Año Nuevo
— — the winter the beach belongs to the seals.
Not only on a wall.
“A low headland on the California coast, fifty-five miles south of the Golden Gate. Spanish sailors saw it on the third of January, 1603, and named it for the year. The point is best known now for its elephant seals: two-ton males that come in on the surf each December, females and pups across the dunes by January. From mid-December through March the beach is closed to anyone without a docent. The fog stays late most mornings. The seals stay through April, then the dunes empty out again.
Año Nuevo, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
The place, in three passes.
A low, rocky, windswept point on the San Mateo County coast, about fifty-five miles south of the Golden Gate and twenty miles north of Santa Cruz. The 4,209-acre park sits along Highway 1, the Cabrillo Highway, near the small town of Pescadero. The point and the small offshore island that share the name were sighted on January 3, 1603, by the Spanish maritime expedition of Sebastián Vizcaíno; the expedition's chaplain, Antonio de la Ascensión, named them Punta de Año Nuevo for the day they first saw the coast. Long before that, the Quiroste, a coastal Ohlone people, lived seasonally on the headland to fish and gather shellfish. The park became a National Natural Landmark in 1980 and a state park in 1985.
The defining season at Año Nuevo is winter. Northern elephant seals, one of the largest mainland breeding colonies in the world, come ashore from early December through March. Bull seals fight for the beach through December and into January. Females give birth from late December through early February and nurse their pups for about a month. Weaned pups stay on the dunes through April, basking and learning to swim in the intertidal zone. Most adults are gone by mid-March. To protect the colony, the breeding beach is open only to docent-led groups between December 15 and March 31. The walks run about two and a half hours and cover three to four miles over coastal dunes.
Año Nuevo is one of the few California state parks that closes its main viewing area to the unguided public for the busiest months of the year. From December 15 through March 31, the elephant-seal beach is reachable only on a docent-led walk; reservations open in October through ReserveCalifornia and tend to fill quickly. The route covers about three to four miles round trip over loose sand and exposed bluffs, with little shade; closed shoes, layered clothing, a waterproof jacket, and water are the standard advice. The rest of the year, April through November, the trails are open without a permit, and a smaller permit system covers the spring and summer molting season when adult seals return to shed their coats.