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I’ve seen brown pelicans at eye level on the Carmel River, far away on ocean boulders in the Carmel Bay, or flying over my head along the Monterey Coast, but until this week I’d never directly looked down at them. It happened across the way from what is called Coal Chute Point at Point Lobos. I was simply standing on a much higher spot on Granite Trail to gain this vantage point. I was careful since a hiker fell to his death this week taking a selfie at the nearby cliffs at Garrapata State Park and I don’t glide effortlessly like a pelican.