Limantour is a popular beach, along the southern sweep of the Pt. Reyes peninsula. Near the parking lot, it's pretty much like any beach you might go to, with gentle Drake's Bay surf washing onto the shore. But take the hike a mile or more south, and you leave ordinary behind.

For the Birds

You don't find quite as many visitors willing to make the mile-long walk down the beach, so it's naturally a favorite of the locals.

Here we check in on some Willets, right about the place where the grassy sand dunes behind the beach grow into sandstone bluffs,

Sculpture Sighted

Curtains

Where the loose sandstone and aggregate meets ocean air and water, you start to get dramatic curtains of stone overlooking even more dramatic sedimentary material. The parking lot is almost two miles away, barely visible at the left edge of the picture.

All along this part of the beach, the geology is picturesque. This square foot shows many layers of history.

Texture under Toe

Strange Formation

Of course not all of the formations are geological. Somebody had some fun balancing a few stones in this tiny grotto along the cliff face.

There are several natural bridges along this part of the shore, and here's one of them, under a formation that juts several yards into the waves.

Natural Bridges

Another View

Same place. Different angle. Different wave.