Walk on a Glass Beach California

“On my semi-annual trips to the Mendocino Coast, I’ve picked through the glass and other curiosities on Glass Beach for various projects—jewelry, bowl fountains, garden decoration. This time, I join the glass pickers on a sunny day in spring. I’ve come to pick up a particular color of glass, a pale, translucent green. Coke-bottle green. [...] As I sort through handfuls of sand and glass and metal fragments, setting aside a copper button top from a pair of Ben Davis jeans—the slogan, “Can’t Beat ‘Em,” still legible: a testament at least to the durability of the fastener, if not the jeans—my eyes look for the right color, the right shape. The sun is warm on my shoulders, and the hum of conversation between pickers sounds in counterpoint to the deep, bone-felt surge of the sea.”

“My pregnant wife was weary when reading the sign but thankfully all the “Difficult Path” had was a set of stairs to walk down. My 4 year old son, wife and I made it down easily and safely and there were elderly men and women who made it safely as well. [...] The Pacific Ocean can be pretty chilly and the waves can splash up farther than you expect depending on the time of day or year. I got partially soaked a few times thinking I’d find cooler pieces of glass closer to the water. Realistically there are amazing pieces all over, some of the coolest I found after making my first step onto the beach off the last step of the stairs.”