Trails, wildlife and the ocean

Coppertone and I intended to do the entire Ohlone Bluff Trail today, but it turned out to be longer in reality than it looked like on the map.  We made it down to 3 mile beach, about three quarters of the way to end of the trail.  More to do later!

At a couple of locations the trail heads inland to avoid rough terrain along streambeds as they meet the ocean.  This means walking along the railroad tracks for a short distance.  For us, it meant balancing on the rails like a tightrope walker.

Near Sand Plant Beach we saw what looked like a dead sealion.  Its shape looked a bit different than the many Harbor Seals seen lounging on the rock shelves just above the water.

With a little bit of patience we were able to spot whales, perhaps Humpbacks, offshore.  Telltale water spouts and humped backs were paralleling the shore.  At least one was closer to shore inside the kelp beds.

As we prepared to turnaround we noticed someone intently checking out a bush nearby and taking notes.  Curiousity got the best of us and she turned out to be a botanist looking at the flowering plant that is normally found on the Channel Islands.  It was a bit of a mystery how it got here.

We doubled back to the trailhead, taking a slight shortcut at the railroad bypass and headed off to dinner.  There are a LOT more trails to try out here, most off of the ocean.