you’re hanging on and holding out for those split seconds of time when something for lack of better words ‘just lines up.’ Through photographing landscapes, I learned the importance of repetition and patience—there are many more elements at work beyond light and shadow. Weather, clouds, haze, fog, the physical forms of how the bluffs carve and catch light, and then the complexity of people.

The scale of this place was overwhelming for me and I could not imagine translating that without the people.

Finding the Path

Ellen came down from Oakland one Sunday afternoon and we set out on a hunt for the tooth (or fin if you prefer). Driving up Rt 1 from Santa Cruz was breathtaking as usual, sun shining, crisp clean ocean air. Finding the cove was slightly difficult as it is not accurately pinpointed on GPS. I handled the driving while El looked over the side of the bluffs to spot the top of the tooth. We parked, crossed the railroad tracks covered in sand, and found the start of the steep path to the beach. It was very dry so we made sure to step on rocks or dance on the sides to get down. There was a nice tunnel of poison ivy at the bottom to break your fall if you happened to slip.

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Geocaching

It wouldn’t be a day with Ellen without geocaching. If you don’t know, you should look into it. Geocaching is a treasure hunt in the wild, all maintained by the community of geocachers. Containers are hidden mostly in urban areas, but there were a bunch around Shark Tooth Beach including one inside an old mining tunnel. El and I found all the caches except the one in the cave. We needed better footwear and a big headlamp for that one. I was impressed with the creativity of hiding places and the efficiency of the containers to handle the outdoor elements.

Someone wouldn’t put it that close to the edge of the cliff! Right?!

Sunset casting a warm glow across the bluffs.

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Loving a place isn’t enough, you have to protect it. -Patagonia

I challenged myself not to always have my camera up and learned to enjoy just being there. The real experience was better than any photo anyway. I discovered that the photos of Shark Tooth Beach attracted more and more people to find it and visit it. I would have to go very early in the morning if I wanted to beat the crowds. However wonderful it was that more people were enjoying this beach, they would leave the remnants of bonfires and trash behind. One morning I visited just after sunrise after driving up to Pescadero. I walked around the cove looking for trash. People must have been hanging out there the night before. My arms were filled with plastic bottles, glass bottles, and empty backs of potato chips.

Really, how is this ok?

It’s very sad to me to know that some don’t respect these extraordinary places. Now, I almost feel a twinge of guilt when I share photos of Shark Tooth Beach. Images shared over and over again through instagram, flickr, facebook, twitter, especially with hashtags and locations tags has had some unique effects. On one hand, location tags allow you to escape to a place from the one you are presently in. Yet on the other hand, viewing these images drives you to experience these places in person. I admit that a photo* of Shark Tooth Beach enticed me to find it and experience it for myself.