"Wringing" the New Year with the King Tides

[This post has been in draft form for 1.5 months, so I figured it was time to accept its imperfections and wrap it up. Lindsey, my fellow king-tide tour-guide also wrote a post, available here]

Choose inundation over inebriation** and celebrate King Tides because it's much more exciting than celebrating the New Year. Why? [Thanks to Lindsey for helping brainstorm this list]

1. The party don't stop: They happen for 3 days, so you can "Cheers!" and wish everyone a HAPPY KING TIDE at least 3 times. And since they happen in different places at different times, you can chase the tide and have that exciting moment multiple times in a day.
2. The party don't stop #2: Another good reason to drink at the Embarcadero 
3. Play; Splashing in puddles an getting hit by waves in normally dry places.
4. Excitement: Fleeing men in golf carts
5. See the future: See what the world will look like every day with sea level rise. 
6. And, because this is a kayaking blog... Expanded kayaking territory. As the water rises, it moves into nearby low-lying areas that are not normally wet, creating new spaces for kayakers to explore. 

** A wonderful expression coined by James Jackson

What are King Tides?
King Tides are the most extreme astronomical* tides that occur every year. A couple times per year, the earth, moon, and sun align in a way that creates the largest tide range. These days it's common for people to compare King Tides to sea level rise. The high tides that we see during the 2013 King Tides will likely happen on a daily basis in ~50 years (and the future King Tides would be even higher!). This year I decided to visit the coast during the King Tides so I could get a sense of what sea level rise might look like (on a good day, without storms).

* Sometimes non-astronomical forces, like weather/waves/storm, can raise tide levels for short periods of time. These changes are less predictable, while King Tides are regular and predictable.

Lindsey, Doug, James, and Barry were my tide-buddies for this year's celebration.

King Tides at the San Francisco Embarcadero (12/31/2013)
On the morning of New Years Eve Lindsey and I snuck out of the office and walked a half mile to the Embarcadero waterfront in San Francisco. The king tide was scheduled for 9:48 am (a 7.07 foot tide). We went to Pier 14, between the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge, where the King Tides have flooded the Embarcadero in the past. Here are some photos:

Stairwell flooded, and waves breaking onto the sidewalk.

A video of waves lapping over the Embarcadero:

We (Lindsey, Barry, and I) also returned later at the very lowest tide of the day (during King Tides, the lowest tides get very low, so it's a great time to go tide-pooling!). We ran into one of Barry's friends who promptly offered me and Lindsey a ride on his bike-taxi to the Embarcadero. We celebrated the low tide with a six pack of beers, and cheers-ed! at 4:42 pm, when the tide hit -1.35 feet. Here's one of many low-high comparison photos we took:

Extreme low tide:

Extreme high tide:

And the view of San Francisco at sunset wasn't so bad either:

King Tides at Beach Boulevard in Pacifica, CA (1/1/2014)
The next day, Lindsey and I picked up James and Doug for our first King Tide tour of 2014. Our first stop was Beach Boulevard, CA. We also decided to form a band called the King Tide Kids. Cover album:

The crew: James, Doug, Lindsey, and Nena

No beach at high tide, with waves crashing on the massive revetment

We watched a group of kids standing at the edge of the railing daring each other to stay when big waves crashed over the seawall. 

Big waves rolling under the Beach Boulevard Pier

King Tides in Redwood City (1/1/2014)

Our final stops were in Redwood City, where we discovered a dock completely bent out of shape by the extreme high tide:

We (ok, I) decided to jump this fence to get a better view of the Bay at the end of the levee. Minutes later a small golf cart came bumbling along, catching up with us when we finally reached the view point. Two very angry men questioned us: "What was going through your mind when you walked past the 'No Trespassing' sign?" Thankfully Lindsey and Doug fielded the questions while I carefully avoided eye contact.

To learn more, and see much more dramatic photos, check out the California King Tides Initiative!

