Let’s face it, dunes are sensual things, languidly animated, their soft and complex curves ever-changing with the light and with time, their lines and crests shifting in and out of focus, deep shadows, bright sand. They are immensely and compellingly photogenic. Spectacular photographs of dunes are as numerous as the sand on the sea shore, but, to me at least, none can equal those of Edward Weston and his son Brett – just put “Weston” and “dune” into a Google image search and you will (if you are not already in agreement) see what I mean. Such a search will turn up not just stunning 
.
It quickly became clear that the dune system is divided into two very distinct domains, the only State Park where vehicles may drive on the beach and the dunes (the State Vehicle Recreation Area) and the large area of the natural preserve where the environment and ecology of the dunes remain undisturbed (these domains are players in a high-profile political and policy controversy on which more, but not a lot more, later). Since I was unwilling to drive my rental car on the beach (there is undoubtedly something in the small print of the contract), it seems that I would have to allot a fair amount of precious time to parking the car in town and hiking down the beach before trekking down the beach and turning back into the dunes to access the Preserve. But then, just a few days before the planned visit and already on the road, through the serendipitous wonders of the internet and the blogosphere, I got lucky. Out of the blue in my inbox appeared an email titled “Oceano Dunes local resident” and signed off “at your service," a message from Kevin Rice, a self-confessed sand enthusiast from the Oceano area who had found me through my earlier blog post where I had mentioned my intention of visiting the dunes. Kevin very generously offered his experience and knowledge to help with my visit – an offer that I immediately took up with enthusiasm. Kevin is a Los Angeles fire-fighter who lives in San Luis Obispo – a 180 mile commute for a shift. He got off work the morning of my talk at the Long Beach Aquarium and came along that evening; we met up afterwards and organised getting together in Oceano for a couple of days later. Our rendezvous was at the classic Rock & Roll Diner, a converted railroad car, the inside complete with table juke boxes and festooned with movie memorabilia.
Part of our good luck was that Kevin knew the quick way into the dunes and we were able to take a couple of hours walking through their extraordinary landscapes – sand against a backdrop of the Pacific and the green hills of the interior. Kevin is indeed a sand enthusiast and a great spokesman for the Oceano dunes and taking the walk in his company was a great pleasure, far more enjoyable than if we had just arrived on our own. The morning was a typically California coastal overcast one, there were no deep shadows in the folds of the dunes, but nevertheless, it’s a beautiful place. We observed and created avalanches, saw where the funnelling of strong winds creates creates trains of mega-ripples, their amplitudes and grain sizes larger than those of the common ripples, and wondered at the variety of flora flourishing in the sand (but at the same time struggling against the grip of the alien grasses introduced long ago in an attempt to stabilise the dunes).
We saw the middens of the Chumash Indians, littered with the shells of the famed Pismo clams, the native inhabitants long succumbed, like the native flora, to alien arrivals, and the clams are nowhere near as abundant as they used to be. Being coastal dunes, these are subject to the salty and damp sea air, and the local water table, so mysterious layers and patches of damp and slightly cemented sand form the medium for bizarre and wonderful granular sculptures.
It was a truly memorable experience – dunes (and the Westons’ dunes at that) and good company. Kevin has his feet very rationally in both camps, the environmental and the recreational. It is certainly not for me to pronounce on the public antagonism between them, and this blog was never intended to be a political or an axe-grinding one. I can only comment that on this, as with so many contrasting points of view, the world is not black and white, but rather it is made up of glorious shades of gray that can and should be celebrated, and that a balanced approach is, while sadly rare, something that can be valued by all.
The dunes at Oceano, in addition to providing great landscapes, have hosted extraordinary people and strange events – more of these in subsequent posts. Meanwhile, thanks again, Kevin.
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