Jalama Beach and Point Conception, California

This area feels like the edge of a map. The hike from Jalama Beach to Point Conception exposes this area as a true wilderness of empty bluffs and big surf. You know you are walking a section of coastline very few people reach. Point Conception, known as the Cape Horn of the Pacific Coast, is where the California coastline abruptly turns from north-south to east-west. This creates colliding wind patterns, strong upwelling and rough seas that have wrecked ships for centuries. This is the area where the Pacific's cold northern waters meet the warm southern waters. To the Chumash, Point Conception is Humqaq, the “Western Gate”. It is believed to be the departure point where souls leave this world and a boundary between physical and spiritual realms.