Berkeley Marina to Brooks Island (+ too much mexican food)

Alice, Stijn, Johnny, and I met at the Berkeley Marina at 9am for a very "unplanned/casual" paddle. I use quotes because it took us a week of rapid-fire emails and changing plans to reach this point. Most of us (except Johnny) had abandoned our boats for far too long. For most of us, this was our first sea kayaking trip out of Berkeley. We launched from the docks near Cal Adventures on the south side of the marina. The parking is free and the launch works well at most tide levels. 

Johnny and Alice packing up boats.

We headed north, swinging wide and staying pretty far offshore. We had no destination, but eventually headed towards Brooks Island (previously Isla de Carmen, Rocky Island, Bird Island, and Sheep Island!). The island has a long history - first settled by the Ohlone Indians, later used for grazing/oyster harvesting/quarrying, and finally acquired by the East Bay Regional Park District in 1968 and converted to a preserve. Today it is a bird sanctuary - no landing allowed.

Johnny, Alice, and I at Bird Rock. Photo by Stijn Schiffeleers. 

Shameless selfie, included because that's Brooks Island in the background.

Hazy San Francisco in the background, cormorants in the front. Photo by Stijn Schiffeleers.

The paddle was casual to say the least. We thought we could paddle around the Island but realized a long breakwater nearly doubled the length of paddling (see map below). Another reason why planning can sometimes be a good idea. Alice, always the rebel (and having drank too much water), did a bit of island exploring by foot. On the way back the wind picked up a bit, and we were joined by a number of sailboats near the marina. Stijn and I bonded over our mutual love for the Belgian band K3. The Berkeley Pier looks much cooler from below: the piers extending infinitely in both directions like a room of mirrors. 

Stijn hiding behind a pile at the Berkeley Pier.

Date: Sunday February 23rd, 2014
Time: ~ hours
Distance: ~ 10.5 miles

Upon returning to shore we shared a bottle of Wyder's Pear Cider and caravanned to the nearest mexican restaurant where we were shocked by the monstrous portions and promptly found ourselves in a food coma. Up next, the Cal100! I think we have a lot more training to go...

Alice and the monster burrito we should have shared....

Bikes and Hikes in Colorado (Jeff's story)

My friend Jeff Buchman (we go way back - to being aspiring kayak bums at BayCreek 10+ years ago!) describes a short weekend in November when I visited Colorado, where he lives. 

[Nena's comments in italics.]

Saturday, November 16th:

Nena arrived in Denver around 10:00 and we immediately headed up to Fort Collins with two bikes on the car for brunch and brewery tours. We decided to have brunch at Snooze, a local chain that specializes in creative and delicious breakfast and lunch foods. Since there was a 20 minute wait and Nena was hungry from her flight we wandered down to the food co-op and got some wasabi peas as an appetizer [I'm going through a meaaan wasabi kick lately]. On the way back to Snooze we also decided that stopping at the candy store would be a good way to balance out the spice of the peas. Once seated we did order actual food with Nena opting for the Late Harvest Benny (Wilted Swiss chard, fennel and leeks served atop goat cheese and herb polenta cakes with poached Niman Ranch eggs, cream cheese hollandaise and toasted pine nut crumb) and I went for the traditional corned beef hash. Breakfast over, we went to Brian and Emily’s house where we met their chickens and fed them from our hands, with mixed results. [It stabbed me!!]

We headed out on the bikes to visit a few of the dozen or so breweries scattered across Fort Collins. The first stop is the best know: New Belgium Brewery. While we were not able to take the tour (reservations have to be made well in advance), we enjoyed the tasting room and tried a wide variety of beers. The two most interesting ones we sampled were the coconut curry beer that tastes more strongly of Indian food than I ever expected and the sour beer, which I actually like but have been told is an acquired taste [grossss]. When we went back to the bikes to head over to the Odell Brewery we discovered that Nena’s bike fell victim to a goat’s head thorn which has flattened at least eight of my bike tires since moving here [bikes always seem to break the first time I ride them... hmm...]. Brian returned home to fetch the car while Nena, Emily, and I walked our bikes the short distance to Odell’s. We sipped beers on the patio until it started to get too chilly. We crammed two bikes and 4 people into Brian's Subaru Forester and headed home for some amazing home-cooked vegetable enchiladas a la Brian and Emily.

