Salinas River State Beach

We're staying not far from Monterey Bay in California, and we wanted to get over to the Pacific Ocean shore one more time before we head East.  The closest beach was at Salinas River State Beach, about 20 miles north of Monterey, so we headed out for a long walk along the beach.  We parked near the dunes and started over them to see the ocean:

As we crossed the dunes, we could look back across Moss Landing Harbor and to the south, where the Old Salinas River feeds the harbor --

-- and eventually empties into the Pacific Ocean.  To the north, we could see the curve of the Monterey Bay beach and Santa Cruz in the distance:

Pelicans flew in formation from time to time just offshore:

One brave surfer in a wetsuit was paddling along the breaking waves, looking for a ride or two --

-- while a curious seal thought about joining the surfer in his frolic:

To the south, we could see the height of land behind Monterey and Point Pinos:

We found one lone fisherman, and, just as we approached, something hit his line.  We watched him play the large, strong prey, but, after 30 minutes, neither fisherman nor prey had tired enough for us to get a glimpse of what the fisherman had hooked.  We reluctantly left him, hoping he could land his quarry:

The fisherman's epic fight drew the attention of one horseman who was giving his steed some exercise along the beach.  The horse pranced and snorted in frustration as his rider commanded him to stay put on the beach to watch the fisherman.  Finally, we saw, as we walked further along the beach, that the horse had gotten his way and was set free to gallop and trot down the sandy beach:

We had walked almost 2 miles when we decided to turn around.  We climbed to the top of the dunes to see whether there was an inland path back to our parking lot, but all we could see were acres and acres of dunes:

We returned to the beach and retraced our path a half mile or so until we found an "official," marked path through the dunes.  This looked like the route we were seeking, so we followed it:

As we walked, we saw that the dunes were covered by rust-colored plants with succulent leaves:

Some boasted brilliant yellow flowers --

-- and others were graced with beautiful purple blossoms:

We discovered that these beautiful plants are known popularly as "ice plants."  Although the ice plant may have arrived by ship as early as the 16th century, it was introduced in the early 1900s to stabilize dunes. Thousands of acres were planted in California until the 1970s. It spreads easily, and its succulent foliage, bright magenta and yellow flowers, and resistance to the harsh, salty coastal climatic conditions have also made it a favored garden plant. Despite its use as a soil stabilizer, it actually speeds up coastal erosion. Because it holds great masses of water in its leaves and its roots are very shallow, in the rainy season, the added weight on unstable dunes increases the chances of collapse.  While the state park agency points this out in interpretive signs along the dunes, we did not find any information about how the state is trying to replace the ice plant with more native, beneficial species, and we could not see any areas in the dunes where efforts are being made to restore less harmful dune vegetation.

Walking further along the wetland bordering the Old Salinas River, we spotted a white egret that seemed to be contemplating Moss Landing Harbor and the Dynegy Moss Landing Power Plant in the background.

As we approached him, however, the egret took offense and soared away to another part of the Old Salinas River wetland:

The egret flew off toward a long, low building across the river, which we later learned is the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, which are administered by San Jose State University for a consortium of seven California State University campuses:

We worked our way back to our parking lot in Moss Landing and, having worked up a big appetite, drove over to Phil's Fish Market & Eatery in Moss Landing for a scrumptious lunch of huge raw oysters, cioppino and fish tacos.

Yum!