6/26/24: Mission Bay Park- Hiking and Botanizing Southern Fiesta Island- San Diego

Mission Bay Park- Fiesta Island- San Diego, California. On this outing, I take a 1.8 mile loop around the southern section of Fiesta Island, right in the middle of Mission Bay. What may appear at first as a "weedy wasteland" actually reveals some native plant treasures to those who take a little more time and a closer look at it! There are surely some gems in the rough although it does take some effort and perseverance to unlock some of them! That is why I came to explore to see what gems I could find in the rough!

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Brian, now, I shall not take those large vacant lots for granted, but one's got to be cautious, with private property rights--ALWAYS.
Is this a naturally occurring, estuarine island, or did the Navy/Marine Corps construct this as landfill, perhaps commencing as early as 155 years ago? San Diego, as we know, is one of our Navy's/Marine Corps' long-time crown jewels. And Camp Pendleton's a colossal, vast piece of real estate.
The International Airport in SD is a major curiosity, noted for the extremely low landings and takeoffs--usually right over Balboa Park and the zoo--so low, you might just see the passenger's faces inside the airplane's windows!
If, you were NOT using your field guides, your memory completely blows me away, how you casually rattle of scientific names, and the lore surrounding particular species.
"Tuckerroo" . . . I just love those cute Aussie names. Would kangaroos be known to eat these in their native settings? Hence the cute Aussie term, "tucker".
How have you been coping with the widespread, intense, long-lived, monster heat wave? It's so bad, that at Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows, at 8,500', +or-, it's regularly been hitting around 90F. Wildfires in the Sierra have now been slopping over The Crest, burning through heretofore "unburnable" subalpine/alpine vegetation, above timberline, right over into the Eastern deserts!
It's a shame that the "authorities" are now starting the practice of shutting down public swimming during heat waves, a combination of liability issues, and the AMA's harping that people's health is unable to withstand the "severe" shock/contrast of temperatures, of jumping into swimming venues--they even recommend against drawing cold-tap-water baths to soak in, during these "sunstorms"--better, they say, to start out with a lukewarm SHOWER--NOT A TUB BATH-- for 2 minutes, gradually increasing to tap-water-cold. Complete Immersion, they now say, can trigger cerebral strokes, respiratory arrest, cardiac events, and, disorientation leading to drownings, even with experienced swimmers. Avoid ice cubes in your cold drinks too, that's silly! They say to avoid seashores, as the "fog machine" that suppresses higher swells and waves is absent, during heat events--that will NOT stop the surfboard fanatics--the higher the waves, the better--more power to 'em!! Just too much Nanny-ism these days. Sigh, oh well.