Immerse Yourself into an Unforgettable California Spectacle--Pacific Grove's Famous Winter Residents

Each winter, east of the Rockies, millions of Monarch Butterflies migrate to the fir forests of Mexico's Central Highlands in the Sierra Madre mountains in the states of Mexico and Michoacán, west of Mexico City, the place where they winter from October to late March. West of the Rockies, they will migrate to the eucalyptus trees in California's Pacific Grove near the Point Pinos Lighthouse. I have seen it. It is an awe-inspiring sight.

Looking up from the ground below the tree's outstretched branches, you view what you think are its leaves, but you notice something out of the ordinary. As you zoom in with the telescopic lens of your camera, an extraordinary spectacle comes into focus. You are treated to a vision of a restless sea of orange and black clinging to the canopy of leaved branches. The brilliantly colored Monarch Butterfly is among the most easily recognizable butterfly species that call North America home.

The Monarch Butterfly is a work of art. The wingspan of a full-grown adult can reach nearly five inches. If one of these soft denizens of the air landed on your hand, you would barely notice it. They are as light as a feather. Yet, they can navigate winds that would challenge your steady balance. These beautiful and delicate creatures are a marvel of technological miracles and achieve a feat no human can do without the assistance of instrumentation to guide them. They often go unnoticed by us humans until they begin their monumental migration, a time when you will see hundreds of them flying through your neighborhoods.

With no training, no map, and using a brain about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen, the Eastern Monarch Butterfly makes the epoch journey from Canada to the small patch of forest in Mexico. How does this astounding insect find its way? It utilizes a built-in solar compass.

Up to four generations will make the journey north from spring to summer. Each generation will travel several hundred miles, lay eggs, and die, typically living from 2 to 6 weeks. While consecutive short-lived generations make the journey north, the season's last generation will complete the entire trip back to its place of origin in Mexico all on its own.

How does the last generation know it is time to leave? Its biological clock tells it the time has come. It stops laying eggs, builds muscle, and stores fat. As a result of this process, it grows larger, flies ten times as far, and lives eight times as long as the previous generations, up to 8 to 9 months longer. It is a butterfly super-generation.

Next, its solar compass heading flips from north to south, and it begins its way back to a place it had never been to or seen. After a two-month journey and up to 3000 miles, millions of them arrive at the exact location where their spring relatives wintered and began the seasonal odyssey north.

The Monarch Butterfly and its migration did not slowly evolve over time, it was ingeniously designed. It is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration similar to birds, aside from the Painted Lady Butterfly. Unlike other butterflies, which can overwinter as larvae, pupae, or even as adults in some species, Monarchs cannot survive the cold winters of northern climates. Therefore, it has no predecessor and no equal.

Summing up, there is no truer defining statement about this ingeniously designed creature than these words, "But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this?" (Job 12:7-9 NKJV) The very first Monarch Butterfly ever to exist was imprinted with its vital genetic code by God at its creation.

I encourage you to take a trip some opportune day to the shores of the Pacific Ocean in California and stand under the tall trees of Pacific Grove. There you will see a spectacle seen nowhere in the world, other than in the Sierra Madres of Mexico's Central Highlands. You will be immersed in an unforgettable vision of a restless sea of orange and black clinging to the leaved branches of the eucalyptus tree, the winter home and origin of the majestic Monarch Butterfly.

Monarch Grove Sanctuary is at 1073 Lighthouse Avenue. With the entrance located just off Lighthouse Avenue, the city park is open from sunrise to sundown and is free for all visitors. The best time to see the monarchs is noon to 3:00 p.m. when the sun is shining brightest on their trees and when a docent is always on duty.