Bair Island, California: a journey on the road of diamonds

Bair Island, California:  a journey on the road of diamonds, or perhaps milk.


No longer are there any structures on Bair Island, a flat, 3 mile round island now dedicated by the state of California to the revival of wetlands territory.  All that remains are the occasional rotted, desiccated wooden dock-posts and the crystalized tires that long ago sank in salt waters that are no more, now represented only by crystallized piles of salt that sparkle in the sunlight like a road of topaz or yellow diamonds.   Along the edges of the crystallized streambeds, there are curious, tubelike formations that are vertically clustered and which could be easily referred to as "Salt Bones", the exact same size as a human femur.  In September, these areas are enchanting, with plenty of sun and wasps, and the near-blinding sparkle of the carpet of salt that is the streambed.

On the day of my visit to Bair Island, I had a passing, seemingly "random" thought of regretting that I was never breast-fed as a baby.  I took the hike and explored some of the dried-up creek beds, photographing the crystalline marvels that were to be viewed there, when, upon leaving the streambed, I found a broken glass ornament that clearly resembled a breast. Just a meaningless coincidence or maybe a moment of synchronicity, or objective chance?  Also of coincidential interest is that the neighboring island just so happens to look like  a breast, with a very prominent nipple making conact with Bair Island.  I only made this visual interpretation when seeing the map, after being there.   Perhaps a better poetic explanation of these glittery paths are that they are made of milk, instead of diamonds?

But as I departed that day, I looked down those glowing diamond runways with a serendipitous feeling of tranquility and poetic satiety.

 

 

copyright 2006, Eric W. Bragg

 
 
Click to Enlarge
Loading Image....
What's left of a gate at the entrance of Bair Island, a 3 mile roughly circular loop.
"Area beyond this sign closed". The sign was covered with birdshit, as were many of the other signs for some reason, and on that hot day the wasps were gravitating to bespattered signs. An enigmatic situation.
The remains of a dock on the bend of a stream that is no more.
Another dock fossil, with a view of San Carlos/Redwood City in the background.
A dried arrangement.
A snow egret.
The salty remains of the stream that used to occupy this place.
Salt crystals formed around dead plant stems.
A mini-island of salt crystals, glistening in the sunlight.
A close-up of the salt crystals on the "salt island"
Natural salt.
Alongside the remains of the creekbed, were dirt/salt crystalizations, some of which were vaguely anthropomorphic, like this one.
An ancient bottle, covered with salt.
A mineralized tire. Coated with crystals. The perfect wedding ring.
"Salt bones" that grow on the side of the riverbed. Hollow and crystalline, possibly formed by the salt crystals seeding around an old reed, maybe? A mystery.
Another ruined shore structure, with a nice display of Salt-Bones.
Another shot of the riverbed. In the direct sunlight, it was like a glittering promenade of diamonds.
Where many birds have walked.
More Salt-Bones.
More salt crystals, probably with mineralized iron, formed around the remains of aquatic plants?
Some grasses that grew up through the Salt-Bones. A curious sight.
A view of the near-by highway. An old walkway now defunct.
Found Object: earlier that day, I remembered, as a casual, passing thought, that I was not breast-fed as a baby. Then upon leaving the bright diamond/topaz road to get back onto the regular trail, I found this remnant of a glass tree ornament, broken. The part of the ornament that resembled an erect nipple was the one that I found, ever so serendipitously. It should be noted that there were very, very few objects to be found in this area, so the likelihood of finding a tree ornament, of all things, would be slim.
"I Love Cloud 9". Yes I do.