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Bay Point, Regional Shoreline
Wetlands along side Suisun Bay. This 150-acre parkland lay at the approximate midpoint of the San Francisco Bay Estuary and the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta. |
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The park lay at the end of McAvoy Road where it veered right off of
Port Chicago Highway. Just over the rise was a small parking lot. The
park didn't appear to be gated, but a sign stated the park was
only open from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
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The path that led toward the wetlands was between a fence and the parking lot.
The fence separated the path and park from a commercial marina on the other side.
It had rained the week before but the path was dry.
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A small sign stuck to the side of a shed labeled the path as a "Public Shore."
The parking lot was located well back from the wetlands so the initial
view was of this fence and weeds.
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This was the view of the parking lot as seen from the path to the wetlands.
In the middle of summer the grass has dried out in typical California fashion.
Notice the low hills in the background. Beyond those hills was Concord.
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The park was wide but not very deep. Here it ended well before the path
to the wetlands ended. Although the path turned into private property,
access was open to the public.
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The private part of the path leading out into the wetlands.
To the right, past a barb-wire topped chain-link
fence, was an industrial marina.
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The grass turned green as we neared the wetlands. A wind blowing out from the
land toward the water bent the grass and made it wave almost fluidly.
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Several thistles were in bloom with purple edging. Here was an older one
that had dried out to match the color of a patch of dried grass.
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The path finally led out into the wetlands. Beyond the low grassy island was
the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta with a ship on its way inland.
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A wide estuary separated the path from the island across. An old fishing pier
lay rotting in the water. Beyond in the background was the park entrance.
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A large metal cylinder had been partly sliced open. It was in the yard
of the marina on the other side of the chain-link fence. This shot was taken
by poking the lens through a hole in the fence.
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An oil ship passed close to the distant end of the trail. Like a scene from a movie
it appeared to be floating across the grassy plain. The huge ship moved quickly past
and was soon distant again.
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The moist part of the path was lined with tall cat tails.
This could be the source of vegetarian sausages or hot dogs.
Here the wind continued to blow outward toward the delta.
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Well shy of the end of the trail it became too muddy to continue. One would be
well advised to wear waterproof shoes or boots to take this path. Footprints
showed that some had elected to walk further.
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A second trail paralleled the train tracks and ran perpendicular to the first
trail. This trail ran alongside open grassland. A train happened to pass by
just shortly after noon.
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An old concrete building had been torn down and now littered the side of the
trail as rubble. There were only a few bits of graffiti but that couldn't
last. The concrete could be risky to children because of rusted rebar
and rusted steel cable still embedded in the concrete.
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Concrete had formed a staircase. After the building had been torn
down, the staircase remained intact and simply abandoned --a true
stairway to nowhere.
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The low mix of dry and still green grass created a wonderful
pastel wash of color across the land. A bonus was the wind
that day, moving the colors and swirling their edges
together, softening the entire effect.
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Dry grass was being swirled by the wind that morning, almost like
the soft fur of a land creature. Occasionally a hint of underlying
green would twinkle into and out of view. The effect was stunning.
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Here there was a roughly even mix of green and dried grasses.
The wind caused the two colors to swirl dramatically together, yet even in
this still shot that visual feel remained.
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A grass fire had burned the central part of the grassland. Hints of returning
grass were visible, but the land was mostly desolate. A single wind-blown plastic
bag became the focus of an otherwise drab field.
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