Clam Digging in the Bay of L.A.

The first thing you need when going clam digging is knowledge and experience on the subject.  Since we didn’t have either of those we set off with eight hands, a bucket, and a shovel.

We weren’t 100% sure what the deal was with the whole “red tide” thing, but guessed that we’d be able to see the red algae (or whatever the heck red tide is…).  Since the water was the clearest we’ve ever seen we got to digging… well, Sam dug while we picked the clams and filled the bucket in no time.

We put the clams in fresh water for the entire day to let them filter out any sand and then meticulously checked them all to confirm they were all alive.  Some shells pulled apart and were 100% full of sand.  No matter what you cook, a ¼ cup of sand is never going to make it taste better.

Our dinner for the day was Clam Rice.  It’s a creative name for something that is mostly made up of both clams and rice.  A can of diced tomatoes (our last can of organic tomatoes from Costco no less!), fresh onions and garlic, chorizo, and the basic spices were added before this meal was simmered to perfection.  All of the clams opened up nicely and tasted delicious.

Another highlight for us at Bahia de Los Angeles was the epic trail running in the mountainous area behind our pebbly beach camp spot.  We donned our lace ups and headed towards the rocky red outcrops.  The steep terrain combined with valleys of flat sandy trail and blue waters to our left made for some serious smiles upon our faces.  We had both just read Born to Run, which re-ignited our passion for running again. Well, let’s be honest. There may have been some motivation from constant bathing suit wearing and our frequent ingestion of deep-fried Baja fish tacos, not to mention that Sam and Richard seem to be lurking in every corner with their cameras.

An iPhone photo from our awesome trail run around the coast.