I was forewarned that this beach wasnt called Thousand Steps for nothing.  I crossed the PCH and proceeded down the steps to the beach.  I dont think there was 1000 steps because I was down on the beach in short order, and discovered it was all my own before dawn.   There was some interesting rock formations with a bright green algae that juxtaposed the sea.  I immediately started to set up for my typical wide angle shot with something large in the foreground and beautiful background light.   Then I remembered what I had gotten up at 6am, knowing full well the sun rose in the east for a west coast sunrise.  The day before, whilst taking a sunset photo at the Montage, I thought the reflected light from the sun rising in the East might give me some soft pastel color that has eluded me for some time.  This morning my intuition was right and as the sun rose in the East the Western sky lit up in all shades of pastel pinks and purples.  I quickly recomposed a simple shot of the wave cresting with the nice light on the beach.  I put 8 stops of neutral density filters on to give the wave a soft touch that matched the softness of the color pallette in the sky.  I took about 300 pics to get the timing right of the cresting wave, and this is the result.  My personal favorite beach pic to date.  I then proceeded back up the stairs and then realized why, exactly, they call it 1000 Steps...not because there actually are 1000 steps, but because it sure feels like it!