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You can see the lagoon from the parking lot, but it's a little more than a mile
away. Actually, what you see is one lagoon; there are basically two lagoons
separated by a small narrow marshy area.
Unlike the previous day, the weather was bright and clear as we prepared in
the parking lot. It was, however, cold and windy. There are no trees on this
hike, so there's not much to shelter you from the stiff Pacific Ocean winds.
We started off on the hike, walking west toward the lagoons, past rolling
green hills. There's a fence adjacent to the trail on the left, which separates
you from the cattle (although we saw two deer on the other side). It's quite
interesting seeing low brush on the trail side of the fence and bright green
grasses on the cattle side of the fence.
Deer on the other side of the fence
Trail heading toward the lagoons
The lagoon is a great place for bird watching. We saw lots of birds resting
on the water and hovering over it. I'm not a bird expert, but I know we saw
gulls and some type of raptor, perhaps turkey vultures.
Green grassy fields on the other side of the fence
First lagoon (ocean in the distance)
After about a mile we reached the west end of the first lagoon. There's
a foot bridge here that separates the two lagoons. There are some small
sand dunes above the first lagoon here. We crossed the bridge and sat down
at the edge of the second lagoon for lunch. The second lagoon is much larger
than the first. It's also buffeted by the wind more. Dress appropriately!
Sand dunes above the first lagoon, near the bridge
The second lagoon is backed by a small hill, maybe 50 feet high. There's a
small path up to the top which I saw a few people climb to get better views.
We contented ourselves with the views from below, then continued along toward the
ocean. Hiking through sand is no fun, so try to stay along the shore where the
sand is wet. That makes it much easier to hike.
Curving shore of the second lagoon
Hill above the second lagoon
There were scores of birds along the shore of the lagoon as we headed toward
the ocean. Nathan wanted to look for sea shells, but when we arrived at the
ocean there were none to be found. The waves came crashing down and the bare
beach went on for miles in both directions. The wind was really howling, and
after thinking about it, I decided if I were a sea shell I'd probably be blown
further inland. We climbed up and away a bit from the ocean and found some
sea shells there. We also got some nice views of the second lagoon.
Second lagoon and ocean
After letting the kids play in the sand, we headed back toward the lagoons.
One interesting thing I noticed about the second lagoon is that there's a long
thin ribbon of sand stretching for much of its northern shore, with water on
both sides (the water on one side is only about 4 feet wide and 1 inch deep).
I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before, and I'm not sure what
causes it.
Sand bar on edge of second lagoon
Birds on the shore of the second lagoon
As we crossed the bridge between the two lagoons, we noticed a photographer
taking some pictures of a bird. I wouldn't have even noticed the bird if it
hadn't been for the photographer. The bird was gray, blending in with the
dried cattails on the shore of the lagoon. The bird just stood there quietly,
hardly moving. It was quite large and important-looking, but I'm not sure what
kind of bird it is.
Looking back at the first lagoon
Bird on the edge of the first lagoon
We hiked back along the trail, retracing our steps to the parking lot. The
trail can get crowded with other hikers, but it's a nice hike for bird watching
on a clear day. Since it's so exposed, I can't imagine it being very pleasant
in bad weather like there had been the previous day.
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