Bedwell Bayfront Park, Menlo Park - Sept. 15, 2009

Walking distance: ~ 2.3 miles
Walking time: 1.5 hours (~11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
Start & End point: Bedwell Bayfront Park parking lot, Menlo Park, CA

Today I had a nice walk with a friend, Laura Mappin, around Bayfront Park. There is a loop trail, and other trails in this park. Near the Bay, at the North'ish end (of the service road), sat what looked like a Menlo Park sewage treatment facility.

Don't eat the Bay. That was Laura's conclusion, and my advice. We each sampled a very tiny bit of salt, from a salt pond next to the trail. It was VERY salty. Then, not knowing what else had accumulated in those mounds of salt over time, I quickly wiped out my mouth.

Native American Indians took advantage of capturing salt in ponds by the Bay many years ago; and commercial salt harvesting operations were in full swing a few decades ago. I remember seeing a very large white mountain of salt, which then disappeared. And now, salt pond areas are being converted back into wetlands. There are lifecycles to every life, and to every industry it seems.

Wildlife Sightings: ~ 50 Canada geese; 5 egrets; 5 ground squirrels; 1 brown and white hawk circling overhead; 1 feral cat.