A Big Splash

“Run!” A mom screams to her little daughter standing in front of me. My heart races as I try to figure out what is going on. “Wham!” A massive wave smacks into me, almost knocking me over. As I struggle to make my way back to the shore, I realize I have just experienced my first ever sneaker wave. 

Sneaker waves are waves that can “sneak up” on pleasant beachgoers. They can grow to up to 10 times as large as a normal wave, on average kill 1 person every year. I was unlucky - or is it lucky- enough to be caught in a small wave during a family trip to Mendocino County over the President’s Day long weekend. 

As the day approached noon, the skies above Mendocino’s Glass Beach started to clear, the glass on the beach danced in the sunlight. Enticed to get some good photos for the trip, my dad decided to photograph the beach, and wanted me to look out for waves.  

I was really confused why my dad wanted a lookout. Then, he told me about his friend Murali, who was caught in a sneaker wave and almost died. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t pay heed to his warning. I was more interested in a little science experiment I was performing, testing the suction power of the waves. When the sneaker wave came, I didn’t see it. 

Luckily, this was a relatively small sneaker wave. I was sitting on a small rock formation, with my back turned to the ocean. When the water rushed past me, I panicked and ran for my life, scared of getting swept up. In retrospect, it might have actually been safer for me to stay where I was. The wave was unlikely to sweep me out to sea, and by running on slippery rock I could have easily fallen into the ocean. 

The irony is that my dad, the photographer, didn't have a single drop of water on him, while I, the lookout, was soaking wet. 

While my encounter with a sneaker wave was exciting, there was so much more that made my trip special. I also got a chance to ride on the world-famous skunk train, which, according to the conductor, was the last train left in the postal service. Thankfully, the skunk train smelled nothing like its namesake. In fact, the train was filled with the warm smell of pine trees, making the cabins smell very nice.

From there, we stopped at a magnificent train station in the woods. After trying and failing to convince my sister not to jump in puddles, we warmed ourselves up in a fireplace. Then, we explored a trail, and stumbled upon an old, abandoned tunnel near the woods. We nimbly hopped as close as we could, but eventually turned back for fear of the murky water lingering beneath us.   As the warning bell of the train rang, my family rushed back to our seat, scared of being left behind. 

The ride back was smooth sailing, and I was amazed by the beauty of the swamps. It was incredible how, in the middle of a forest full of pine trees, I could find a marsh. We also got to get an up close look at the pudding creek, which looked very much like brown pudding.

Then, we got to the model train station. When I first walked in the room, the trains took my breath away. There were 30 or 40 model trains, and every detail, from the carefully placed mountain tracks, to the tiny little wisps of fog transported me to a new, toy, world. It was obvious the hours of time and effort that went into assembling the displays.

Overally, this trip was a magnificent experience, and I can’t wait to visit Mendocino County again!