Plankton are abundant here.
“It smells very biological,” said one man I met in the sparsely filled parking lot. One area in particular did smell like the brew of a million creatures.
The South Slough Reserve is so understated, I think it goes unnoticed by the crowds. It was America’s first estuarine research reserve, established in 1974. It is an active watershed with nearly 5 miles of paths winding inland and out.
I also like the other meaning for watershed: “an event marking a turning point in a course of action or state of affairs.” It really is transformational!
Estuaries act as nurseries to support salmon, oysters, crabs, and many more life forms. This reserve is here to “study how estuaries function.” Their informational brochures are not flowery or punchy. One of the more bold lines states, “science occurs year ‘round in the estuary.”
Based on internet searches, I knew very little about it. You have to go there to get it. There are trails to walk on, including boardwalks. Boardwalks flow between skunk cabbage, grass, bogginess, and mud. You get so close to the mud you can almost touch it. You start wanting to touch it.
C said, “mud is pretty.”
They offer water trail maps, but you must launch from Hinch bridge or in Charleston Bay, and not at the estuary.
Take 7 Devils road to get to the estuary. It is located in Charleston, Oregon. What’s the deal with the devil and coastal names in Oregon? There is also: Devil’s Lake; Churn; Punchbowl; Staircase.
The estuary has a couple areas to sit. We found one and meditated for 10 minutes.
C said, “wow, there’s a lot going on out here once you sit and be quiet!”
Warm and cool breeze in face
Bird sounds
Buzzing insects
Wind in trees
Crow wings flapping
Sun on face
Mud at rest.
Shore acres, a few miles away from the estuary, is the place to be if you want the ocean. Unless you are a dog. Don’t take your dog there. Signs say, “no dogs permitted outside of vehicles.”
They have an English garden that ends up as a Japanese garden, that leads to a fence that takes you down to a picturesque small beach.
Beyond the beach, you follow a trail to rocks with sea mammals like sea lions, elephant seals, harbor seals, to name those I remember.
Shore Acres was one of 24 sites with “whale spoken here” volunteers. We spoke with them, in whale, about no whales being seen so far for the kick-off of the gray whale migration. I touched the baleen examples on the table of info in the hut.
Lunch was eaten in Winchester Bay at a place that served elk burgers though the owner did not eat meat except fish and had just returned from six months in India. A residence across the parking lot had a huge Trump cutout in the window, thumbs up. They also had two signs listing how it was a redneck zone and a non- politically correct zone and to leave if either zone bothered you. Buried among a lot of noisy decor was a small sideways leaning welcome sign.
My veggie sandwich was great- fresh ingredients and rustic multigrain bread. I think there was a hippie in the kitchen.
Two questions around some of the small towns were: why are so many businesses closed? Why are so many pot shops open?
A short poem:
I see
A seagull
On the sea
Sí?