Beside Humboldt Bay

wildlife sanctuary area

Click for map.

I wandered down to the marsh again in the morning to see it in another light, although went to a little different spot just south of the main marsh area. My entry to the trail is a little opportunistic, but obviously well used. The trail is the new bike path and paved, but so it goes. Unfortunately, the different light is actually a heavily filtered one. It is a bit foggy this morning.

The marsh and the distant imagining of trees in the fog. The faint vertical lines a little closer are people out on the marsh.

A bit of the land has been ground up with some machine, but not for very long. Further along it is all signed "wildlife sanctuary". Not a lot of wildlife is visible, but there is something in the distance that looks like a plastic bag on a stick. Or an egret. Actually, they are definitely egrets as the walk a little sometimes. Mostly, they seem to be standing about waiting for something.

Across the churned up ground is the main visited area of Arcata Marsh.

Like I said, it's a new paved bike path.

Before getting to the signed areas, there is an interesting bridge and trail that looks like it might hook into the system around the south end ponds of Arcata Marsh. After that, the nearby build things are the decaying railroad that once carried the local redwoods and the freeway. Really, the freeway is just a bit too close, even for once it becomes a highway.

A bridge and trail going somewhere.

The freeway really is just a bit close.

The tracks remain and are becoming a brair patch. A couple blackberries are already ripe.

I expect the fog will burn off, but as I go, it gets colder and thicker. There are a couple moments when the air just seems to breath cold about me suddenly. There are places below canyons that can be suddenly much colder, but here it is so flat that it is hard to believe in canyons. Somehow there are creeks. I cross a couple that are obviously flowing. The old railroad bridges remain although new bridges have been constructed for the trail for safety.

The fog has really loaded some rather tangled looking cobwebs among the blackberries.

Yes, definitely egrets. They have beaks and everything. There were three before I started fumbling with the camera, so I know they can move and even fly.

The trail is not yet complete and comes to an abrupt end at a bridge. Someone has apparently sabotaged the old railroad bridge to prevent its use. Then again, the stream flowing below seems to be the biggest so far, so maybe it was natural. I elect not to try to use the remaining rails as a tight rope since they wobble all to much like same without any supports. There is use trail coming up to the bridge on the far side, so I suspect there are places to go (or come from) over there. The freeway stopped being so, so it would be legal to just use its bridge. Still, it is rather foggy, so I decide to call this the end.

A little past the end of the bike path (for now) is an old railroad bridge that is looking a bit poorly.

So there is not much more to do other than to head right on back. So back I head. I do stop by the other bridges for a little bit more looking, though.

Patterns in the mud below one bridge show there must be animals down in there.

I also stop by the curious bridge and finally notice that it seems to be not so much a rickety old thing as slapped together from a number of pallets and at least an entire box of nails. It does not even wiggle in the slightest when I press on it, so I decide to give it a go. Almost to the pools surrounded by their much more official trails, the trail ends at a wide crossing. Yet another creek emptying itself into Humboldt Bay. I thought I might finish up exploring the last of those, but I guess not. Instead I head back, miss my turn off and have to double back a little to actually get back to the car.




©2018 Valerie Norton
Posted 27 November 2018