La Jolla, California–The day began with no plans and nothing but clouds but ended with a beautiful sunset in Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

I was in California for The 103rd Rose Bowl Game, to visit my brother in San Diego and to hopefully visit Yosemite National Park for the time. I was very excited because I had never been to a National Park before and having Yosemite be the first one I went to was very exciting.

Unfortunately, the weather had other plans.

As the temperatures warmed, what was forecast to be an entire week of snow turned to be an entire week of unrelenting rain and flooding. The park was unfortunately going to be closed the weekend that we were going to be there – so we had to make other arrangements for things to do.

After searching around for places in the area, we found Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

We packed up and hit the road. A quick 20 minutes later we arrived and began hiking.

It was later in the afternoon now and the first sight we were greeted with was awesome. Silhouetted were these hikers standing, taking in the view at the Park:

hi-res/prints: photos.tmahlmann.com

The aerials I was able to capture were also incredible. The sheer size of the bluffs blew my mind.

hi-res/prints: photos.tmahlmann.com

hi-res/prints: photos.tmahlmann.com 

This was my favorite aerial from the day:

hi-res/prints: photos.tmahlmann.com

After that, the sun quickly began to dash behind the clouds along the horizon. Luckily I was able to grab a shot right before it disappeared for the evening: 

hi-res/prints: photos.tmahlmann.com

But my favorite of all, was this shot of people on that same rock from much closer up with the sunset colors silhouetting them. 

hi-res/prints: photos.tmahlmann.com

I have recently launched my Patreon page where I share behind-the-scenes photos, settings, and for certain patronage levels – you could get a free personalized 2018 calendar of your favorite 12 photos of mine from 2017. If you would like to support the continuation of my photography the single best way is to become one of my Patrons.

Thanks, and see you tomorrow for another photo story!

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