Wild Side of Lake Berryessa

Yom Kippur 2011. Instead of fasting in a stuffy synagogue, our family tradition has been to go out into nature--away from people, food, and noise--and fast in the great outdoors. This year's holy day was a trip to Lake Berryessa, in search of the Lake Berryessa wildlife area. Coming from the south and the west, we drove nearly the entire perimeter of the lake on Knoxville-Berryessa Road before discovering the east side road and the small signs on the fence that gave us the clue we were there. What we found was a thin strip of grassland, with a few scattered oak trees, flanked by private cattle ranches to the east and the lake to the west, and a fence blocking access for those who are not up to hopping over it. We kept driving south and found one of the two public access points, that wooden gateway that tells you there is a trail, or some resemblance of a trail, leading from the road to the lake.

This is not a side of Berryessa I had seen before. It's nothing like the privatization and boat docks of the wooded west side, or the one or two recreational areas with asphalt parking lots and picnic tables. This side of the lake, or at least the small strip of land between the road and the lake, is truly wild. There were no humans, no boats or jet skis near the shore, and no smell of food. I sat in my lawn chair next to the water and shared my reflections and atonement with ospreys, a white pelican, Canada geese, ducks, woodpeckers, a northern flicker, greater or lesser yellow-legs, squirrels, dueling red-tailed hawks, coots, grebes, gulls, blackbirds, buffleheads, egrets, black phoebes, and jumping fish. I sat there for hours and didn't even notice being hungry. The solitude was golden.

The Lake Berryessa wildlife area is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and is one of California's many wildlife areas managed by the California Department of Fish and Game. Many of these wildlife areas are open to the public for wildlife viewing, and with no fee. The birding is supreme and when in the right place at the right time, one could see a fox or a coyote or encounter a rattlesnake in the grass. On this day I saw no hungry carnivores other than my husband and family saying it's time to leave this serene place, find a restaurant and break our fast. I recommended the Putah Creek Cafe in Winters, and we broke our fast with a tasty California-style pizza, in a trendy atmosphere with cyclists, tourists, and locals.