After being benched for two weeks because of the heat then the smoke, Barbara and I could not wait to get back outside into nature. We chose the ocean for air quality and chose Malibu Lagoon for its wildlife and beauty. Malibu Lagoon, basically across PCH from Pepperdine University, is the estuary where the river current from Malibu Creek meets the tides of the Pacific Ocean. The lagoon is a migratory bird rest stop along the Pacific Flyway, and the beach is one of the most popular surfing spots in Los Angeles Country. "Malibu" is shorthand for Topanga Malibu Sequit, the early 19th-century rancho that ran along the coast from Topanga Canyon to Ventura County, and grew up to be one of the most famous and most exclusive neighborhoods in LA. To get there from the Valley, we drove Las Virgenes Road to PCH, turned left, and made a right into the Malibu Lagoon paid parking lot at Cross Creek Road. The state did a beautiful job of landscaping the one-mile trail around the lagoon with benches, viewing posts, and information plaques. But here's the funny thing about Malibu: the coastline runs west to east instead of north to south, and I have to stop and think about why the sun looks like it's rising from the south as I face the ocean, instead of behind me. You can't get lost—there is only one trail around the lagoon and, like the bird watchers we met on the trail, our attention was on the wildlife in and around the water. Just this morning, we saw a heron in flight, a fleet of pelicans fishing in the water, a raft of ducks dive-bombing tail up for breakfast, terns, a snowy plover, cormorants, seagulls, and a pod of pelicans on the mudflat. In addition to the birds and bird watchers, a steady stream of surfers and beachgoers passed us on their way to the ocean. McKinney offers two options in his hike: once you finish walking the lagoon, you can head downcoast (left) along the ocean to the iconic Malibu Pier, or you can walk upcoast (right) toward Malibu Point. We already had done the downcoast trek last year so we opted to hike a mile upcoast past Malibu Colony to the Point. Fail. One big ugly chain link fence blocks access to the shoreline in front of the Colony. Undaunted, we walked back to PCH and followed the castle defense wall that keeps commoners out of the Colony, to see if we could find beach access. A half-mile up, the guard at the Malibu Colony gate flew out of his guardhouse to assure us there was no way in. We backtracked. When we first arrived at 8:30 the sky was the clearest California blue, something I haven't seen for weeks, yet when we returned to the lagoon from the Colony the fog had rolled in, giving us a completely different perspective on the bird action. Blue sky or clouded over, Malibu Lagoon is one of the prettiest nature hikes on the ocean. Included with my photos below is an aerial view of the lagoon provided by KCET, to give you an idea of the layout; the buildings on the upper right are Malibu Colony. Happy hiking!