Me'tsko River and Beach and Dunes

Clam Beach County Park

Little River State Beach

(map link)

I decided the place I wanted to go for this window of sunshine between the rain was Little River State Beach, which I previously visited on an even sunnier June day full of flowers. There aren't quite so many flowers as March starts. It's not very big, so I decided I should take in some of the county's Clam Beach to the south and Moonstone Beach to the north. The tide would be out late in the afternoon, so I left the areas with cliffs for late. I started in the county's North Lot, which was quite busy at one end and flooded at the other. Lots of dogs out, but all but one with obedient people leashing them. North of the lot is Little River State Beach which only allows dogs leashed on the waveslope. They take their position as critical snowy plover habitat seriously and loose dogs are huge threat to the ground nesting birds.

00: flooded parking lot — Plenty of parking under the bluffs at the beach.

There's trail around the edge, which makes it easy to avoid the flooding, unless you're trying to take advantage of the accessible trail. The county has put out a mat from the paved parking to the high tide line to improve accessibility, but it can be wet at the start in winter and spring. The rest is high and dry, or was today.

01: bush and sand and Trinidad Head — A thin layer of bushes and then there's sand. Recently bulldozed sand.

Along the sides, there were signs marking closed area. Upon inspection, the closure was for a week that ended a week ago. Inspecting beyond, it was clear what the closure was for. The dune grass may be slowly getting plucked away by hand at Ma-le'l, but the folks at CalParks have opted for a much faster method: bulldozer. It's a lot more violent for the few native plants that still live among the crowding invader.

02: path to the beach — A little of that accessible path out to the beach. It makes the walking easier too.

I took the path out to the beach and turned south, but only stayed out there briefly before turning back for the dunes.

03: lots of beach — Even many hours from low tide, there's a lot of beach out here.

Humboldt County might wish to be rid of their European dune grass too, but they haven't found the money for it yet. The dunes are hills of waving grasses.

04: waving grass and sand cliff — The waves have been working at the dunes.

05: lots of flat sand — Hard to believe this beach will just get vaster as the day goes on.

06: sand and bright water — Ripples in the sand set off by the retreating water.

I spotted an opening into the dunes and a high hill that appeared to be frequented. It even had trail built up it with driftwood set to hold steps.

07: lines of water level — Various levels of inundation by the sea on display with debris showing a recent high tide and smooth sand showing the most recent, but broken sand dunes show where the storms work and the bluff shows the history.

08: wetlands in the dunes — The hill top vista shows the wetlands that form in the low spaces among the dunes.

Sometimes the willows and blackberries grow so thick, you never actually see the wetlands in the dunes, but they form in the low spaces and flood in the winter when the water table comes up about 5 feet. Currently, the flooding is at its highest. The weather should start drying out now, or at least that used to be the climate here. This particular wetland happens to be inhabited by quite a lot of Pampas grass, which I'm sure the county would also like to see gone with vigor. It's particularly nasty to meet up close.

09: wetland levels — Levels of wetlands. The near ones probably dry out a bit in summer, but the nude trees in the distance mark more wetlands that stay wetter throughout the year.

There's no set trails through the dunes and those that are there are discontinuous. I had to retreat and take a new route a few times when one just ended. A rider came by on lower trails, rather cautiously until she got close enough to ask if I had a loose dog. Makes sense. The dogs can spook a horse and have been known to challenge and harass them, plus some horses will make every effort to stomp a dog.

10: horse and rider on the beach — Horse and rider on the beach.

13: birds with rings on their necks — The killdeer were out and about.

14: big sea stack connected to the land — I can see Trinidad from here! The bulge of rock is Trinidad Head and the thin white line are the homes and businesses of Trinidad.

15: bluffs to the top — Wind carried salt spray sculpts the trees to a gradual rise at the bluffs.

18: flowers — There are flowers! It's a little easier to find this invasive European searocket than the native one.

More slowly than expected, I found myself in line with the county's South Lot, about as far south as I had planned to go. There is another mile or so to get to the mouth of the Baduwa't (Mad) River.

19: dunes, willows, trees — A sign and gap in the willows with the suggestion of parked cars beyond are the clues one is at the South Lot.

20: more dunes — Looking like endless dunes although they end at the river.

21: dark ripples in light sand — Ripples in the sand of a new forming dune.

22: beach — So much beach. It'll cross Strawberry Creek (Qus Bugarruli'm in Wiyot), then on to Baduwa't River.

