La Entrada & Sand Dollar Beach
This morning we woke to a band of purple blue mist. It obscured the horizon and muffled sounds carried on the delicate breeze. Over our heads circled 20 Magnificent Frigate Birds that mistakenly thought we were fisherman willing to send scraps of fish their way. Carefully eyeing each one of us, they reluctantly returned to fishing. One female quickly lifted a small flat fish from the surface of the sea. Again and again she tried to swallow this disc-shaped delight. She turned the fish around and head first it disappeared down her throat while she evaded the incoming group of Frigate birds wanting to take her catch. Isla Margarita appeared off our starboard beam as we watched the morning fog melt away.
We barely finished breakfast when the now vibrant sun highlighted the blows of whale after whale. In groups of twos and threes, over 20 gray whales surfaced along our route toward the mouth of Magdelena Bay. California sea lions were also spotted holding their flippers in the warming sunlight, while Common, Bottlenose, and Pacific White-Sided dolphin sporadically appeared.
Imagine sand so soft that your feet sink six inches into powdery fluff and that is what we experienced on Isla Magdelena. Sand as soft as ash flew after every footfall. We climbed over wind shaped dunes held together by veils of the lacy roots of Sand Verbena. Old tracks of jackrabbits and coyote were filling with white wind-blown sands. Like treasure hunters finding gold, we arrived on the Pacific Ocean side of Magdelena Island to find a bleached white common dolphin skull, pelican bill, turtle shell scute, and various ribs and vertebrae. Sand Dollars as big as our hands covered the beach. Beyond the sensuous sands, the hidden treasures, the warm sun, it was the endless stretch of beach that gave each of us a feeling of eternity, of endless summer days and the time in our lives to make more memories. So that is what we did. We made memories and left only footprints.
This morning we woke to a band of purple blue mist. It obscured the horizon and muffled sounds carried on the delicate breeze. Over our heads circled 20 Magnificent Frigate Birds that mistakenly thought we were fisherman willing to send scraps of fish their way. Carefully eyeing each one of us, they reluctantly returned to fishing. One female quickly lifted a small flat fish from the surface of the sea. Again and again she tried to swallow this disc-shaped delight. She turned the fish around and head first it disappeared down her throat while she evaded the incoming group of Frigate birds wanting to take her catch. Isla Margarita appeared off our starboard beam as we watched the morning fog melt away.
We barely finished breakfast when the now vibrant sun highlighted the blows of whale after whale. In groups of twos and threes, over 20 gray whales surfaced along our route toward the mouth of Magdelena Bay. California sea lions were also spotted holding their flippers in the warming sunlight, while Common, Bottlenose, and Pacific White-Sided dolphin sporadically appeared.
Imagine sand so soft that your feet sink six inches into powdery fluff and that is what we experienced on Isla Magdelena. Sand as soft as ash flew after every footfall. We climbed over wind shaped dunes held together by veils of the lacy roots of Sand Verbena. Old tracks of jackrabbits and coyote were filling with white wind-blown sands. Like treasure hunters finding gold, we arrived on the Pacific Ocean side of Magdelena Island to find a bleached white common dolphin skull, pelican bill, turtle shell scute, and various ribs and vertebrae. Sand Dollars as big as our hands covered the beach. Beyond the sensuous sands, the hidden treasures, the warm sun, it was the endless stretch of beach that gave each of us a feeling of eternity, of endless summer days and the time in our lives to make more memories. So that is what we did. We made memories and left only footprints.
