The Mud Cracks of Coyote Hills

Coyote Hills Regional Park – East Bay Parks – Fremont, California
Website: www.ebparks.org/parks/coyote_hills
Coyote Hills Regional Park – Trail Map (pdf)

The Mud Cracks of Coyote Hills could be a family of mutants, living under the floor boards. But they’re not. They should be. This would be a better post.

These mud cracks are the images you see of the playa, of evaporated salt flats, of terrain expressing desolation. And here, the mud cracks are emblematic of seasons that cycle from lush and winter blue . . .

Coyote Hills After Winter Rains - ©ingridtaylar

. . . to scorched and thirsty after heat and sun sear the mud.

Coyote Hills in Late August - ©ingridtaylar

I took a sunset walk at Coyote Hills Regional Park, and seeing the marsh still soaked with water in July, I was reminded that I had this archive of mud crack photos. I’m not sure how you forget that, but I did. They were taken in August of last year, after a long, hot summer.

Another before and after . . .

Coyote Hills Marsh After Rains - ©ingridtaylar

Coyote Hills Marsh in Drought - ©ingridtaylar

The lines and ridges start to form in the marsh as the water recedes and evaporates. The formerly saturated mud dries out and shrinks into this fabric of polygons.

Mud Cracks in the Marsh

Mud cracks are actually useful in ancient sediment studies. They can help determine the original environments of fossils, suggesting areas like playas and shallow basins where water evaporation could have occurred. That is, of course, a simplistic description of mud’s academic value. I can’t get into the complexity.

Coyote Hills Marsh in Summer

For the purposes of this post, mud cracks provide these outstanding textures and colors . . . even if I couldn’t help but wish for winter rains to ease the discomfort of this drought-time imagery.

Dried Mud in the Marsh - ©ingridtaylar

The Color of Evaporation - ©ingridtaylar

Temporarily Lost Slough

Tagged as: coyote hills regional park, Drought, East Bay, east bay parks, habitat issues, northern california, Parks