Bridges

Social Distancing on Soquel Creek in Capitola, May 2020

It was in May that the pandemic “Shelter in Place” order was lifted in California. So we hopped on the I-280 to Capitola, 4 miles east of Santa Cruz. The little creek that runs through Capitola is called “Soquel,” an Ohlone word. It empties into Soquel Cove, part of the Monteray Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The waterfront dining district was bustling. We were lucky to find a parking spot in an ally close to the creek. We launched from a tiny park at the tail end of a string private residences, many of which had vacation unit rental signs prominently displayed.

To launch, we had to drop the kayak over a rail. Thankfully we’re both tall and don’t mind getting a little dirty, because, although the kayak is pretty light, we had to stretch our bodies out, anchoring our knees, legs and feet in the dusty ground in a funky yoga pose, to clear the gap between the platform and the rail to drop the kayak in the water.

Soquel Creek bridge

The kayakable part of the creek is only a half mile long, but very scenic and very peaceful.

There were a few kayakers and paddle boaters from the residences along the creek–polite youngsters and parents with small children.

But we had the cove to ourselves, excepting some gulls.

Brightly colored Venetian Village cottages, all empty

We portaged over a sandbank. The water was a bit icky from bird droppings.

Diving in the kelp forests is still on our to-do list. The residents of the kelp forests kept to themselves this day: we saw a few sea lions, but no sea otters.

Capitola Wharf, silent

It was very quiet. The only other people on the water were a swimmer and a fisher in a small motor boat.

The appearance of crowds on Capitola beach, though sparse, seemed to emphasize the quietness of the water.

Oliver, happy to be on dry land again

A Wintry Ride on Old Haul Road, Jan 2019

It was a quiet ride along Pescadero Road (a minor road that follows the serpentine path of Pescadero Creek) to Old Haul Road. We passed working farms, cow pastures and cottages. As we passed the last farm before entering the thick, shady redwood forest surrounding Loma Mar (population 113), the temperature dropped abruptly, an interesting characteristic of this region, which is made up of hundreds of micro-climates.

After a while, we turned off Pescadero Creek Road onto Wurr Road…

and crossed Pescadero Creek.

Pescadero Creek

Wurr Road has a steel stringer bridge with a timber deck, built in 1962, around the time the State started buying back land from farmers and lumber companies.

Wurr Road Bridge

We stopped on the bridge for a little while and took in our surroundings. A cloud of smoke escaped from the chimney pipe of a nearby timber frame cabin and blew towards the coast, a fisher held his rod over the creek in search of trout and salmon as fishers must have done for centuries (pescadero means “fishing place”), and Pescadero Creek moved slowly over prehistoric river rocks, fallen trees, fish and fishermen’s feet on its journey back to the ocean.

Pescadero Creek County Park is San Mateo County’s largest park at 5,700 acres. It is one of three parks in the Pescadero Creek Park Complex, which also includes Sam McDonald County Park and Memorial County Park. Click here to be directed to a Parks Department brochure and map.

Wurr Road

Pescadero Creek County Park has miles of trails. Old Haul Road is one of them. The County website describes it as a multi-use route for hikers, bicyclists and equestrians that intersects with many of the other trails within the park.

Wurr Road

The website advises that visitors should be aware that Old Haul Road is the main access road for maintenance crews, and should expect to meet the occasional heavy truck and tractors along the way.

The website also explains that much of the road follows the route of a narrow gauge railroad line that hauled logs to the various mills that once flourished in the Santa Cruz Mountains. “Even today you can find rusty choker cables used to skid and lift logs on to flatcars,” it says.

An information board at the trail head (just past a small parking lot) offers the following information: “Pescadero Creek County Park shares its eastern border with Portola Redwoods State Park; trails also connect to Big Basin Redwoods State park. The ranger station in Memorial County Park serves as headquarters for all three parks. The park sits atop a deposit of natural gas and crude oil, which pools in Tarwater Creek and seeps into Jones Gulch Creek. Trees in the park include coast redwood, Santa Cruz cypress, tanoak, and knobcone pine. Visitors may see black-tailed deer and occasional coyote and mountain lions.”

As a beginner mountain biker, the 5.7 mile (9.2 km) trail was an absolute blast to ride. Having finally figured out how to use my gears effectively, the intermittent humps, none higher than 369 feet (112 m) and cumulatively totaling about 1350 feet (411 m), were a thrill to ride over.

The only other people we saw were a group of boys accompanied by an adult, all on mountain bikes, and a ranger in a pickup truck. One of the young mountain bikers made me laugh when he yelled at the top of his lungs, “I-can’t-ride-any-more!” I thought to myself, “If his little lungs can create sounds that are capable of reaching that decibel, he’ll be alright.”

