PH 61: Oakland: Lake Merritt Up and down stream with a diversion by the Sausal Canyon
On this ride, we’ll circumnavigate most of the watershed that makes up Lake Merritt - an old tidal arm of Oakland Estuary that was dammed into the current lake.
We start by following the estuary upstream until arriving at the mouth of the undefined water body that connects Lake Merritt to the sea. It is neither an artificial canal nor a natural river, but rather a testimony of the geological forces of the Anthropocene that can narrow and widen landscapes at will.
We follow that undefined water body until Lake Merritt - an amputated arm of the Oakland estuary, and then we proceed through its right margin until the mouth of the Glen Echo Creek, which becomes our route up until its springs at the Western Slope of the Oakland Hills.
The water divide at the headwaters of Glen Echo is conveniently located at a saddle point connecting us to the earthquake-y Hayward Fault, which is visible as being a large valley on which the Temescal creek and others flow through. That fault also provides us a convenient place to start going back by diverting towards the Sausal Creek, which springs on the Oakland Hills while forming canyons through the slopes. We use that as the reference for our way back.
As hills forming the canyons around Sausal Creek dissipate away, the time is near for us to get back into the Lake Merritt watershed. We then opportunistically detour to the headwaters of the Trestle Glen creek, which we use as our guide for getting back to the lake, and finally get to our destination which is by the side of the lake mouth into the undefined water body.
Rota: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52981759
416 quilojaules (Endorfinado)
Post no Instagram
Alguns elaboradores: Danilo Lessa Bernardineli, delaram
← mapa do Pedal Hidrográfico · este passeio na Memória Hidrográfica