I found this lovely wooden bridge by accident as I was trying to get back to the North Island Highway (19A) after visiting Saratoga Beach and I had turned right at Regent Road instead of left – such the way that many wonderful life events begin.
This bridge is one of two that span the Oyster River near Saratoga Beach; the other being one that I would normally not bother taking a picture of as it’s fairly standard bridge on the highway. While the highway bridge is not as pretty as this wood bridge, I will at some point go back and take a few pictures of it for comparison.
Anyhow – I park, grab a camera and walk up to take a few pictures of the bridge.
That’s when I notice that this bridge is not the only interesting thing here – the river itself is interesting, as is the 600m Arthur Mayes Side Channel. The side channel has a pond for natural spawning of Coho, Chinook, Pink and Chum salmon, Trout, Steelhead and overwintering habitat for rearing juveniles. The channels have been built with structures that salmonides use as habitat, including include deep pools and ponds, shallow bubbling riffles, undercut banks, boulders and large woody debris.
I’ll explore the trails through the side channel the next time I am in the area as on this visit I had no idea that the channel or the trail existed. That’s typical of how many of my trips begin – I see something interesting, research it and then head back armed with a map, a compass, safety equipment and some appropriate clothes and boots.
And a camera and soup…
