#coastalaccess

-Photos and text by Destiny Preston

On a warm spring day in Trinidad, students gather to admire the waves and Pewetole Island, a tree-covered offshore rock at College Cove Beach.

Looking out from the trees toward the ocean.

Humboldt County - where the redwoods meet the rugged coastline.

“These driftwood pieces were photographed on one of the pocket beaches below the Mendocino Headlands. I lived in Mendocino village for a short time during grad school and I loved to run loops on the headlands, but I had never actually been down to any of the beaches until last year, when I happened to find a trail on a walk. There was a lot of wood debris on the beach and I loved the variation in color and texture in the driftwood and drift sticks. The ‘big views’ in the Mendocino area are well known, but there is a lot to discover at the small scale, too.”

~Sarah Carvill, Coastal Program Analyst

Moonstone Beach during the August 2018 fires in California, Oregon and Canada displayed dramatic sunsets, with Camel Rock in the distance.

A thin layer of fog shrouds Camel Rock and laps at Trinidad Harbor. Is it coming or going?

Let’s go on a little trip to Jug Handle State Natural Reserve, on the California coast just off of Highway One between Mendocino and Fort Bragg.

There’s a sandy beach at Jug Handle, and up from the beach is an arching bridge. First circle around the headlands, then walk inland under the bridge. The five mile (total round trip) Ecological Staircase Trail takes us on a tour of geological updrift from the coast to a pygmy forest. This hike through five marine terraces demonstrates 500,000 years of ecological succession (100,000 years per terrace). Pick up an informative brochure if you’d like to follow the self-guided tour.

The journey up the ecological staircase begins with many steps down. You can then enjoy the dappled shade while crossing a much less assuming but equally lovely bridge.

Making your way up through forests of spruce, fir, and redwood, keep an eye out for the colors and textures of plants small and large. In the late summer you may be treated with ripe huckleberries.

At the top of the ecological staircase is a pygmy forest. The fragile soil is protected from your footsteps by a boardwalk. Pygmy cypress, redwood, rhododendron, and reindeer lichen can be seen here.

As you return back down the trail, enjoy the transition from sun to shade.

You made it! And you only had to travel 500,000 years.