Little Patch of Earth

Friday, July 17, 2026

Beach Walk #9: Refugio to El Capitan

The full moon week of medium good tides continued -0.6 tide on Tuesday July 1. My friend plan fell through, so my husband Ted stepped in again. We started at the Refugio end of this loop at 5:50 AM. I have done this walk on the bluff before, but it is not completely accessible as some of the path has eroded way on the El Capitan end.

Setting Out From Refugio

Bird Prints

It was a beautiful morning. We made it over the creek flow by steeping on a log and made our way down the beach. There were several points where we had to time our walks around the waves and it would have been even better at a lower tide. There are many large rocks on this part of the beach, but no significant tar or seaweed until the very end.

Large Rocks

El Capitan

We did a round trip loop because El Capitan is still closed for repairs. On the way back, we noticed a beach acess point at Arroyo Quemada (which is different from the one up the coast!).

Arroyo Quemada

Thanks to Ted for being on backup to walk this section with me! It was 2.9 miles of unique beach--35 km (22miles) down!

Refugio Nature Program

Refugio State Beach

El Capitan State Beach

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Beach Walk #8: East Beach to Butterfly Beach

The next good week of low tides started Tuesday June 30. I met my friend Christina early at 5:30. The only tricky thing was parking since there is no overnight parking at East Beach through 6am. (The lot at the end of Ninos Dr does not charge until 8am so I took the gamble that they wouldn't ticket for the time I was there.

Full Moon

After we enjoyed the setting full moon, we started the walk from East Beach toward Montecito. At this low (-0.6), we had a dry walk all the way. I predicted this stretch was about 1.5 miles (from the California Coastal Walk) and it was a little shorter to Butterfly Beach. There were some interesting weathered walls that probably divided property lines along the beach along the way. It was 1.4 miles to the steps.

Weathered Walls

Mossy Rocks under the SB Cemetery

We extended our walk a bit to Miramar because it was a beautiful morning as the fog cleared. (The mossy rocks at Hammonds are pretty.) We finally saw the sun at the end and were back home before 7:30 with NO parking ticket.

Thank you to Christina who got up really early to make this beach walk happen! 30 km (19 miles down)!

East Beach

Andree Clark Bird Refuge

Butterfly Beach

Hammonds Beach

Miramar Beach

Friday, July 10, 2026

Beach Walk #7: Arroyo Burro to the Breakwater

The last walk of my first full week (29 miles for the week) with all the so Saturday June 20th I set out from Arroyo Burro to walk back to Leadbetter with my friend Ashley. The tide was still great at -0.7 so we stayed perfectly dry. I predicted this section would be about 2.5 miles and it was longer at about 3.2 miles.

Towards Leadbetter

We enjoyed the dogs (to the left of the Hendry's entrance) during the first part of the walk on this Saturday morning. The tide was beach had a ton of beautiful rocks and very little seaweed and tar. At the very end, we had to move up the beach because Leadbetter Beach had a ton of seaweed.

Low Tide

Thanks to Ashley helping me with my 50th goal! 28 km (almost 18 miles down)! I forgot to get a photo so this one was later :)

Make up photo with Ashley

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Beach Walk #6: Arroyo Burro to Hope Ranch

The tides continued to be great so Friday June 19th I set out from Arroyo Burro to walk back to Hope Ranch Beach with friends Jessika and JoAnne. The tide was -0.7 so I didn't expect to get wet and I was right! I predicted this section would be about 2 miles and it was a little over that one way.

Towards Hope Ranch

After my experience running through the gate at Hope Ranch Beach, we decided on a peaceful roundtrip walk from Arroyo Burro (Hendry's) to Hope Ranch Beach and back. The low tide made for a beautiful walk. We didn't see any activity in the Hope Ranch Volcano, but we enjoyed our

Towards Arroyo Burro

Thanks to Jessika and JoAnne for joining me for my next walk! 23 km (14.5 miles down)! (I ended up doing this leg again when my friend was inspired to do her own challenge!)

Hope Ranch Beach

Hope Ranch Volcano

Arroyo Burro Beach

Friday, July 3, 2026

Beach Walk #5: Ellwood Beach to Haskell's Beach

The week of epic tides continued -1.2 tide on Thursday June 18, so I coordinated with my husband Ted to walk before work. We started at the end of Coronado Dr (if I did it again I would set out from Santa Barbara Shores Dr) around 7AM. After half a mile on Ellwood Bluff, we found the path down to the beach. I didn't locate the Wind Phone since we were on a schedule.

Ellwood at Low Tide

Tide Pools

Mossy Rocks

We turned to the west and headed up the beach towards Haskells near Bacara. Even at high tide, this may have been accessible, but it was easy on this day with such a low tide. There were many rocks but not a lot of tar or seaweed. We did notice many sections of fencing to protect the cliffs (and maybe pipeline) from storm surge. We did walk beyond Haskell's to scout out the next section for the next really low tide!

Storm Surge Protection

Restricted section

Thanks to Ted for making time to walk this section with me! It was 1.5 miles of unique beach--19Km (12miles) down!

Ellwood Beach

Ellwood Open Space

Haskell's Beach

Friday, June 26, 2026

Beach Walk #4: End of IV to Ellwood Bluffs

Another very low tide was on June 17. Greta and I set out on a walk from the end of Isla Vista (where I ended with G last week) and headed to the bluff at Ellwood. At -1.6, we didn't get wet at all and had a lovely walk with a lot of rocks, but not much tar. Our only problem was when we realized one set of keys for a car were at the wrong end of the walk, so we had to go back the way we came.

Coal Oil Point at low tide

One interesting item we found on the beach was a large metal pillar. It is leftover from the Ellwood Oil Fields from the 1930s. The City of Goleta does work to remove hazardous objects from the beach since these oil fields were not shut down properly when they closed.

Thank you to Greta for walking and talking early with me! 17 km (10.8 miles) down....

Isla Vista Beaches

Isla Vista Parks and Open Spaces

Ellwood Beach

Ellwood Open Space

Friday, June 19, 2026

Beach Walk #3: Butterfly Beach to Look Out Beach

The lowest tide of the summer seems to be on Tuesday June 16, so I met my friend Margaret at 5:15 AM. We set out from Butterfly Beach in Montecito with the goal of walking to Lookout Park in Summerland. There are several points such as Fernald Point that would have been a problem at higher low tide, but the -1.8 foot tide was perfect. We stayed dry the whole way and saw beautiful moss on the rock at Hammonds Beach. I predicted this would be about 2.5 miles of unique beach from California Coastal Trail, but the path up to Lookout Park is hidden when walking south and we overshot the path, walking an extra half mile. The gate to the park was locked at this time of day so we had to park in Summerland and walk around the gate. We never saw the sun and were back home before 7:30!

Fernald Point

Trying to show the beautiful moss at Hammonds Beach

Thank you to Margaret who got up super early to make this beach walk happen! 14 km (9 miles down)! I somehow ended up walking 10 miles this day because all the friends had time on this particular day....