So Long to Sea Bright's Mount Sandy

They called it Mount Sandy.

It was a poignant remnant of Hurricane Sandy's devastating effect on the slip of a shore town nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Shrewsbury River — Sea Bright.

When Sandy hit the just more than a mile stretch of peninsula and the two bodies of water met, what was the beach ended up in road. Since then, workers piled it in the public beach parking lot, leaving its mammoth mounds as a surreal reminder of just how much was lost and gathered back together again.

People roamed on top of Mount Sandy to get a glimpse of the then hidden-from-view ocean on the other side, giving its surreal size perspective to onlookers. They looked like ants on an ant hill in a desolate Sahara of sorts.

More than six months later and lots of sifting and plowing work, the sand of what was Mount Sandy is now no more than a small pile. The ocean view is, once again, straight ahead rather than up and over.

Take a look at the photos above to get a glimpse of the steps closer to the "new normal" at Sea Bright beach as Mount Sandy shifts back to the beach and the summer season creeps up. Included are some photos of Mount Sandy at its zenith.