Brian, Emily, Nena, and Jeff posing for a cheesy tourist photo :)

Sunday, November 17th:
It was a brisk yet sunny fall day in Boulder when Nena, Brian, Emily, Katrina the dog, and I decided to go climb a mountain and see some snow because we are in Colorado and that’s what you do. The first hike we tackled was Green Mountain West Ridge Trail starting at Flagstaff Road. We weren’t sure we would be able to do this hike since Flagstaff Road was seriously damaged in the massive September floods, but luckily it had opened up the day before. While the hike is relatively short (2.5 miles, round trip), it has a considerable amount of vertical gain and a starting elevation of about 7,000 feet higher than Nena’s typical 0-30 feet above sea level [subtly telling my I'm out of shape.]. The hike starts on a fairly narrow section of trail, meandering along a ridge through pine forests dusted in snow (the ski resorts 1.5 hours west got 17” of snow that day). The climb begins with the trail pitching up sharply for 375 feet in about ¼ of a mile with some small scrambles and roughhewn stairs along the way. The top of Green Mountain was breezy, but protection from the rocks allowed us to sit and admire the view of Colorado’s Front Range [Colorado is so pretty!]. Being an out and back trail, the return to the car was eerily similar but much more down than up. Back at the car, we enjoyed avocado and drunken cheese sandwiches before heading on to the second hike of the day.

Only a few miles down the road, in the Walker Ranch Open Space overlooking Eldorado Canyon, our second hike featured more wind and less climbing. We decided to keep this hike a bit shorter, at 1.7 miles, as the loop trail is 10 miles and the snow/mud mixture made hiking into the creek bed a bit slippery. Katrina, the suburban dog, faced the frequent mountain bikers with curiosity and fear. We were able to see a train slowing climbing Eldorado Canyon to the continental divide about 30 miles to the west. With sunset approaching, and a persistent wind, we decided it was time to head back to Boulder. [Brrrrrr]

Total Distance Hiked: 4.2 miles

- Jeff Buchman

Dinoflagellate discoveries, sponsored by Bud Light Lime

Today I'm digging into the archives to recount my first true overnight kayak camping trip in California (sad, I know). Beth, Sara, Eddie, Joel, Christina, Brian, Alice, and I camped overnight at Tomales Beach in Tomales Bay. Dane + 2 friends joined us for the Saturday paddle and lunch.

Sponsored by Bud Light Lime.

A few of us hiked up the access road for some wonderful views of the Bay.

Tomales Beach from above. Photo © 2013 Joël Thai

Dinner of sauteed veggies and short ribs. Photo © 2013 Joël Thai

After a delicious dinner of sauteed veggies and Korean short ribs (great suggestion by Christina), a group of us embarked on a sunset paddle. We promised Christina and Brian that we'd be back in an hour and headed north. It was a cool evening, but the breeze had calmed down (Tomales Bay tends to be very windy in the afternoons). We set our sights on Hog Island, about 1.8 miles north of Tomales Beach. Along the way, Eddie (fellow hydrologist) and I noticed a drop in the water surface and a narrow band of turbulence spanning the Bay. We decided that this was caused by a slight narrowing of the Bay and the outgoing tide. This USGS map shows that this spot, known as Pelican Point, is about 30 meters deeper than the surrounding areas.

Approaching Hog Island at dusk. Photo © 2013 Joël Thai

30 minutes later we were still quite far from Hog Island, and dusk was setting in. After a long discussion we decided to continue on, magnetized by the eerie island in the distance. Upon closer inspection, the trees were densely populated by a colony of cormorants and painted white with a thick layer of bird poop. With darkness setting in, the rustling birds and sparse vegetation made the island feel quite spooky.

