Delta birding

A couple of days ago, the Big Guy finally managed to convince me to go along with him on a Delta fishing trip, promising me the chance to see all kinds of birds. I’m always reluctant to commit to an entire day — from early morning until dusk — of sitting on a bass boat under a hot sun (with […]

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Big Break

The area around Big Break Regional Shoreline, just east of Antioch on the San Joaquin River, looks to have been a very busy place in the past — rusted machine parts and abandoned boats lie scattered about, faint reminders of days gone by. Nowadays, this part of the shore has been dedicated to restoration and preservation of habitat that welcomes […]

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Take the River Road

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is so vast and ever changing that there is no way I could hope to ever see all of its aspects. Every time I go there I’m amazed at how beautiful it is. On this particular day, I traveled along the River Road on my way to Antioch, and after taking a wrong turn I paused […]

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Old Middle Fork

Two miles above Rio Vista on the Sacramento River you’ll find the entrance to Steamboat Slough. This 11-mile-long waterway was originally called the Middle Fork of the Sacramento River; but by the 1860s it had become the preferred route of  impatient steamship captains because it was shorter and easier to navigate than the main river course. I’ve written before about […]

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WPC: Story

The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge for the week of March 7, 2018. For this week’s challenge, do some visual storytelling with your photography. I didn’t stick around to read the final version of the sign — maybe “Happy Independence Day” since this was near the end of June?… although it doesn’t look like she has nearly enough letters for […]

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Sacramento Delta steam boats

The famous race of the Confidence and the Queen City, while not featured by gunfire, nearly ended in flames so far as the latter vessel was concerned. The Confidence, of California Steam, burned Philadelphia coal, imported at some expense; the Queen City, which belonged to the Marysville outfit, depended upon the cheaper and more plentiful local supply of wood. So […]

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