Pismo Oceano Mule Ride

2021/8/29 Pismo Oceano

 

It was a hot day, so we went in search of fog.

With all of our interior trail riding options way too hot, we set our sights on the Grover Beach access to Pismo Beach, where equines are welcome in the dunes and on the beach.

As the map shows, we tracked through the interior dunes, then out to the beach for the stroll back.

But first, after loading up Tobe Mule I had to brave the coastal highway miles.

And much to my consternation everything went just fine until the last 10 miles of the 80 mile total took LONGER than the previous 70. OK, I had a good audio book, but my riding companions, who had arrived just a few minutes earlier, had sailed by the machinery being set up to weed the center divider. When I hit the jam just a few minutes later it had become a parking lot.

OK, I tell myself this is a reminder to be grateful that I do not have a long commute to work.

I get to the parking lot, we all tack up and set out, and I see that the traffic jam has proceeded to the kiosk where people enter to drive onto the beach. Is there no end to this press of humanity?

We start out for the dune trail, and there, hunkered down like a troll demanding toll for passage, is a guy in a hoodie lurking in the iceplant. Jamie yelled in no uncertain terms “DO NOT MOVE!” in her best motherly “Because I said so!” voice, with the result that the little fellow was frozen in fear, the equines were not spooked, and we started our ride.

  Immediately we are in nature, and any thoughts of too many people dissolve away. Now it is time to enjoy the landscape, watch for seasonal changes, appreciate our four-leggeds.

These dunes are ancient, and wise city planners set them aside for the public’s enjoyment.

We seldom see anyone else on these trails, even though the ocean is just over that rise to the right.

Jamie and Mosca like to lead the way, this thoroughbred’s tail was made to fly in the wind.

Yvette’s quarterhorse Breyer was feeling his oats too.

And Tobe Mule and I think any time out on the trail is well worth the effort to get there.

The plant communities change subtly as you walk along, in some places wind-beaten large trees shelter animals beneath them.

Tucked into some of these shelters are the trash middens of trespassing campers, but they are rousted by the patrols when they are noticed.

But we have no official capacity, we are just taking a grateful break from the Real World and going for a nature walk.

Even as the inland valleys are burnt grass and fire hazard, the sea grass here is lush and waving in the breeze.

This section burned last year, a vagrant’s warming or cooking fire decimated an acre or more. Now it is making a comeback, but the skeletons of the larger bushes still mark the spot.

Turning to look on the other side of the trail this bright patch of iceplant was luminous in the sun.

Then we reached the access road, and it was time to turn toward the beach. Tobe is an old hand at the sand, but neither of our companion animals had ever been to the beach, so we took it slow.

Something new, orange fencing made a track down to the surf.

Looking both down and up-coast we could see that the vehicles were everywhere. At the price of a shorter ride I suggested we just turn up, heading back toward our starting point. Dodging cars, dogs and children was going to be tricky enough for that distance.

There were people surf-fishing, kids trying to splash around, people walking their dogs…… it was a full driver training movie for the horses! Tobe Mule on the other hoof is quite sure that the lakes in Kentucky never moved like this and it ‘taint natural, so he will walk on the hard packed wet sand but not in the surf.

But today, kids of all ages are enjoying the simple joy of a day at the seashore. An innocent and timeless pleasure.

Sometimes I have to include a butt shot, since when I see other riders’ photos from trail rides this is what they look like.

Then close to the entrance we found a dead seal.

 

Poor thing, it deserved a more dignified end than this.