WEEKLY

WALKER

By Tom Davids

A Walk by the Seashore

The Coastside Trail, Half Moon Bay

Directions: Highway 92 west to Highway 1. South a few blocks to Kelly Avenue, west to the end and Half Moon Bay State Beach.

Grade: Level.

Distance: Six miles round trip.

Time: Two hours.

Special Conditions: This is a multi-use trail. Rest rooms available at the trailhead and at beach parking lots along the way. Dogs allowed on leash.

"And as I turn me home, my shadow walks before."

Robert Bridges

During the year of El Nino you read about the high tides and their effect on nearby beaches. We acquired beaches where they weren't and no beaches where they were. In Santa Cruz we were invited (encouraged) to visit the beach and pick up all the driftwood we can use. Almost every evening, the TV news reacquainted us with the awesome poser of nature as cliffs and hillsides slip away.

This week's walk takes us to the seaside to experience first-hand the powerful surf and the effects of El Nino on our usual placid beaches. The Half Moon Bay State Beaches are a series of six separate beach areas connected by a multi-use paved trail. The trail crosses two major streams and two of a lesser sort. During the three-mile distance (six miles round trip), you are within a short distance of the beach and the sights and sounds of the sea. At the end, in El Granada, are the well-known Miramar Beach Restaurant and the Douglas Beach House, home of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society.

We started this hike on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in February at Francis Beach, located at the west end of Kelly Avenue in Half Moon Bay. We first tried to park at Poplar Beach (at the end of Poplar Avenue) but found the parking area closed, probably due to the winter lull and more rain in the forecast. But take note that there are four designated parking areas along the beachfront (at the end of Poplar Avenue, Kelly Avenue, Venice Boulevard, and Young Avenue), and during the summer season they should all be open.

Francis Beach is the most developed beach area, with a campground, picnic tables, and large public rest rooms. After enjoying a picnic on the beach, we started hiking north on the Coastside Trail, which is located just east of the parking lot and campground area. The wide paved trail continues around the park maintenance area, through sand dunes, and then onto a bridge that carries hikers over Pilacitos Creek. For the length of this trail, equestrians are nicely restricted to a dirt path of their own, and they wade the creek without competing for bridge space. The bridge is marked with a plaque honoring John Hernandez for his leadership in developing this trail. The creek is typically small, but the width of the channel shows how a creek can transform into a raging river during winter storms.

The trail continues north through typical seaside vegetation (coyote brush, yellow lupine, orange poppies in season, and oxalis) to Venice Beach at the foot of Venice Boulevard, then on to Dunes Beach, Naples Beach, and Roosevelt Beach before the trail ends at Mirada Way. From here, a beach-side road leads in a short distance to the Miramar Beach Restaurant and the Douglas Beach House, where you can enjoy something to eat and drink before your hike back.

Along the Coastside Trail, you have several opportunities to meander over the sand dunes to the beach below. This is a good time to watch for the large waves spawned by mid-Pacific storms and to search out flotsam and jetsam deposited on the beach during heavy seas. As you hike north from Venice Beach, you will cross over Frenchman's Creek to Sweetwood Park, where the trail turns west to a bluff overlooking the Pacific. Here you will find benches, picnic tables, and rest rooms, great views of the beach in either direction and of boating offshore.

The Coastside Trail is a good all-season walk, sure to please your out-of-area visitors or to meet your own need for a time of contemplative quietness at the seashore.