Ma-le'l Dunes South

Friends of the Dunes

Bureau of Land Management

(Map link.)

The mix of plants was different at the north end of the dunes compared to the south end of the dunes, so I simply had to actually stop by the south end ready to record what I saw. While I was at it, I thought I might do the Redwood Edventure Quest that Friends of the Dunes offers. It's been a while since I did one of them. It says start at the Humboldt Coastal Nature Center, and that's what I did.

building with a living roof — The Humboldt Coastal Nature Center at Friends of the Dunes. There is a little parking at the top, but I don't need to do that extra driving.

The nature center was open, but I wasn't feeling the need to go in yet. I walked around the edge to find the Wildberries Trail and the first of the markers. This Quest was the most like a traditional interpretive trail because all but the last are marked with physical posts. These are marked with animals instead of numbers, but I missed the little bit of extra engagement the usual directions require to follow along.

yellow flowers with a spray of white at the center — Creamcups near the first stop.

little sand dunes with gently colored growth — In spite of being pink, the buckwheat fades into the background sand quite well.

bumble bee on a round of pink flowers — The bumble bees still find them, not that they were really hiding.

The vegetation changes quickly on the short walk toward the beach. The trail drops low and the vegetation gets tall with the greater water availability.

blackberries, one ripe — The blackberries are producing.

two pairs of very dark berries — The twinberry honeysuckle is also producing, but less attractive as it can be poisonous. Or not. Maybe it just tastes awful. It depends on who you ask.

Then up the trail goes again, following between trees in the low spaces and buckwheat and its neighbors in the high spaces.

Male and female cones on the shore pine.

white flowers made of more flowers — Close up on the flowers that make up the common yarrow flower.

winding marks in the sand — The markers have tracks illustrated on the sides and seem to indicate that these winding lines are from bees.

buckwheat with less fuzzy leaves — The bald patches on the fuzzy buckwheat leaves are definitely from a bee.

tiny yellow flowers in furry bracts — Some of the larger bushes have some of the smallest flowers, like this beach wormwood, a sagebrush relative.

sticks marking the trail near the beach — Coming to the end of the trail where the dunes drop to the beach.

puffy and hairy and full of bracts — The purple owl's clover shows a little of how elaborate a paintbrush can be.

I came to the end of the trail and just about the end of the quest. It finishes out on the beach, looking back at the dunes and observing the difference between where it is crowded with invasive marram grass (with thin blades) and where the native beach grass is now returning. I couldn't quite admire the most recent work I'd helped with because we were actually just on the inland side. If it gets too complete, they'll have to rewrite the quest. (If you'd like to lend a hand, volunteer opportunities are on the Friends of the Dunes events calendar. Currently, there are two a month: 10AM-1PM on the 2nd Saturday at Friends of the Dunes and the 3rd Sunday at Ma-le'l Dunes South.)

lots of flowers — A garden of mostly natives among the dunes.

I found the clue for the finish of the quest, which was basically a crossword clue, and failed to immediately figure out what the proper answer should be. I hit the beach and headed north. I was determined to take the trail up through the tree stabilized dunes in Ma-le'l Dunes South which hits the beach about half a mile north of the Wildberries Trail.

crab shells, mostly tiny — The previous tide brought up the shells of all sorts of crabs, big and small.

lines from the edge of waves full of crab shells — The crab remains mark the high tide line into the distance. I tend to worry about all the dead crabs, but it's probably just molting season.

thin and thick grasses in the dunes — Another spot where there is a demarcation between thick American dune grass (left) and the invasive marram grasses (right).

long bit of kelp — Just a random piece of bull kelp.

column of barnacles — It is always strange to see what barnacles will encrust. These have grown up around a rope.

The trail was marked at the beach by a couple vertical sticks someone had placed. Behind them was a more official sign. Then there was the long sand ramp up to the nice walk in the woods at the top. That is the drawback to this trail hiked from the beach.

foredunes and the rest — The trail winds through the foredunes, then starts climbing that long, gentle ramp of sand going toward the right.

line of dots — Other tracks in the sand. Could be beetle.

swirl lines — Other tracks in the sand. Definitely a snake.

long sand ramp — The sand ramp from the other end.

I got over the last lip of sand and onto the apparent soil within the forest. There's partly obscured views of the ocean on one side and more trees on more hills on the other. It's really quite impressive how steeply the sides of the hill drop.

one dip and sand dunes — To the west, there is a dip with trees, then sand dunes again.

sandy turning to dirt — The last of the sand on the way into the forest.

dark berries with a blueberry shape — Got to get a picture of the huckleberries quick before they vanish.

purple flowers — Close up of the honeysuckle in bloom.

more dunes beyond the trees — Another spot to look out from the trees over the dunes.

Coming to the end of the trees, I dropped down and wound my way on the lower trails back to Friends of the Dunes. Mostly, I followed the waterline back. I got back after the nature center had closed, but I still hadn't sorted out the correct answer to the quest, just redundant answers.

otter art — They've got an otter, too, which can be viewed through the window or from inside when open.

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