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OUR FIRST WALK THE BAY TRIP – May 3-7, 2010

What can one say about our first trip? It was fabulous…! Great walkers, super weather, wonderful accommodations, amazing beauty, and unexpected discoveries along the Monterey Bay.

The group checked into the Dream Inn on Monday night and loved their oceanfront rooms with all the resort amenities you can imagine. Our orientation took place in the very swank Aquarius restaurant bar. A review of the trip over beverages was a real treat as the walkers introduced themselves and began to get acquainted. They each chose to find unique local dining spots on the wharf and had an early lights out.

Tuesday’s walk started with an inspiring visit to Save Our Shores where they became better educated about the hazards facing the Monterey Bay and learned what each of them could do along the walk. The first ten miles along the Bay included whale sightings, shell collecting, people watching, and ended with a beach bonfire at our luxury lodging, the Seascape Beach Resort.

Wednesday’s walk of 12 miles was the longest of the trip but our intrepid walkers seemed unfazed as they spotted seals, sea lions, sea otters, pelicans, and comorants. They learned about the endangered Snowy Plover and spotted several zipping along the sand in their protected areas. Arriving in Moss Landing the walkers fell in love with the charming harbor town and the great variety of restaurants and shops. Staying at the Captain’s Inn on the harbor channel proved to be a delightful way to rest after a long day on the beach.

The walk on Thursday was only 7.5 miles but proved to be most daunting for our walkers. They hiked the Salinas River Beach and toured the National Wildlife Refuge where nesting avocets, caspian terns, and many other amazing birds and ducks were sighted. The walkers collected vast amounts of marine debris and plastic from the beach where the currents of the Monterey Bay deposit the most amazing things on these deserted beaches. The Save Our Shores litter bags filled and refilled throughout the day as our walkers did their duty and made a small but important impact on the plastic pollution problem facing our oceans. They deserved the pampering they received at the Sanctuary Beach Resort in Marina.

Our final 10.5 miles included the dunes from Marina to Monterey and gave our walkers a close up look at the newest State Park in California, the Fort Ord Dunes State Park. Boat buoys, fishing net floats, and beach glass were the treasures of the day. Boat and fishing debris from Norway, Korea, Japan and China were all discovered on this endless beach. Our walkers enjoyed the mix of walking trails, soft sand, and finally the busy waterfront paths that led them to their finish at Old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey.

It’s hard to believe this wonderful adventure is over. I will never forget it!

WALK THE BAY, by Julia Cheung

New eco-tourism effort has visitors walking from Santa Cruz to Monterey

“The more you travel, the more you come home and you realize that we live in this amazing place,” says Santa Cruz resident Margaret Leonard. Leonard has hiked all around the world—places like the Annapurna Sanctuary in Nepal, the Inca trail in Peru, and The Pyrenees in Spain, just to name a few. However, she says, “I sometimes came home, and realized, I knew more about some obscure trail in Switzerland than I knew about my own backyard.”

Leonard has spent many years discovering the trails and beaches of this area that are too often missed by the busy and distant eye. After retiring from her job as an attorney, she ventured into eco-tourism by founding her own company, Slow Adventures. This May she will launch Slow Adventure’s “Walk the Bay,” a culmination of all the things she loves: Santa Cruz, the outdoors, walking and hiking, and people (“Even after 20 years as an attorney, I still enjoy being around people and meeting new people,” she jokes.)

As the name implies, “Walk the Bay” is not the formulaic vacation in which participants are herded in a tour bus from one congested photo-op destination to another. Instead, “Walk the Bay” is a five-day, four-night walking adventure down the coast of the Monterey Bay. Supplied with Leonard’s own detailed maps and notes as your guide and a gourmet sack lunch, “you propel yourself” down the coast, discovering the hidden attractions Leonard once re-discovered herself.

Starting in Santa Cruz, there will be plenty of opportunities to surf, kayak, and rediscover the famous beaches that dubbed us Surf City. Upon leaving Aptos and the populated beaches, it gets a lot quieter. Between here and Monterey Bay, says Leonard, is “30 miles of absolutely beautiful and very desolate beaches.” And depending on your interests, you can customize your walks accordingly. Start and end each day with yoga on the beach, or maybe follow a local bird guide and encounter some of the 200 species of bird that flock to the Monterey Bay. Perhaps you might decide to whale watch, or discover historical Native American and Californian sites. Or surf, or swim, or go horseback riding. And at the end of each day’s adventure, you can look forward to some well-deserved indulgences: a beachfront hotel, a delicious dinner, and perhaps a bottle of wine.

For many, the Monterey Bay exists as a stretch of coast, visible in the distant horizon on a clear day. But really, do we know what is there? Leonard sums it up, “There is nothing. There’s just you, the sand, and the ocean. And there’s tremendous beauty.”

The Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge is a true gem of a destination.  The Refuge is hidden in plain view a mile off busy Highway 1.  Take the Del Monte/Marina exit, turn right off the ramp and you’ll find a dirt road leading to the parking lot.  At the lot, take a very informative brochure and map and begin to wander.  You will not be disappointed.  I took a quick visit yesterday to take a look at the river in anticipation of our walkers making the crossing and while I was out hiking around I was thrilled to see many nesting Avocets, Caspian Terns, and a Brant’s Goose sitting on her nest.  Mallards swam with their ducklings while the Ruddy Duck’s paraded through the pond displaying their bright blue bills.  The Snowy Plovers are also nesting in the protected areas that are roped off on the dunes.  The next time you are traveling between Monterey and Santa Cruz take the exit and enjoy an hour or so in a magical place.

As you walk from Santa Cruz to Monterey you walk through many miles of white sandy dunes through Marina State Beach a part of the area known as the Marina Dunes Nature Preserve. The town of Marina is host to our Walk the Bay on night number 4. Marina was named in 1918 and became incorporated in 1975, gaining the distinction of being the youngest city on the Monterey Bay. Marina is less than 10 miles from the oldest city on the Monterey Bay, Monterey (named in 1692 by Captain Vizcaino after the Viceroy of New Spain, Count de Monte Rey). Walk the Bay walkers will not be surprised to learn that the Marina area was once a major center for industrial sand mining. The Marina State Beach has some of the finest, softest sand you will experience on Walk the Bay.

Beach walkers inevitably come across debris at the tide line. Sometimes it’s unique and surprising. However, most often it’s offensive and upsetting. In recent years it has become obvious that plastics are everywhere in great numbers, including the pristine Monterey Bay. Our walkers help reduce plastic pollution by volunteering to pick up plastic debris along the shore. Here are some alarming facts about ocean garbage.  Visit Save Our Shores for more information.