Cormorants in the tree on Hog Island. Photo © 2013 Joël Thai. Did you know that Hog Island was purchased for $800 in 1906 when the previous owner went bankrupt? What a steal for 2 acres!

As we paddled back, I gradually became aware of my paddle moving through the water with each stroke.  At first I assumed this was my anticipation of returning to the beach, where a warm fire was awaiting us. However, I couldn't seem to take my eyes off my paddle blades, and soon realized that I was experiencing a special Tomales Bay phenomenon: bioluminescence, the production of light by living organisms. In Tomales Bay these organisms are called "dinoflagellates". They are most prolific during late summer and early fall when strong winds cause upwellings (when deep, cold, nutrient-rich water swirls up to the surface). They gather the sun's energy during the day and glow when jostled. This is thought to be a defense mechanism. When I pointed this out to my fellow paddlers, they were skeptical at first. Darkness hadn't set in entirely, and the glow was still very faint. The dinoflagellates tend to cluster in eelgrass beds, which are abundant in the shallower parts of the Bay. When we reached a patch of eelgrass, the water around us began to sparkle with bright green light, and the splashing began! We excitedly returned to the campsite and encouraged other reluctant campers to get back into their cold, damp, kayaks to make their own watery fireworks. It was harder to see the glow from the beach, where headlamps and campfires overpowered the glow. However, simply walking in the wet sand left glowing footprints behind! We stayed in our boats as long as possible, splashing and trying to take pictures of the magical glow until the cold drove us to the brighter campfire.

On trip to Point Reyes two weeks later, many of us saw the bioluminescence in another form. As we stood on the beach at Coast Camp (on the west side of the peninsula), flashes of green light lit up the shoreline with each crashing wave.

The next morning we packed up our tents and began the long paddle back. The wind was strong, and we were relieved to finally reach the parking lot. 

Boats loaded up and ready to go home. Photo © 2013 Joël Thai

The overnight crew! Photo © 2013 Joël Thai

Date: Saturday/Sunday August 13-14th, 2013
Time: 2 days!
Distance ~ 11 miles (very rough)

Post-Turkey Sponyaking

Chiddling = Chill paddling
Sponyaking = Spontaneous kayaking
Imprompaddling = Impromptu paddling

It's my favorite kind of day on the water. Never planned more than a day in advance. Simple logistics, slow pace, and good friends (none of this organized crowd-yaking with strangers nonsense). It's the kind of paddle when your PFD is the perfect beer holder. There is no purpose, destination, or expectation, so only pleasant surprises remain.

The day after Thanksgiving I made the trek from North Berkeley to the Kayak Hotel in Oakland. Sadly, it was the first time I've seen my boat since moving to Berkeley two months ago. On this warm sunny morning, I rolled Big Purple down to the docks, dropped her into the water, and took off for CCK. With my iced coffee (not beer!) strapped to the front deck with bungee cords, I looked like a true city girl.

Ten minutes later I arrived at California Canoe & Kayak, the local kayaking shop where I was meeting Doug and his family (bother, sister, and 8-year old nephew). I bobbed about, sipping on my coffee and enjoying the kayak shop atmosphere. When Doug & co. arrived, they loaded into two red tandems and we headed west, towards San Francisco.

Somewhat surprisingly, paddling in the heavily developed Oakland Estuary is never boring. While it's not the sort of isolated outdoor adventure some might desire, it's always fun to gawk at the massive cargo ships, stacked high with shipping containers from across the ocean. Even with the holiday, the cranes were working hard, dangling the packed containers perilously over our heads (ok, not quite over). Three crowded ferries plowed by us, filled with happy consumers excited for the Black Friday deals awaiting them across the Bay. Their wakes reflected from both sides of the channel and lifted us high in the air. In lieu of any photos, here's an awesome link where you can see real time locations of ships in San Francisco Bay.

