This time we headed north to paddle in San Pablo Bay (which most think of as the northern part of San Francisco Bay) at China Camp State Park. As we drove through the the park we spotted a mother turkey and her large gawky chicks, but mom got the chicks into hiding before we could get a photo. The turkey kind of set the stage for our bird viewing on this trip. As we got to the gloriously empty parking lot we saw a bevy of quail and several deer.
We parked and unloaded. At some point during the drive up we realized we had forgotten the paddle boots so we lined the kayak parallel to shore and I was able to get in without getting my feet wet while John decided to go barefoot. After clearing the beach and pier area we struck out for Rat Rock Island which we circumnavigated. There was a pair of oystercatchers there who kept an eye on us when we first approached and screeched a little when we reappeared from behind the island, but otherwise braved things out and stayed put.
Our next point of navigation was Jake’s Island which doesn’t appear so much as an island because it is surrounded by marshlands. Just past Jake’s Island we located a creek which the guidebook said would be navigable. We went up the creek. It was very narrow and there were times we had to back up to take another shot at a curve. Eventually we reached the point that we think the guidebook was referring to as the turnaround. We’re guessing that the guidebook author was in a short single kayak, not a 17-foot tandem, but after an umpteen-point turn we were turned around and headed back to the open water.
On the return journey we hugged the shore to take advantage of a little protection from the winds that had picked up. Several times we spotted a few turkey vultures, just hanging out in the wetlands, presumably on high ground though from our perspective they looked like they were just sitting on the marsh grass. We could also see other circling up above the ridge. Paddling closer to shore we could observe the change in terrain where the marshlands were interupted by outcrops of rock. At one outcrop there was an opening and the waves made a sucking, smacking sound as it hit the fissure.
Returning to the beach we discovered that more people had arrived so we were really glad that we had risen at a weekday time on a weekend morning. If we had set out later we wouldn’t have gotten the prime parking spot plus we would have had wind the whole time rather than just on the retun voyage.
After loading the gear and kayak back on the car we went over to viit the little museum. China Camp is so called because there was a Chinese shrimp fishing village established there as far back as the 1870s. The museum includes a reproduction of a sampan and equipment used to process the shrimp. It must have stunk there back in the day! Then we went out on the pier that we had just paddled under and got another look at the Grace Kwan, a reproduciton of a junk like the ones the shrimp fishermen used.
On our way out of the park we stopped to climb a hill and get a different perspective on where we had just paddled.
Did you figure out the theme of our bird watching on this voyage? Non-wading birds! Rather than the usual egrets and herons we saw turkeys, quail, oystercatchers, and turkey vultures.
Lesson learned: create a checklist that can actually be checked during packing rather than the online list. Though we’ve stored most of the gear in a big plastic coated bag that Lo gave us long ago, there are a few items that still have to be gathered on the day of the trip such as hats, a towel, and the paddle boots which usually live in the tub between voyages.
Next time, we hope to be taking my parents to Elkhorn!