Humboldt Bay South Jetty
South Spit Wildlife Area
Bureau of Land Management
I headed to the south end of Humboldt Bay, stopping briefly at a patch of land at King Salmon on the way. Today should be dry, but the thin drops blown into my face by a swift wind seemed to disagree. It was drier by the time I found my way over Table Bluff and to the jetty at the north of the spit after one more stop along the way at the middle.
This spit is much narrower than the northern one and the development on it seems to be toilets at either end, the jetty at the north, the road down the middle, and a few navigational beacons. The road becomes more and more of a challenge as I go because it is full of potholes to the point that they are impossible to avoid and today they are filled with water and there is no way to tell how deep they are. The car made it unharmed and once stopped at the picnic ground at the end, I go for the obvious walk down the jetty.
The missing boards require attention paid for each step, but so do the boards that remain. The moist wood is slick and my feet never quite stay where I place them unless on the cement.
Movement catches my eye on the rocks on the low side of the jetty. Little crabs are scrambling all over them, mostly away from me. Besides the crabs, they are covered in barnacles, anemones, and starfish. The boulders are also almost as slick as the wood, so climbing down closer to the sea creatures is out of the question.
Back at the lot, I am ready to head off again, but a sudden whim hits to continue down along the built wall of the jetty which extends quite a way further along the spit toward the largest of the rare nearby trees. There is a sandy section next to it, so walking is slow work but simple. The area is somewhat a mess from off road use even though the only off road use allowed is along the waveslope (that is, the beach) below the most recent high tide line. One such user even passes me by as I go. This improves as I pass the end of a spur road with cables blocking further travel to the southeast. From there, I follow on an old, grassy road toward the point and the tree.
The tree edges on a swampy area, at least in this season. The plants within the lakes suggest these will get around to draining eventually. They are not the sort to live permanently underwater. I head out to a hill near the point too look about. The bay is so narrow at the point that I am closer to my stop at King Salmon on the way here than I am to the road on the spit.
Vast dark sandy flats exposed by low tide extend off to my right from the point. A few ducks and a heron are hanging out on it. This is a prime spot to find duck hunters during the season. Today seems quiet. I head out over the sand for a bit. There are trickles of water draining from the pools in the grass above. The footing is generally quite solid as I cross as long as I do not get too far out into the thin layer of bay water over the sand.
Getting impatient for a route out toward the road, I just strike out on my own route. My plan is to cross over to the beach and follow that back, but I am blocked by a series of signs marking an area closed to the public. It is an area set aside for snowy plover conservation. There is a faint trail along the outside edge of the area, so I follow that north instead.
Since I did not get to go all the way to the beach, I stop at one of the parking spots on the way back down the spit for a better look and take yet another stop at the end of the spit.
©2017 Valerie Norton
Posted 9 February 2017
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