Greyhound Rock Beach

Greyhound Rock Beach
Santa Cruz County, CA

Located approximately 12 miles from Santa Cruz proper, Greyhound Rock Beach is an arched stretch of glittering beach tucked underneath a towering cypress laden bluff. From the top of the cliffs, the beach's namesake is vivid and magnetic. I wanted to climb the enormous sea stack immediately. Greyhound Rock looks more like a giant humpback whale's dorsal ridge peaking out from the ocean's surface rather than a sleek racing dog, but who am I to say? In order to begin my exploration of the rocky formation, I would first need to traverse the steep trail which lead to the beach below. The path was flanked with a type of succulent plant that looked like small green banana bunches dotted with magenta starburst flowers. Above the ground crawling plant were tall reedy plants that looked like enormous feather dusters. The path was a bit treacherous, but maybe only to those who never wear proper shoes... Upon arrival at the beach, Greyhound Rock begs to be climbed. I read somewhere that the sea stack is made of miocene mudstone. If this state
ment is true that would mean that Greyhound rock is approximately 5-23 MILLION years old! MILLION! He's an old dog!

The tide was a bit high on the day I visited Greyhound, which caused me to wade through sea water nearly up to my knees before reaching the rock's edge. My rainboots proved fairly pointless as I marched through the salty water. Again, poor shoe choices. The bottom edge of Greyhound that covered by the ocean is encrusted with muscles, barnacles and sea kelp. I also observed corralline algae and various limpets and ONE sea anenome, but he was vivid green and lively. However, once above the waterline, Greyhound is dry and rocky as a desert plain and steep to boot! There was a small family coming down the rock as I was heading up. There were two small boys in the brood who seemed terrified...and shoeless. I guess my inadequate shoes were better than no shoes at all!

In my memory the top of Greyhound is narrow with steep sides reaching down to the sea below, but my mind could be making the climb more dangerous that it was in reality. The views from Greyhound are just as spectacular, if not more so, than the views of the sea stack itself. Waves smashed against the seaward side of rock creating spray that nearly reached the top of the mudstone structure. Peering over the edge of Greyhound was both thrilling and frightening. I doubt anyone would survive that fall, but I digress! Greyhound rock is ancient and beautiful and provides an inverse visual perspective of the coast.






Photos = Joshua R. Neely