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| Limanture Salt Marsh |
Date: August 30, 2025
Place: Point Reyes National Seashore, California
Coordinates: 38.028819, -122.882192
Length: 1.7 miles
Level: easy
The Labor Day weekend getaway of Pappa Quail and I started with a nice hike at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. After that we drove west to Point Reyes Seashore. We passed at the visitor center to get some information and then continued to Limanture Beach on the north side of Drake's Bay. The parking lot was nearly full when we arrived and more people were coming in still. Some cars however, were leaving so we found a parking spot, gathered our stuff and went looking for the trailhead.
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| Limanture Beach Trail |
Limanture Beach Trail goes directly to the beach itself but almost at the beginning the Muddy Hollow Trail splits off to the west, then takes north along the salt marsh and the slough that comes from Drake's Bay.
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| Our hike as captured by my GPS |
We turned right on the Muddy Hollow Trail and followed it along the salt marsh, looking for birds. The salt marsh seemed pretty quiet but here and there we could see some birds.
At the edge of the slough stood a great blue heron, which is a local, year round resident bird. It was distant but big enough to be seen from afar.
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| Great Blue Heron |
While Pappa Quail scanned the salt marsh I paid closer attention to the vegetation on the uphill side of the trail. I liked the low, wind-swept pines that grew wider than they grew taller. They didn't shade the trail at all, but at that point we didn't need any shade - it was later in the afternoon and the air so close to the ocean was considerably cooler than what we felt at Samuel P. Taylor SP earlier that day.
It was high tide time when we hiked there and the salt marsh was flooded. A few gulls were swimming in the open water. All of them were western gulls.
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| Western Gull |
A large shore bird was wading far out in the marsh. It was far away, almost too far for even Pappa Quail's powerful birding lens. It was solitary - we saw no other shorebirds nearby.
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| Wimbrel |
The trail continued on northward. We didn't know how long we'd go on in that direction. It was too late in the day to turn this particular trail into a loop but neither of us was ready to turn around just yet.
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| Muddy Hollow Trail |
By the end of August there isn't much bloom anywhere, but the most likely place to still see some bloom is along the coast where the weather is ambient pretty much year-round. The sticky monkeyflower bushes still had a few flowers open, ready to call in any late season bee.
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| Sticky Monkeyflower, Erythranthe aurantiacus |
The salt marsh vegetation wasn't uniform. There were large field of pickleweed but also large mats of cordgrass, alkali grass, reeds, and other salt-tolerant plants, some native species and some invasive. the vegetation areas were separated by the blue lines of the open flood areas. Together they made this beautiful natural quilt of the salt marsh in high tide.
At the edge of the vegetation stood a great egret, the water reaching its thighs. It was ambushing whatever creature might be passing by.
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| Great Egret |
Invasive species grew also on the dry side of the trail. Large masses of sweet pea vined on top of other bushes. Some of them were blooming too.
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| Broad-leaved Sweet Pea, Lathyrus latifolius |
We walked a little bit more up the trail. The salt marsh narrowed, squeezing between the hills. Eventually it was just a wide creek bed, choked with cattail and reeds. It was time to turn around and head back.
I noticed a gumplant blooming far away in the salt marsh. It was situated right at the edge of a slough that surrounded a thick stand of reeds.
I asked Pappa Quail to take a maximal zoom photo of the gumplant. The plant was too far for his camera as well but I got a better image of the striking difference between the low pickleweed mat and the thicket of the tall reeds.
Walking back was a quick affair. There were no new birds to see in the marsh, and no other wildflowers to look at. Soon we were back where the low pine trees were. We did come across one photographer who was heading up the trail northbound. He told us that he was going to the high point on the hill and get some sunset photos.
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| Muddy Hollow Trail |
Turkey vultures appeared overhead. They circled low and slowly above us but when they figured that we weren't at an edible state they continued on.
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| Turkey Vulture |
The sun was getting lower, giving a special late afternoon shimmer to the open water of the salt marsh. We finished the Muddy Hollow walk and decided to go all the way down to the beach.
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| Limanture Salt Marsh |
A narrow bridge traversed a creek that fed the salt marsh with some fresh water from the hilldon the east, and it was dry at the time. There was quite a lot of traffic on that bridge - many people were concluding their beach day and were heading back up to the parking area, carrying coolers, folding chairs and other beach equipment. Other people, us among them, were going to the beach still.
At the base of the bridge was a national historical landmark sign, marking the place where Sir Francis Drake made his landing at Point Reyes in 1579. In this area were found shards of the Chinese porcelain that Drake gave to the Coast Miwok people who greeted and hosted Drake and his men doring their stay at Point Reyes.
Below the bridge were gumplants in bloom. They were a bit too far for my camera so I asked Pappa Quail to photograph them for me.
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| Oregon Gumplant, Grindelia stricta |
South of the bridge was a ridge of beach dunes. The dunes were covered with a sea of European beachgrass, an invasive coastal grass that took over the beaches of California.
I must admit though, that the waves the wind blew in the silvery European beachgrass were really pretty to watch.
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| European Beachgrass, Ammophila arenaria |
The beach was long. There were many people there, but it wasn't crowded. Perhaps it was crowded earlier. Still, there was no human free area at that beach.
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| Limanture Beach |
We wondered a little bit along the beach. I love the sight of the sea and the sound of the waves. It calms my mind and soothes my soul.
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| Limanture Beach |
Looking east I could see the curved coastline of Drake's bay and the low hills that sloped gently down to the ocean.
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| Limanture Beach |
Pappa Quail was looking for birds, of which we haven't seen too many. Meanwhile I was taking a series of photos of a wave crashing to the shore.
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| Wave Rising |
Each of these frames can stand by its own right in my opinion. I love them all.
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| Spray Halo |
The stages of a wave's movement are the same, yet each wave is uniquely different.
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| Wave Crushing |
The point when the crushing wave hits downward at full force is probably the scariest, assuming one's in the water at the time. I've experienced it many times, although not there and not at that time.
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| Wave Collapsing |
The final stage is when the wave loses its energy and the water flattens, leaving a mat of foam floating on top. A new wave is then coming from behind.
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| Wave disintegrating |
While I stared, mesmerized, at the waves, Pappa Quail captured a young gull, possibly a juvenile western gull. Disappointed with the count of birds on that beach, he suggested that we'll go fo a little bit along the Limanture Spit Trail.
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| Juvenile Gull |
The Limanture Spit Trail splits off the Limanture Beach Trail just north of the bridge. The spit is a long stretch of land that separated the salt marsh and the inland lagoon from the open ocean. South of the trail were the beachgrass covered dunes but right by the trail was a low coastal scrub where many native species thrived. Among those were the coastal bush lupines and to my delight they were still in bloom.
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| Coastal Bush Lupine, Lupinus arboreus |
We didn't walk for long on the Limanture Spit Trail. there were very few birds there and they didn't make themselves visible. Pappa Quail heard the call of a wrentit but the caller remained hidden from view. Disappointed and tired from the long day's experience, Pappa Quail called me to turn around and head back to the parking area.
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| Limanture Spit |
Thus ended the first day of our Labor Day's romantic getaway weekend. I was happy being out in nature with the man I love, and the day provided just that. Pappa Quail also had a good time, and he hoped to see more birds on the morrow.
