Beach Walk #11: Lookout Park to Loon Point Plus

The low tides continued on Friday July 3, so I met my friend Marissa at 6:50 AM. We set out from Lookout Park in Summerland with the goal of walking to Loon Point in Summerland. The section was so short that I missed the entrance to the Loon Point parking lot where the car was and we continued for another mile and a half down the beach. I should have ended this one at Santa Claus Lane. 

Cliffs

Narrow at high tide

It is a narrow section that would be almost non-existent at high tide with cliffs above for the first section and beautiful homes for the next section. We exited through a narrow (read hedges on both sides) public access point that we almost didn't spot (but could see it on the map) near 3453 Padaro Lane. We took the street for the mile plus back to the car. 

Marissa and Rhonda

I forgot my phone for this adventure so thanks to Marissa for the selfie and for the fun beach day the next week to take some pictures of Loon Point Beach. 

Related Posts:

Butterfly Beach

Hammonds Beach

Mirmar Beach

Lookout Park

Beach Walk #10: Gaviota to San Onofre Beach

The next section I walked was a  -0.5 tide on Thursday July 2. My friend Monica and I started this one at the eastern side because I had never accessed the beach at San Onofre before. San Onofre Beach is one of several spots where I had noticed cars parked when driving down the 101 South. This particular spot is just over a mile past the Maricopa exit. After a decline down to the beach we set off at 6:40AM toward Gaviota. 

Entrance to San Onofre

San Onofre Parking Area

Maricopa Exit

This stretch of beach was narrow and quiet. There needs to be a low tide to enjoy this section as well as to walk to Gaviota. There was little tar and no seaweed. There are many interesting rock formations. 

San Onofre Beach

Toward Gaviota

We went a bit beyond the pier as far as you can to make the walk 2.5 beach miles. This is the western most place you can walk since the ocean comes up to cliff above the coast (and Vandenberg is a closed beach space).

Gaviota Pier

Bridge at Gaviota

Thanks to Monica for joining me for this section! It was 2.5 miles of unique beach--39 km (24.5miles) down!

Related Posts:

Gaviota State Beach

San Onofre Beach

Refugio Nature Program

Refugio State Beach

El Capitan State Beach

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

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!

Related Posts:

Refugio Nature Program

Refugio State Beach

El Capitan State Beach

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)! 

Related Posts:

East Beach

Andree Clark Bird Refuge

Butterfly Beach

Hammonds Beach

Miramar Beach

 

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

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Arroyo Burro Beach

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Shoreline Park 

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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!) 

Related Posts:

Hope Ranch Beach

Hope Ranch Volcano

Arroyo Burro Beach 

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!

Related Posts:

Ellwood Beach

Ellwood Open Space

Haskell's Beach