8-Year-old Daniel and I embarked on a garbage-collection competition. It didn't take long before Big Purple was stacked with 50 cans and potato chip bags. When I offered my stack to Daniel to make the competition more fair, he didn't fall for my trick. So I guess I won?

We made it all the way to the mouth of the Estuary, between the airfield and Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, which apparently hosts concerts in the summertime (on the to-do list). We applied sunscreen, ate some snacks, and turned back towards Oakland.

The route, starting in the estuary and paddling out to the Bay. In this map you can also see Lake Merritt. I lived on the east side of the Lake for two years before moving to Berkeley two months ago.

Date: Friday November 29th, 2013
Time: ~2 hours
Distance ~ 7.5 miles

Thanks to Jeff for a much needed kick-in-the-pants to update the blog. I've skipped quite a few wonderful paddling trips, but it's always easier to start with a simple one :). Stay tuned for a guest post from Jeff in a week or so!

Another Memorial Day in Yosemite

A brief summary of this year's Memorial Day weekend in Yosemite. I can't guarantee you'll learn something from this one, but it was certainly a funny trip in many ways. Sara's brother Alex and his wife Jess were visiting from Boston, and Sara's friend Janelle joined us from SF.

Rafting on the Merced River
After years of being a kayak snob, I agreed to go on my first rafting trip. It was fantastic! Thanks to those lovely "footcups" (new favorite word), and much to Alex's dismay, no one fell off the boat. We successfully surfed a little wave and managed to survive amongst 6 other rafts of very hungry boyscouts. We found piles of river booty (RV parts...) because an RV had driven into the river the night before.

Crane pulling the RV out of the river.

I'm adding this picture of me and Jess to spare Alex a belly shirt picture, but those will end up on Facebook soon enough...  

Gorgeous sunny day in the river!

Holiday Traffic in the Valley
As predicted, two minutes after we passed the first turn around point we hit stand-still traffic in the Valley. We made it a more exciting experience by policing/blocking the right lane (where only buses are allowed) and trapping people trying to skip the line. Alex and Jess got their fill of Valley traffic and we were happy to turn around as soon as we got to the next turning point (~ 2 hours later).

Camping at Yosemite Lakes Park Campground
It took us a while (and an entire camp re-mobilization) to find and occupy the right campsite (thanks to a strategic pee break). The bathrooms were pretty luxurious with hot showers and mirrors. We really didn't spend much time at the campground, but overall it treated us well. I only had to make one polite 4am inquiry to ask our neighbors to shut-the-hell-up! :)

(Not) Hiking to Sunrise Lakes
The next day we set out on a hike to Sunrise Lakes, which are just southwest of Tenaya Lake. Five minutes in a group of hikers informed us that the trail was completely snowed in, so (thanks to another strategic pee-break discovery) we made a left turn and forged our own trail up the rocky side of a mini mountain. The rock face was covered in little streams that we refreshingly waded across in bare feet.

Janelle and Sara crossing a chilly stream at the beginning of the hike.

Wandering up the rock face in our bare feet.

Beers-On-A-Rock and Limited Wandering in Tuolumne (The Unpronounceable) Meadows
I say limited because we promised the park ranger that we wouldn't stray from the short road between the visitor center and Soda Springs. We listened, only adding a tiny wander to a group of roadside rocks where we cracked the Bud Light Lime and enjoyed an afternoon the sunshine.

Hot springs bubbling into Tuolumne Meadows.

So remote. Universal symbol for "I'm Okay".

Budweiser commercial, during a heated Budweiser debate.

Dinner and Sunset at Tenaya Lake
Not much to be said here except BURRITOS (unhealthy ones). Except for a spying deer we had the lake to ourselves for sunset.

O'Schaughnessy Dam and Hiking around Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to Wapama Falls
We walked across the dam and through a tunnel in the cliff to get to a trail along the north side of the reservoir. It was a pleasant hike, with a few ups and downs. We reached Wapama falls a little over an hour later. Maybe some day I'll come back and add a little blurb about the dam and valley's history - it's pretty interesting. But for now, I'll leave you with some pretty pictures :)

Hold your hats! It was pretty windy at the top of the 450 ft dam.

