The dunes follow the coastline in northern Santa Barbara County for 18 miles. One would think of a sand dune as being barren. Sand everywhere. However, the Guadalupe dunes are teeming with marine and coastal wildlife, plants and butterflies. Mammals that frequent the area are jackrabbits, mule deer, coyotes and bobcats. The ocean supports sea otters, harbor seals and sea lions. Scouring the sand and in the air are terns, snowy plovers, brown pelicans, loons, willets and sandpipers. Dozens of plants such as the Silver Dune Lupine, Beachgrass and Hottentot Fig, a succulent decorate the terrain. Recent sightings include the Baja California tree frog, Wooly Caterpillars, Red Back Jumping Spider, Red admiral, Purplish Copper and Painted Lady Butterflies. One of the strangest parasitic plants in the sand is the Purple Sand Food (Pholisma Arenarium) whose root served as a food source for some Native American Groups.
The Guadalupe dunes have also been made famous due to the filming of numerous movies including the classic Ten Commandments, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Hildalgo. When Cecil B. Demille finished his Ten Commandments movie, he buried the 720 foot-long Egyptian palace, sphinx sculptures and other stage sets under the dunes, a common practice in the 1920’s. With the shifting sand, occasionally, a costume or gold coin will surface. Unfortunately, this is not the only pollution the dunes are dealing with. The coast has had an ongoing cleanup from the Union Oil drilling operation closed in 1994.
Mr. Renehan and several other parents accompanied 17 scouts for a Saturday adventure surfing on the dunes. With a sack lunch in hand, we hiked for an hour or two over the sand to get to the dunes, some being as tall as 60 feet. The morning was a bit foggy but the sun came out and provided us with a great day for surfing. It was great fun sliding down the shifting sand on the boogie board but tough going climbing back up the hill for the next slide. We look forward to coming back next year and hanging with our fellow scouts.