Gliophorus psittacinus (parrot mushroom)?

Galerina Marginata (Autumn Galerina)?

A terrible photo, but an exciting find: a turret spider’s burrow! We find them easily now. When spiderlings leave their mother’s burrow, they don’t venture far (because they’re small and dehydrate easily), so it’s common to find a large turret surrounded by several smaller ones. We’ve seen up to a dozen!

The banana slug… not a relative of the banana spider. They grow up to 10 inches (25 cm) long! The hole in the side of its body (they’re hermaphrodites) is called a Pneumostome. Also called a breathing pore, it allows air to enter the animal’s single lung,

Donkeys!

Resources Consulted:
California banana slugs: Fun Facts About Our Vibrant, Terrestrial Molluscs, Golden Gates Natural Parks Conservancy
California Fungi—Gliophorus psittacinus, MykoWeb
“Five Common Mushrooms that can Poison Your Pet,” by By Dr. Tina Wismer for VetStreet
Old Haul Road, Bay Area Mountain Bike Rides
Old Haul Road, County of San Mateo Parks Department
Pescadero Creek (Wikipedia)
Turret Spider, Friends of Edgewood
“Turret Spiders Launch Surprise Attacks From Tiny Towers,” by Josh Cassidy for KQED Science
Wurr Road Bridge, Bridgehunter.com Historic and Notable Bridges of the U.S.

Bonjour Morvan, Aug 2017

While in Burgundy, we also stopped at the Parc naturel regional du Morvan. Quoting from Wikipedia: “parcs natural regional (regional natural parks or PNRs) are public establishments in France between local authorities and the French national government covering an inhabited rural area of outstanding beauty, in order to protect the scenery and heritage as well as setting up sustainable economic development in the area.”

The Parc du Morvan is the site of Mont Beuvray, where the fortified city of Bibracte once stood, and where the Roman armies of Julius Caesar defeated the Gauls at the Battle of Bibracte in 58 BCE.

Do the monoliths used to erect this bridge date back to Bribracte? We’d like to think so.

A northerly extension of the Massif Central, it’s trees are frequently cut, so the forest is always young and the trees relatively small compared to other forests, such as the Fontainebleau.

The Parc du Morvan is also the site of the largest mountain biking venue of the French Cycling Federation (FFC), La Grande Traversee du Morvan. We saw only one other cyclist. He had a paper map attached to his handlebars, which I thought was pretty clever as the many intersecting trails, paths and roadways that zigzag the park can be difficult to navigate. We found this map to be useful (scroll down the page to find it) because it lets you select trails based on difficulty.

This is a marker for a hiking trail. Cycling trail markers have an illustration of a bicycle that consists of a circle next to an inverted triangle next to another circle.

The ride took us over gentle slopes…

and a variety of paved and unpaved terrains.

Resources Consulted
Map of the Grande Traversee du Morvan (scroll down the page to find the map)
Bibracte (Wikipedia)
Comite Regional du Tourisme de Bourgogne-France-Comte, The Great Morvan Crossing on a Mountain Bike
Comite Regional du Tourisme de Bourgogne-France-Comte, The Morvan Lakes
Le Morvan par Bernard LeComte
Michelin Voyages, Parc Naturel Regional du Morvan
Regional Nature Parks of France (Wikipedia)

Bonjour Canal de Bourgogne, Aug 2017

The Canal de Bourgogne is a hop, skip and a jump away from the small, agricultural town of Soussey-sur-Brionne, where my spouse has family. The Canal was originally conceived of in 1605, but construction didn’t began until 1775, and was completed in 1832. It spans 150 miles (242 km) and connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

Lock near Pouilly en Auxois.

We traveled a very small section of the Canal, limiting our journeys to day-trips around Pouilly-en-Auxois. However, we saw quite a few cyclists, generally in couples, loaded down with enough gear to last several days.

I found the lock-houses (“maisons d’ecluse” in French) fascinating. Although they’re no longer inhabited by lock-keepers (“gardiens d’ecluse”), their location, abutting the trail wherever there is a lock, were vivid reminders of the days when movement through the Canal was hand- and horse-powered. The structure of each lock-house was consistent, but each bore the stamp of their owner in their color schemes and embellishments. All were beautifully maintained.

Lockhouse near Vandenesse.

Some antique agricultural equipment on display outside the Vandenesse lock-house. I used to work at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, former residence of James Deering (1859–1925), heir to Deering Harvester Company (which became International Harvester Company), so seeing this old Deering equipment was quite a thrill. James Deering had a close relationship with the French, and was even awarded the French Legion of Honor.

Motorized vehicles are prohibited on the trail, but that doesn’t stop locals, young and old alike, from using it to zip from one village to the next on motorized scooters.