Huge spillway!

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

Wapama Falls, about 2.7 miles from the dam on the north side of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.

Clear Lake: Boiling water, volcanoes, Bambi, and gnats.

Clear Lake, in Lake County, California, has been on my to-paddle list since I discovered it on a map and learned about its fascinating history a few months ago. More than a few friends responded with apathy at visiting the lake, alluding to its reputation for motorboats, rednecks, and water quality issues. While I certainly love a remote, undeveloped lake, I also enjoy exploring other flavors of paddling! Alice agreed to make the long day trip. We left the Bay at noon, drove about 2.5 hours (after each "meeting" at a different park-n-ride in Novato), and put our boats on the water around 4pm. Within 5 minutes we jumped out of our boats to refresh, ignoring the algal bloom that filled the water around us.

Stopped for chocolate milk on the way to Clear Lake. Photo by Alice Miller.

We launched from Lakeside Park, which is on the southwest side of the lake. It's a free county park where we could leave our cars after sunset (unlike Clear Lake State Park). There were some big swarms of "Clear Lake Gnats," which apparently hatch during this season and used to be a major pest. According to Wikipedia, the swarms were so thick before the 1940s that people would have to stop every 1/4 mile to wipe gnats off the windshields of cars (this is surprising since cars probably didn't go as fast as they do today). Control efforts involving DDD during the 1940's and '50s killed many birds (Western grebe) on the lake. Today the gnats are kept under control by two fish species that provide competition for food (zooplankton). [How do gnats eat plankton? Crazy]

Leaving the dock at Lakeside Park.

Apparently Clear Lake is one of the oldest lakes in North America. It used to be much larger and flow into to the Russian River, but volcanic eruptions and landslides severed that connection. Today the main outlet is Cache Creek, which is now controlled by Cache Creek Dam. A few dormant volcanos surround the lake, making for an interesting skyline. The Sulfur Bank Mine, once one of the largest mercury producers in world, is located on the east side of the lake. It is now a Superfund site (and historical landmark), and has led to very high mercury contamination in Clear Lake.

Hot springs in the middle of Soda Bay! Look closely at the base of the red rock to the right and you can see the springs bubbling up.

We paddled around Clear Lake State Park and into Soda Bay, where we encountered an unusual island (see photo above) of bright orange rocks. As we approached, the area between the rocks seemed to be boiling. There are a number of vent holes around Soda Bay, with the deepest (~100 feet) acting as nurseries for juvenile catfish. In the early 1900's these baths were built up and connected to shore by a walkway (destroyed by a fire in 1940).

A quick stop at the Country Store for a failed beer run.

We crossed over from Soda Bay to a narrow peninsula. The wind and waves picked up significantly in this exposed stretch, and made for some unexpected excitement. On the way back we were craving some cold beers and pulled over at the Country Store, which was in a shadier part of the bay. By the time we entered the air conditioned store we were quite chilly (not having brought extra layers) and no longer craved beers, so we munched some almonds and went on our way. :)

Alice paddling into the sunset

In summary, Clear Lake is a lake with many troubles, but also many unique and interesting stories and sights. I've been craving a long paddle on a big lake, and Clear Lake was perfect for that. We did not encounter the droves of motor boats that were predicted, and we almost felt alone on the lake - a strange feeling for California. I can't speak for Alice, but I'd go back to do some more exploring on the south end!

Mandatory sunset over the mountains picture.

Our return was perfectly timed with the sunset. We had an audience of fishermen as we loaded up our boats. On the drive home we crossed the mountains westward to HWY101, nearly hitting Bambi on the way (coincidentally during a conversation about movies with animal name titles).

Date: Saturday June 1st, 2013
Time: ~4.5 hours
Distance ~ 13.5 miles