San Diego Coast Walk: Week 5: Solana Beach to Penasquitos Creek

Trying to write about it now ~ 3 weeks later this is phase of the journey I remember the least, not for lack of interest or beauty indeed, when I can recall it I was absolutely magical and some of the nicest quietest stretches of beach were ours and ours alone. I can only think that it must have been on account of the weather. This was likely the hottest day of our whole trip and were it not for the walking knee deep in the water much of the way I think we would have fried. This was also the first leg in which we were not on the coaster. The irony here is that if you ride the Coaster you get to see much of this stretch of beach from the train. Getting to the nearest stop to the south end of our trip however would be a 2-mile hike across the Penasquitos salt marsh. I have done it and it is indeed most lovely, but we are trying hard to stick to the coast. So for this leg and the next it was the 101 that was our public trans of the day. We parked at the Solana beach Coaster station figuring we did intend to use public transit before we returned and made our way down to Fletcher Cove

Lovely Solana Beach

Back to Fletcher cove

Looking north, the haze a result of offshore flow.

And southward we go

Check it out: There's a circus tent atop the bluff. Naaw it's just termites

Fall is the high season for Santa Ana Winds, a sometimes strong offshore flow resulting from the buildup of high pressure in the high desert regions to the northeast. Coming off the mountains, this descending air mass heats as pressure increases and dries everything out in it's path. If a wildfire is to ignite this is the best time for it to happen. The flip side is that we are treated to some gorgeous views along an otherwise hazy part of the world.

A great straircase, Anita for scale.

A balcony on the edge

A rusted staircase

The Coastal cliffs have been eroding since long before the dawn of humanity. However as human civilizaiton is in part based on the presumption of stability / steady state we often build in places where it may not taking into account the speed at which the ocean takes away. Decay and deterioration have many different expressions up and down the coast. On the south side of Solana beach it seemed particularly recent, however, with many more fresh rockfalls, and rusted staircases.

Rubble pile from a recent Cliff collapse

Ahh the crowds we must be approaching a river outflow.

The San Diguito River!

There's a little dog beach at the mouth of the San Dieguito river. The current here was a little much for us, so we took the bridge.

On the bridge

Watching the outflow

ME!

Looking up valley

Aww doggy! Looking north

This little enclave next to the Del mar Fairgrounds was surprisingly crowded and boasted a number of lovely beach rentals all protected by a common Sea wall. The zoning here was curious, as cities try to balance the needs of dog owners, ball players, surfers, swimmers, drunks, and the lifeguards sworn to protect them all. The towers here were more subtle and I probably missed a few.

A different kind of tower Del Mar

Typical Scene along powerhouse beach

Lifeguard towers a bit more discreet

The Santa Ana Condition is made the air quite clear and the weather HOT

Another lifeguard station closer to the heart of powehouse beach

I waved, are they waving back?

It's at powerhouse Beach in Del Mar, where the train tracks run right along the top of the bluff for awhile. As chile I recall waving to the Amtrak at Rock Neck State park in Connecticut. I still love waving at trains and being on the train and waving back. As the Cliffs separated the road from the shore, the crowd thinned out. We were approaching low tide and blessed by a broad expanse of shimmering sandy beach. This along with Leucadia was a favorite spot for me. Something about the warm air and perfect water temperatures and near absence of people.

Now to the clffs of Del Mar.

Crowds thin and the water feels euphoric

Hard to tell where the sky ends and water begins

another train

end of the dog beach

A flock of birds in formation above a fisherman

I love this structure! I want to toboggan down it sometime.

More bird life

Not sure what these are called, but they were everywhere and really cool!

Another curiosity with the low tide were these worm like creatures anchored into the sand. They looked kind of like discarded condoms, but clearly were some sort of animal that was under water most of the tidal cycle and preferred sand to rock. I imagine were this beach more travelled these poor guys would be trampled.

Another "worm"

Bird life and reflections

Ahh the bridge over the railroad

As the civilized beach grew near we once again picked up the lifeguard towers and other familiar sights. This walk went quickly, but the heat and trudging through knee deep water took a lot out of us both. Still looking back this was a part of the shore I'd love to revisit.