Torrey Pines Nature Reserve

Finally today was warm and sunny, a T-shirt and shorts kind of day. After breakfast we decided to walk some of the trails in the Torrey Pines Nature Reserve. The trails are very short, so we decided on the longest one which was about 3.5 miles. The reserve is home to the nation’s rarest pine tree, Pinus Torreyana (the Torrey Pine) which only grows here and on Santa Rosa Island. The reserve, which is about 2,000 acres, consists of a plateau overlooking the beach and lagoon that is vital for many migrating seabirds. The sandstone on the cliffs is crumbling and people have been injured by rockfalls. 

We set off from the lodge and walked the south fork of Broken Hill trail. It is a very clearly laid out path, wide and sectioned off to keep people on the trails to protect the wildlife in the vegetation beyond the trail path. There were some pretty wild flowers, and the views were spectacular. This image is of Broken Hill, with its heavily eroded sandstone rocks.The trail leads down to the beach (1st extra), and we walked along the beach to South Beach. We chatted to a photographer taking photos of the nesting Peregrine Falcons in the cliffs, and our conversation veered from birds of prey to the lack of funding at universities for research programs, as her daughter, like Anna, has struggled to get on a PhD program due to funding cuts and has spent four years doing unpaid internships. 

All morning there were a range of military aircraft flying overhead, San Diego is the world's second largest surface ship naval base so the aircraft are often doing drills in the morning. Tommy was very excited to see an Osprey helicopter and many other naval jets flying overhead. We have heard them every morning but because of the cloud cover did not see them, today because of the clear skies we were able to see them. The US defence budget is huge and just the thought of what the cost of these drills are every day is mind blowing.

We had a light lunch back at the lodge then Tommy went to the driving range while Gavin and I went to photograph some other sites - the Temple of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Temple (2nd extra). It is difficult to photograph as it is currently closed for renovations and access is denied as it is a construction site, but I managed to get a shot of it over the fence as best as I could. It is a striking building and very noticeable in the area as its architecture is very unusual amongst all the other modern buildings. 

We then went to the nearby University of California San Diego (UCSD) as it has some fascinating modern buildings. The campus is huge, about 40,000 students on 2,178 acres and it is very strong in STEM subjects, having 19 research units, 8 schools of medicine research units, 6 research units at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This is where Anna is starting her Masters program in September, which she hopes will lead to a PhD if they get funding - a big if! At the centre of the university is the Geisel Library, named after Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr Seuss) following a donation of $20 million by his wife Audrey Geisel (3rd extra). There were many students having photos taken in their graduation gowns as I presume graduation has taken place for some of them.

Tonight we are dining in the hotel, we are missing Luke as he is back in London but it's good for the four of us to be together. Tommy flies home tomorrow, and we follow on Sunday.