Sacramento Delta – Hartland Ecotour
From Hartland Nursery
We’ve been looking forward to this trip for a few weeks. As Tom’s family were not able to get together for Easter, Jim, Tom’s cousin, suggested and then booked a Delta Eccotour. Hartland Nursery. on Grand Island, run several boat trips a year and we were booked on the Tule Wilderness tour on June 6.
Tom and I left very early – so nothing new there. We decided to go via Suisun to have breakfast at Bab’s Delta Diner. After another fabulous breakfast, we made our way through Rio Vista and over the two ferries, thus retracing our previous trip.
(Click on the images for larger versions)
After crossing the Steamboat Slough to Grand Island we tuned left and drove a couple of miles to Hartland Nursery. The tour started at 10.00 but we were asked to report in by 9.30. Tom and I arrived just before 9 so we were in good time. Hartland Nursery is mainly a wholesale retailer to landscape and restoration professionals but is open to the public on Wednesday and Saturdays. They specialize in plants native to Northern California’s Central Valley.
Tom and I had plenty of time to wander around. I discovered, in a grove of gated woodland, lots of free range chickens. Later I found out the eggs are for sale and bought a dozen fresh eggs.
The rest of the family did not arrive until just before 10. We were getting worried and beginning to think we would have to go without them. Don and Arlene, Tom’s Dad and his wife, were unable to come at the last minute due to sickness, so our party was smaller than expected.
Captain Tule
The boat, the Tule Queen II, is a 45 seat catamaran. Today though there were only 30 people on board. Our driver and guide was Jeff Hart – known as Captain Tule. He is a naturalist and owner of the Hartland Nursery and he informed and entertained us for the four and a half hours of the tour.
We set off down Steamboat Slough and turned right on Sutter Slough. Captain Tule explained that the Delta was fresh water though there are some
who say it isn’t. It’s true that due to higher water levels there is more salt water flowing in.
The folks at Hartland Nursery are experts in growing plants native to Northern California’s Central Valley. They also specialize in an ecological approach to restoring natural wetlands and protecting levees. During the trip Captain Tule pointed out all the places we passed where they have landscaped, using various methods to stop the levees from crumbling. Many methods have been used by a variety of organizations over the years but the most successful have been by using rocks and plants. The roots of the plants attach the rocks to the levees themselves and the rocks stop the levees from being eroded by water and wave action.
On our right was Sutter Island and Ryer Island on our left. Traveling round the top of Ryer Island we entered Minor Slough and Prospect Island was on our right. An osprey was spotted almost overhead. I was hoping to see it hover and swoop but it flew steadily away from us.
Abandoned fishing boat named 'Merluccius' out of Fort Bragg.
Some of the land we passed looked neglected. Captain Tule called it ‘benign neglect’. There is not enough money around to maintain the levees or the land behind them. Due to subsidence, many of the islands are sinking and if the levees are breached, many acres of land will be under water. Then, of course, there is always the danger of earthquakes. The last major earthquake in the delta was before the levees were built. Now, many of them are in such sad repair, that, if an earthquake struck, it could be a catastrophe equal to Hurricane Katrina with Sacramento itself threatened.
Along Minor Slough we saw several interesting things. There was the abandoned fishing boat named ‘Merluccius’ out of Fort Bragg. It’s rusting hulk was grounded on the bank. We also spotted a green heron taking off. Captain Tule pointed out a Buckeye, with a lovely display of white flowers, on the bank.
We came to a waterway junction with the Sacramento River Deep Water Canal, which we proceeded to cross, and entered Cache Slough. Soon we turned right into Prospect Slough and entered the wilderness. On our left was Liberty Island. This was the focal point of our trip. Liberty Island was flooded when the levees were breached in 1998. Hundreds of acres of farmland were inundated and are still under water. It took nearly two hours to circumnavigate the island and it was an eerie trip. Not too many people venture this far up the delta and it is truly a wilderness. Taking a boat through the levees to explore what remains of the island would be dangerous but it would be an interesting expedition for kayakers.
June 23 2009 | Special Places | 8 Comments »
