On the day before Nicole left San Diego, we decided to take a visit down to the extreme southwestern corner of California at Border Field State Park. She had visited the park earlier in her visit, but had not been able to explore to her liking (Note from Nicole: I got lost and stalked by Homeland Security). This time, we had a better map and decided we wanted to check out the border along the beach. It would definitely prove to be a bit of a surreal experience.
We arrived to a deserted dirt parking lot… the vehicle access gate was closed. As part of the State Park cutbacks, it is apparently only opened on the weekend, and we happened to go on a weekday. No problem, we expected a nice walk anyway. We followed Monument Road directly west, a trail that would lead us to the beach. The first thing I noticed was the fence up on the hills to the south. The second thing I noticed was how loud the helicopters circling over the park were. I counted five in the air at one point. Doesn’t really lend itself to taking in the sounds of nature, and we wondered how it affected the local wildlife. Pretty soon, the Tijuana Bull Ring comes into sight across the way. Its proximity served as a further remind to just how close we were to our neighbors to the south.
A nice trail through some bluffs eventually led us to the beach after about a mile of hiking. From there, we could see the fence about another half mile south. We were careful to stay close to the waterline, as these were nesting sites for the endangered Western Snowy Plover. On the beach, we saw a few of these small furry guys, along with some Whimbrels, and other flying critters. Unfortunately, we also witnessed a good amount of debris along the beach, like a water bottles, ballons, wrappers, and even a dead seal.
This entire time, we’d yet to encounter another person. The waves were drowning out the choppers at this point. It really was quite nice being able to walk along a beautiful beach like this one with no one in sight. The Coronado Islands were just on the horizon. And the wall was getting closer and closer. Soon, we were less than 100 feet away. We spotted one Border Patrol agent camped out in his jeep, and right around this time we noticed music coming from the south.
Approaching the fence is a surreal experience. Our side was relatively desolate; we encountered a few people on horseback, but that was it. The Mexican side of the borderwas lively, with families playing on the beach, music booming, food being consumed, and people having a great time. It made me want to swim around the fence and join them!
It was getting late, so we decided to head back to the car. We didn’t get to see much, such as the Friendship Circle Monument or Smuggler’s Gulch (or any Mexicans trying to sneak across the border!), but what we saw was enough to warrant a visit for people curious to get a peak at this peculiar wall. Oh, and if you’re into bird watching, you’ll love it here.
-J
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| One of the helicopters we saw. |
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| Tijuana Estuary to the north |
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| Reaching the ocean. |
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| Tijuana in the distance. |
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| Nicole and the fence. |
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| Dramatic the way it goes into the ocean. |
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| Everyone's living it up over there. |
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| "Danger Objects Under Water" |
Information:
Website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=664
Fee: $5 on the weekends. During the week, gates are closed, but you can walk in gratis.
