Search for Big Sandy Wildlife Area through San Miguel's Back Roads

Wild Goose Chase In Search of Big Sandy Wildlife Area

I spent a lot of time on San Miguel's back roads yesterday afternoon looking for Big Sandy Wildlife Area. It's not all that easy to find the entrance on a map. It was hard enough to find Indian Valley Road, from which the parking lot is supposed to be entered, if you can believe the web page for Big Sandy Wildlife Area.  I tried calling the phone number on that site, but it didn't work. I wasn't even sure  if  when I found it the area would be open for access, since nowhere online could I find any hours. (As you will see below, I did  finally find a working number, and also learned there are no set hours for access.)

This intersection is where I should have started looking very carefully. Sometimes it was hard to tell a ranch driveway from a road.   I did see one closed gate that could have been the entrance, but it didn't look quite right. Too bad they don't have a photo of the entrance on the web site. (See link to Google Map a few paragraphs under this)

Intersection of Indian Valley and  Vineyard Canyon Roads, © B. Radisavljevic 

It's a shame I didn't have this map with me.

 Topographic Map Poster - SAN MIGUEL, CA TNM GEOPDF 7.5X7.5 GRID 24000-SCALE TM 2012 19

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I had an interesting drive all the way to Bradley on Indian Valley Road, Hare Canyon, and Bradley Road, but I didn't find Big Sandy. I must have driven right by it without seeing it. I think I did see it, just not the entrance. There were signs for everything else, but not Big Sandy Wildlife Area -- unless the government hid them well. By the time I reached these signs at Hare Canyon, I knew I'd been on a wild goose chase and the goose got away -- this time.

Signs Near Intersection of Indian Valley and Hare Canyon Roads,  © B. Radisavljevic. If you have reached this, you are far past the parking lot for Big Sandy Wildlife Area.

I finally reached someone in Fresno today at  (831) 649-2870 who walked me through a map on Google earth over the phone. We kept enlarging the map until we found the parking lot -- at least on the map. This is a link to where the parking lot is and what it looks like. Wish I'd had it yesterday. I also learned there are some yellow signs all along the fence of the parking lot. 

I learned that this is hunting season there and that it would help to wear orange if I do back before it's over. They allow only shotguns and archery as weapons. Evidently the main game are quail and hogs. I only want to use my camera. Maybe I'll try again on the next moderately cool day.

What I  Saw While on My Wild Goose Chase

I found cattle and horses grazing on the many ranches I passed, but no geese. You can see how dry the hillsides are.

Here are some of the cattle.

Cattle at Ranch on Indian Valley Road, © B. Radisavljevic

Steer at Ranch on Hare Canyon Road or Bradley Road, © B. Radisavljevic

These horses were gorgeous.

Horses on Indian Valley Road, © B. Radisavljevic

With all the animals to feed, there had to be hay, and I passed lots of it. 

Hay Seen Along Indian Valley Rd., © B. Radisavljevic. Photo size ideal for Pinterest

Hare Canyon Road

As I wrote earlier, when I got to the signs at Hare Canyon Road, I knew I had gone too far north. I decided to head back to the 101 Freeway, so I turned  west on Hare Canyon. Right after I turned I saw this contrast between irrigated and land with no irrigation. I passed very few irrigated acres. 

Irrigation on Hare Canyon Road, © B. Radisavljevic

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As it turns out, I circled all around the Big Sandy Wildlife area without realizing it. Hare Canyon curves around it before connecting to Bradley Road in Bradley, which is where I eventually got back on the freeway.  It was not a smooth ride. At one point the road was so narrow  I almost went over the edge, and I was only at a moderate speed, probably about 40 mph. Fortunately there was no embankment to drop off, but it was still scary. 

Somewhere along Hare Canyon I passed some deer. I would have liked to have photographed them, but there was no good place to park.  Both Hare Canyon and Bradley roads were almost deserted. I didn't see any other car on them while I was there. I finally could see the bridges crossing the Salinas River in Bradley up ahead. 

Railroad Bridge in Bradley Over Salinas River by Gate to National Guard Base,  © B. Radisavljevic 

The Salinas River was dry, so I decided to photograph the graffiti on the pillars under the bridge on Bradley Road. It was more interesting than the bridge view from the road.

Graffiti under Bridge on Bradley Road,  © B. Radisavljevic 

I took one last photo near the bridge before I got back in my car and headed home. It had been a long afternoon. It was about ten degrees hotter in this area than it was back in Paso Robles. Every time I got out of the car to take a picture I almost could feel the moisture leaving my body. I was looking forward to sitting in my chair with a large glass of ice water.

A Tree Near the Bridge in Bradley, © B. Radisavljevic 

Have you ever driven the back roads of San Miguel and Bradley? Have you ever been to the Big Sandy Wildlife Area? If so, did you find it easily?

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U is for Under the Bridge

I've always been a curious person when it comes to exploring what I consider my territory. Right now that territory is North San Luis Obispo County. One thing I had wondered about every time I crossed a bridge is what that bridge would look like on the underside. I also wondered what might be under the bridge. I finally got a chance to satisfy my curiosity when I moved to Paso Robles. It just so happens that the Salinas River Trail goes right under the Veterans' Memorial Bridge (also known locally and more commonly as the Niblick Bridge, because it crossed the Salinas River on Niblick Road.)

I took these pictures from under the bridge in a wet year, 2011, in April.

That year, 2011, we received a lot of rain and the river had almost left its banks. It's said that one of the homeless people who live in on the islands in the middle of the river drowned that year. I wondered about that when I saw this right under the bridge.








This photo was taken this year, 2015, in January, and there was no water in the river.

Also this year I took a walk that extended all the way to the 13th Street Bridge.


This is the approach  to the 13th Street Bridge from the trail.

This view was taken under that bridge.

 Have you ever walked under a bridge? Both of these bridges are main traffic arteries between the west and east side of Paso Robles. When you are under one of the bridges you can feel and hear the traffic above your head. And, of course,  one always hopes that the "big one" won't come when one is under the bridge. Supposedly they are now retrofitted to be safe in earthquakes. I certainly hope it's true.




T-Shirt EARTHQUAKES GET ME ALL SHOOK UP!

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Bird on a Bridge from a Bridge Over the Salinas River

Those who have walked facing south in the bed of the dry Salinas River have probably seen this pipeline bridge that begins on the end of Oak Lane. I happened to catch this bird perched on a cable that was helping to anchor the bridge. (You can click this or any of these photos to enlarge them.) As you can see, the river under the bridge is dry here, since we haven't had enough rain to fill the river this year yet.

This  photo shows you how this bridge is anchored from this end. It was taken at the end of Oak Lane, looking across the river from the east to the west, on Sunday, the same day I took the picture above this.

Here is the bridge as one walks toward it in the riverbed. This was taken in January, 2013, when there was water in the river. Don't forget to click to enlarge these photos.

For a totally different perspective, this was shot from underneath the bridge as I was walking in the riverbed that same day in 2013.

Does your city have a river running through it? What sort of bridges to you have crossing it?