The living dune of Mt. Baldy is slowly taking over the parking lot, and swallowing up anything in its path. The trees seen here are actually buried, their trunks begin at the level of the flat ground at the right of the image. A good portion of the parking area is now buried, and there's no end in sight. This is a natural process, as the "bald" dune (a dune with no grass or plants to keep it from eroding) seems to move inland because the wind blows the sand from the lakeside over the top and it falls on the opposite side. This makes the dune "walk" inland, burying everything in the way.
The image below shows the leeward side of the dune today. Some of the trees that once stood here are completely buried, others died and broke off in the wind. The pine tree seen toward the left was once a small shrub in front of tall deciduous trees. This pine has grown significantly, but the trees are missing.
Look below at the last photograph, it's a composite image I created over the years of the exact same area of this dune. You can see how the sand has moved to cover the trees. When Mt. Baldy was closed a few years back, I was unable to get photos, and when I returned, the trees were gone.
Composite of Mt. Baldy over the years. Compare it to the image above to see the changes.
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