I turned to head north, generally keeping to the more solid wet sand as I went.

23: more lots of beach — Even more beach to the north. It ends just past Little River where the hard cliffs go out to sea.

24: depressions around rocks — The sand holds revelations in fluid dynamics of water flow around stones.

25: water spout — Water spout on Pilot Rock (tall one in front) or Flatiron Rock (wide one in back).

28: ripples of sand in long ridges — More ripples in the drier sand.

29: wet ripples — And ripples in the wet sand where one of those wetlands is draining.

30: dry sand on the way to the ocean — The beach is so flat that sometimes the sand forgets which way it is going, up or down hill, and there's a high point on the way to the ocean.

The wind was blowing harshly and I'd not found my windbreaker in my pack, nor anything like a windbreaker in the car before setting out. It was not the most comfortable to be out in in an airy fleece. However, it's effects were at times more entertaining than harsh. For a bit, I got wrapped up in trying to capture the foam bubbles that were blowing across the film of water found on some of the beach.

35: bubbles on the beach — A pair flows past, misshapen by the wind, pushing bow shocks and leaving wakes in the film of water on the beach.

36: sea foam turning to bubbles — More and more bubbles form and march from the sea foam left by each wave.

Closer to the river, what was a bar of higher and drier sand got to be the divider between gentle breakers and a flowing stream.

37: water flowing every which way — The complicated hydrology of the flat beach as the tide goes out.

39: watery place — It flows in from the ocean as well as just oozing from the sand, then out to the ocean again.

41: mountains have snow — What mountains are visible have some snow still.

43: knotted rope — Was the rope knotted before or did the ocean do it?

45: big rocks in the near ocean — Little River Rock and other sea stacks near the coast start to pop into visibility rather than fading into the coast line. Closer, Little River is lined with sea gulls.

46: sea gulls — Closer on the gulls and the old sea stacks that were visible before. Flatiron Rock is almost behind Trinidad Head and Blank Rock (middle) is no longer hidden by Pilot Rock (left).

47: rivers edge on the beach — On the beach side edge of Little River.

And how big is Little River at this time, possibly its highest time of the year outside of storm surges? Judging by the boisterous dogs playing on the other side and into it, probably around knee high with a noticable but not too strong current. And then I'd be among those boisterous dogs and their enthusiastic friends, which looks like a lot of fun for the dogs and not so much for me. Or the birds who were all on the south side. I decided to stick with the birds.

50: river side — Dry sand blows across the moist stuff on the ground making dust lines.

I turned to follow the river upward, intending to connect in with the Backdunes Trail of Little River State Beach.

53: river with dirt banks up ahead — Little River on its way to the ocean.

54: rippled edges — The river has done some lovely edge work.

56: river into hills — Up ahead, the dunes close in, then there are hills.

Little River also hasn't always been labeled with its rather generic English name. It is Me'tsko to the Yurok whose southern village was on its banks. It is Plhut Gasamuli'm to the Wiyot who hunted just south of it and up in its prairies.

57: stacks — Leaving Little River Rock behind.

62: cuts in the mud — An intricate landscape of deep canyons in miniature form in this tidal area of the river as the tide retreats.

64: dunes cut down — The river is trying to break through the dunes and beach a little earlier.

65: low sitting bird — Adding my first red throated loon observation to iNaturalist.

At the curve of the river, which looks a bit swampy and encourages avoidance, I wandered inland. This was likely the wrong choice, because I did not achieve connecting with the Backdunes Trail. It is definitely swampy along the line with the river bend.

67: swampy bits — The bend in the river and what's left of more sharp bending in the river. Willows are inland along more swamp.

69: little bird — Now a first fox sparrow for my iNaturalist.

There's a section of dunes that's covered in the same invasive grasses as the county's park, but then there starts to be some natives as I popped out into clearer dunes. I'm pretty sure this is another chunk of land that got restored by bulldozer, but after a few years of work. It'll get roped off later to help people avoid the nesting grounds for snowy plover. March is still early for that.

71: water and grass — Wetlands among different grasses.

That's not really where I wanted to be. When I spotted a dry crossing, I took it, but that only got me as far as the willow filled wetlands. There wasn't a dry crossing there. I wandered back north a little way still hoping to catch the trails, then gave up with one wet foot and took off along the edge the other way. The North Beach Trail met me instead.