Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Enchanting Forest

The Manila Dunes are a magical place where the forest meets the beach. It is our closest ocean beach to Arcata, but you have to hike if you want to see the ocean. The sand has swooped in to bury the beautiful trees, but the forest lives on. The dunes have made lush canyons overgrown with mosses and other vegetation. It has a mysterious vibe.The hike we went on begins next to the gun club entrance, but that's Humboldt for ya. We wind our way through trees over small hills, through swampy marsh ponds, and emerge here:The view is epic. The Dunes stretch out for miles and the ocean fills the rest of the horizon. Here we play Frisbee with the dogs. That fluffy white tale belongs to Liberty, the new addition to our family. Eeka has become quite the Frisbee catching champion.


Today we also had a new encounter; a snake at the beach! Who would have thought?! Certainly not me, but Eeka discovered a rustling in the underbrush. It's a small snake, but it still freaked me out a bit, so Drew did the honors and captured it on my camera to share with ya'll.