Many of my hiking friends can’t understand how walking 40 miles along the shoreline of Monterey would hold their interest. “Isn’t it just sand and water?”
Well, the fun of walking along a marine sanctuary is finding all the hidden surprises. One wonderful place is only steps from a desolate beach, the Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge.
As you walk south from Moss Landing and cross the Salinas River you may have had your fill of gorgeous sand, wild crashing surf, and shorebirds. If so, step inland about 100 yards through a roped entrance into the enchanting world that surrounds the “saline pond.”
Currently, there are avocets tending to their young. My brother took these pictures yesterday. We also sighted numerous black necked stilts, long billed curlews, gadwalls, northern shovelers, caspian terns, cinnamon teal, common loons, and several savannah sparrows. All in all, a beautiful and secret place steps from the beach.
