An open mouth

The mouth of Redwood Creek opened during yesterday afternoon's high tide, not long after I finished scribbling my previous note here. Unfortunately, a last-minute call to pick up a kid in town came before I could get back out and witness the event myself.

By the time I got out on the beach this morning, the summertime sand spit had been severed by a five foot deep, 5o foot wide chasm. A rising tide was forcing the Pacific into the fresh gap, scouring the steep sand walls and widening the creek mouth with every wave. Two, then three, then four seals popped their mottled white faces out of the outflowing estuary waters clearly enjoying the easy passage from the ocean to the creek for the first time in months. (The photos above show Monday morning's scene on the left, today's on the right.)