Fifty miles north of San Luis Obispo, the California Coastal Trail bends away from Highway 1 in a westerly direction, following the shoreline around Point Sierra Nevada while the highway turns inland.
I parked in a wide turnout, put Dexter on leash and we followed a worn path through wiry brown grass along the edge of a bluff. The tide was out leaving an abundance of small pools in the rocks below. The gray ocean rolled in slow movement that was soothing and calming. Pelicans glided in shifting formations of kaleidoscopic patterns. The sea breeze carried the smell of sulfur, fish and salt .
We intersected a ranch road and followed it to a beach at the mouth of Arroyo de la Cruz Creek where shorebirds scurried across wet sand. Oystercatchers perched on white-coated La Cruz Rock a short distance offshore. Pelicans floated near the rock, dipping their heads under water and splashing furiously with their wings at the ocean’s surface.
The creek formed a large, freshwater lagoon behind a sand bar and the surface was alive with seagulls.
At low tide we were able to walk across a rocky shelf awash with slippery green sea grass. The next beach was covered with chopped up ribbons of kelp that were slick as wet ice to walk on.
We rounded Point Sierra Nevada on a rocky shelf, watching out for scuttling crabs as they skittered sideways to get out of our path. I skirted a pool of water that was so clear and transparent that I almost stepped into it.
Beyond the headland we walked on a long, sandy beach from which we could see all the way to Ragged Point. The ocean roared ceaselessly in the unprotected bay beside us. At the north end of the beach we wound through a thicket of white-bleached driftwood onto the grassy bluff that rose above the sand.
Dexter was excited to see gopher mounds in the meadow. Every time I stopped to take photographs, he dug frantically as if he could dig up one of the subterranean rodents through a furious will power.
We followed a cow path that was cut so deep and narrow that it was difficult to walk in. Yellow-eyed daisies grew in clumps next to glistening white morning glories. A hawk flapped into the air from behind a brush pile where it had been feasting on a field mouse.
We pushed through brush and chaparral to the edge of Arroyo de los Chinos. The walls of the ravine were steep and thick with poison oak so I didn’t try to cross.
Instead of returning along the beach, we stayed inland and walked across sand dunes toward the mouth of Arroyo de la Cruz, using La Cruz Rock as our guide.
The dunes were embroidered with pink and yellow flowers and pretty to look at, but scalloped hills and depressions made walking an energetic adventure.
I followed Dexter as he found the easiest way down to the beach south of the point and headed straight for the ocean to cool his feet. As I walked south on the sand, he walked a parallel course offshore, up to his belly in cool seawater.
We crossed the sand bar at the mouth of the creek along the edge of a willow grove and passed two places where people have camped. At the end of the beach we ascended the bluff on the ranch road and followed it back to the car.
I parked in a wide turnout, put Dexter on leash and we followed a worn path through wiry brown grass along the edge of a bluff. The tide was out leaving an abundance of small pools in the rocks below. The gray ocean rolled in slow movement that was soothing and calming. Pelicans glided in shifting formations of kaleidoscopic patterns. The sea breeze carried the smell of sulfur, fish and salt .
We intersected a ranch road and followed it to a beach at the mouth of Arroyo de la Cruz Creek where shorebirds scurried across wet sand. Oystercatchers perched on white-coated La Cruz Rock a short distance offshore. Pelicans floated near the rock, dipping their heads under water and splashing furiously with their wings at the ocean’s surface.
The creek formed a large, freshwater lagoon behind a sand bar and the surface was alive with seagulls.
At low tide we were able to walk across a rocky shelf awash with slippery green sea grass. The next beach was covered with chopped up ribbons of kelp that were slick as wet ice to walk on.
We rounded Point Sierra Nevada on a rocky shelf, watching out for scuttling crabs as they skittered sideways to get out of our path. I skirted a pool of water that was so clear and transparent that I almost stepped into it.
Beyond the headland we walked on a long, sandy beach from which we could see all the way to Ragged Point. The ocean roared ceaselessly in the unprotected bay beside us. At the north end of the beach we wound through a thicket of white-bleached driftwood onto the grassy bluff that rose above the sand.
Dexter was excited to see gopher mounds in the meadow. Every time I stopped to take photographs, he dug frantically as if he could dig up one of the subterranean rodents through a furious will power.
We followed a cow path that was cut so deep and narrow that it was difficult to walk in. Yellow-eyed daisies grew in clumps next to glistening white morning glories. A hawk flapped into the air from behind a brush pile where it had been feasting on a field mouse.
We pushed through brush and chaparral to the edge of Arroyo de los Chinos. The walls of the ravine were steep and thick with poison oak so I didn’t try to cross.
Instead of returning along the beach, we stayed inland and walked across sand dunes toward the mouth of Arroyo de la Cruz, using La Cruz Rock as our guide.
The dunes were embroidered with pink and yellow flowers and pretty to look at, but scalloped hills and depressions made walking an energetic adventure.
I followed Dexter as he found the easiest way down to the beach south of the point and headed straight for the ocean to cool his feet. As I walked south on the sand, he walked a parallel course offshore, up to his belly in cool seawater.
We crossed the sand bar at the mouth of the creek along the edge of a willow grove and passed two places where people have camped. At the end of the beach we ascended the bluff on the ranch road and followed it back to the car.
1 comment:
Nice description. I'm heading up that way tomorrow!
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