Tide
Jenya and I went hiking around the hills near a popular beach in the north bay one lovely sunny weekend afternoon. We noticed the trail led us directly above a remote and private section of the beach so we slid down the slippery slope covered in ice plants to the sand below.
It was quite peaceful and romantic, having our own hidden alcove to watch the sun sink down the sky together. But the tides were clearly starting to encroach, and I grew concerned especially as it was impossible to climb back up the way we dropped in. We had no choice but to trudge back on the sand.
As we started the trek we realized this was going to be a series of alcoves one after another. Fair enough, except the tide rose at alarming speed. We were fine until we ducked into the fourth alcove and found ourselves having to scurry to avoid the oncoming wave. Then we charged into the next alcove and had to sprint and moreso scramble up the far wall a bit to avoid the rushing waters barely lapping at our heels. Shit.
Clinging to the rock face we realized we had to time the next push just right, but couldn't see what was behind the next wall. The waters finally receded enough that we attempted a run for it, but it still wasn't enough time. Jenya went first around the bend but I jumped up on a nearby boulder to avoid getting consumed by the wave.
I couldn't see Jenya at this point but she yelled over the din of the waves that she was okay and I should just go for it. The water wasn't getting any shallower. I jumped in. it was only knee deep and I splashed beyond the bend and as soon as Jenya came into view...
Bloop! I was completely underwater, as the ground disappeared from underneath me. However startling, I still managed to quickly swim to where Jenya was standing on a raised bed of sand, totally soaked, as she just went through the same exact thing.
Now the main part of the beach was close enough and in our direct view, so we abandoned the plan of trying to cleverly outsmart the unpredictable tides. We were totally drenched already so why bother? We dove right into the ocean and swam away from the alcoves and back towards the shore, laughing at the unexpected twist our journey today has taken.
We emerged on the sand, the remaining few beach goers staring as we were fully clothed, dripping wet, and still laughing. We got back to the car, sadly lacking towels. We tried to dry off as much as we could but we (and the car seats) were basically fermenting in brine all the way home. By the next day Jenya's pants, made of some light material and left out all night to dry, had totally disintegrated into clumps of frayed fibers.
Luckily this happened 25 years ago, so we didn't have any technology on our persons to worry about. Instead of losing cell phones and DSLR cameras, we only lost a pair of pants.