Day 28: Coyote Hills to Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Day 28: Coyote Hills to Don Edwards
San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
(Fremont to Newark) 

Circle The Bay Part 3

November 8th 2018

8.0 miles in 2 hrs 0 mins

(Total:  305.7 miles in 70 hrs 9 mins)

I better get back on the trail if I'm going to finish this circumnavigation in 2018.  This segment was largely about biking around the Newark Slough, a 5 mile circular route out into the bay starting at the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge.  These are still active salt evaporation ponds in this area, owned by Cargill.  But since these are feeder ponds to the more salinated collection ponds to the south, they are still welcoming to all kinds of birds.

And now I have to write one more paragraph to accomplish my minimum acceptable blog entry to go along with these pictures.  But you could just look at the pictures.  Part of the delay was the ironically named Camp Fire in Northern California that made the air in the Bay Area hazardous to any kind of outdoor exercise.  But once it started raining the air cleaned up, the fire got put out, and everyone was happy to see the rain -- for a while.  Now I wish it would stop so I could get back out there.

Orange for (still) owned by Cargill

Shadow of Bike on Roof Rack over Dumbarton Bridge

Coyote Hills Park 

Coyote Hills Park

Bayside Trail at Coyote Hills Park

Quarry Reconstruction at Coyote Hills Park

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR

Don Edwards Nursery

Don Edwards Classroom Laboratory

Don Edwards

Dredging Platform on the Newark Slough

Newark Slough

Western Sandpipers

Blowup of Western Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper Murmuration #1

Western Sandpiper Murmuration #2

Western Sandpiper Murmuration #3

Day 27: Alameda Creek to Coyote Hills

Day 27: Alameda Creek to Coyote Hills
(Union City to Fremont) 

Circle The Bay Part 3

November 4th 2018

11.9 miles in 2 hrs 0 mins

(Total:  297.7 miles in 68 hrs 27 mins)

Finally got back on the bike to finish off this year's clock-wise bay trek. It's been almost 4 months since my last day on the trail.  Seems I was waiting until I got that bicycle cartop carrier so my wife could join me on this ride.  It ended at Coyote Hills Regional Park, a ridge of natural hills at the edge of the bay, unique in that they are not the kind created by dumping garbage.

The hills seem to be the other end of the San Bruno Mountain and Coyote Point ridges on the other side of the bay.  They were used for ceremonial purposes by the natives.  The miles of wetland between the hills and the open water were converted into salt evaporation ponds.  Now these ponds have been somewhat restored with natural water and left to the birds.  Thousands of birds, especially little hard-to-identify shorebirds that were loving the mudflats that seem at the moment safe from invasive cordgrass.  

We watched them endlessly scurry on the mud searching for food, and periodically jump into the air as a flock and fly to new flats to look for more food.  Except there were so many of these flocks there were sometimes mid-air "collisions" of these murmurations.

We "ended" at the parking lot for the park, but still had to bike back to our car.  Next time I'm gonna take a Lyft back.

Yakima Roof Racks for two bicycles

Alamade Creek Flood Diversion Channel

Murmuration of shorebirds

Salt pond levees breaking down

Hard to Identify Shorebirds

View of Coyote Hills from a mile out in the bay

Unafraid Heron

White Pelican

Selfie with Heron

Mudflats with shorebirds

Long ride back to shore

Coyote Hills Regional Park

Day 26: Highway 92 to Alameda Creek

Kayak Landing at Eden Landing

Day 26: Highway 92 to Alameda Creek
(Hayward to Union City) 

Circle The Bay Part 3

July 16th 2018

8.9 miles in 1 hrs 35 mins

(Total:  275.8 miles in 66 hrs 27 mins)

This day was all about getting in one last ride before taking off to Wisconsin for the rest of the summer. Most of my time was spent exploring another section of restored wetland of the San Francisco Bay, Eden Landing.  Once a commercial salt pond, it is on its way back to more natural uses.  Ironically, it was the salt industry that preserved large segments of Bay Area wetland so it could be restored, keeping it from being gobbled up by other industries or construction.

And now it is hard to believe that it has been four busy months since I paused this trek.  I've been looking for the right opportunity to bike Coyote Hills.  Day 27 is finally here.

Taking my bike on a bus across the San Mateo Bridge

Billboard on the side of CA-92

Bike Bridge over CA 92

Tidal flow at the end of Mount Eden Creek

Eden Landing Salt Plant Ruins

Eden Landing Compass

Western Sandpipers

Tidal Gates for Wetland Restoration

Omnipresent High Voltage Lines on the east side of the South Bay

Alameda Creek