48. Starfish Wars

After last visiting Point Dume (pronounced du-may) in Malibu, I found out this is a great place to sightsee gray whales during their winter migration down to Baja, California.  When my mommy came to visit for the holiday, this seemed like a great choice as one of the things to do while she was here.

As an aside, in case you don't know I write as the L.A. Sightseeing Examiner for examiner.com.  The articles I write with them are somewhat duplicates of my blog posts for this blog.  The difference: the articles are more succinct and informational while the blog posts are more personal and sharing of my experience.  So, if you would rather read a more factual account, click here.  Otherwise, thanks for coming along for the ride as you continue to read the rest of my story about this awesome experience.

We drove north on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to reach the turn off right before Malibu ends and Zuma Beach begins.  This may be a little TMI (too much information) but by then after all our morning coffee drinking and the like, we needed to take a bathroom break.  I already knew that the east beach and the park where Point Dume is located does not have any "formal" bathrooms.  I suggested we stop at the bathroom.  We did.

Back in the vehicle, we drove and turned on Birdview Avenue following it to Cliffside Drive where we expected to park.  Spots were all taken.  Boo Hoo!  My man, Manny, offered to stay in the vehicle until we could get a spot while the rest of us hiked the trail to the top of Point Dume.  Remember, our goal was looking for gray whales.

So we trekked to the top of Point Dume with our binoculars and cameras.  Once at the top, I was so excited about how amazingly clear and beautiful the view was that day I totally forgot about looking for whales.  After some looking around and enjoying the view and no whale sightings, we put our attention back on the parking situation.  With our binoculars we could see Manny still didn't have a parking spot available so he could join us.  Maybe that was his dasterdly plan all along.  Just kidding, honey.

Truth is this little strip of available parking which is the closest place to park to hike to the top of Point Dume only accommodates about five or six vehicles.  And in hindsight, and I guess a glimpse into the way my mind works, knowing we were going to be walking and hiking anyway so what difference would it make how much walking and hiking we did, we could have simply parked on Westward Beach Road (farther away from Pt. Dume spots closer to the mentioned bathrooms are free, closer spots in the designated parking area are pay-to-park, plus there are outdoor public restrooms in this designated pay-to-park area) and hiked up the hill.

So while my mommy and her man, Bob, waited at the top of Point Dume; Manny and I drove down to the parking area on Westward Beach Road and then hiked up to meet them.

Still no gray whales sighted.  Still excited about how clear it was this day...so clear we could see the highrise buildings of Downtown Los Angeles.

Once we had our fill of sightseeing from the top of Point Dume, we decided to hike down to the east beach to see what we would see.  One of the things the east side beach is known for is its tide pools, which are most easily observed if you desire to stay dry when it is low tide.  Without really planning it, we lucked into being at Point Dume during low tide.

We trekked down the hiking trail until reaching the steep and lots of them stairs, which in my mind is about the only safe option of getting down to the beach to view the tide pools.  You could jump, but no exaggeration it must be at least 30 feet if not more.  Anyway, I wish to give a shout out to my very youngish and mostly fit for being 70 mommy who initially after taking a look at those stairs decided she would wait for us rather than descend them.  About five minutes later somewhere in her being she mustered up the courage to victoriously descend the stairs.  Way to go, mommy!  I love you.

Anyway, in my mind the stairs are worth the climb.  Once down on the beach there is much to explore and see (that is if you are into this kind of thing).  While I didn't see any starfish warring (the title of this blog is more an homage to the title, Star Wars), there were so many to see that I found myself very curious about these tide pool inhabitants.  What do they eat?  How do they breathe?  (BTW, thanks to wikipedia I learned they breathe or "respirate through the tube feet and through tiny structures called papullae that dot the body surface.") For your viewing pleasure, there are also a plethora of sea urchins visible at low tide.

While we went to Point Dume hoping to see some gray whales and didn't, we all agreed we enjoyed our visit and had a fun time.

P.S.  Here's a very lame joke sure to win over your 5-year old.  How do starfish war?  In slow motion.