Angel Island Hike

On March 2, 2007, Mellissa and I met our friends Win and Mona for a hike around the perimeter of Angel Island. (Hi Mom and Dad -- click on each picture and then hit your "back arrow" to return to the blog). Armed with coffee and our packs, we boarded the ferry at Pier 41 for an early morning cruise. The bakers nearby prepared their selection of crab (and lobster and alligator) french bread for the tourists soon to arrive at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf.




Half the fun of going to Angel Island is, well, going to Angel Island. You get to hang around waiting for the ferry, have coffee, walk around the wharf, take pictures, look at the tourists, window-shop and hang around waiting to board. There are great views of Alcatraz from the ferry terminal and of the bay in general.

We really lucked out on the weather! SF can have a variety of weather, but sometimes you just get lucky and have a perfect day. It could not have been better.


The ferry, operated by the Blue and Gold Fleet, charges about $15. per person to get to the island and back. Check it out, and everything else you ever want to know about Angel Island at http://www.angelisland.org/
The ferry leaves Pier 41 and cruises by Alcatraz and offers great vies of the Golden Gate Bridge. It arrives at Ayala Cove at Angel Island at 10:20am.

This reminds me of our friend John Hughes who loves sailing on the bay, taking pictures, and being retired. He also helps me with photo tips, blog advice, and travel info. Here's to you, John.


It is a wonderful place to get fun photos of the bridge, sailboats, and seagulls following the ferry hoping for a handout from the passengers.

As we approached the island, I knew it was going to be a great day. Great weather, great friends, great wife, and my really cool hiking staff with the shock absorber that Yanni (see nearly every other post) told me to buy. It works very well and helps me get up the hills.



Here is Ayala Cove, the landing spot for the ferry and for passengers to jump off and enjoy the day on the island. They told us to bring our own food (cafe closed) and that there was no water on the island. No problem, Ranger.

Here we are at the most photographed sign on the island. The park ranger, Mary, offered much advise about the island, as well as her picture-taking ability. She said that one of her favorite parts of her job was getting to use so many cameras. Visitors to the island, she told us, can total 600 per day.

One of my favorite parts of the island is the abundance of wildflowers starting to come out in the early spring. I took over 300 photos that day, so I cannot post all of them here, but I like these two:





There are several trails on Angel Island, but we chose to do the perimeter loop around the island. It is about five miles around and offers some of the best views of San Francisco ever to be seen. We could not get enough of the natural beauty we saw at every turn.

We followed the perimeter road around the island and took in the history which we learned ranged from immigration center, military battery, rock quarry, State Park, and civil war station.

Halfway through our journey, we stopped for a "snack" of (OK, get ready) salami sandwiches, cheese, almonds, raisins, trail mix, tangerines, beef jerky, bananas, crackers, and fruit bars. We are the only people on the planet to actually gain weight by hiking. Here's the result of a small tripod, a stump, and camera timer.

As we left our lunch stop, we knew we were in trouble when we looked up and saw the vultures circling. That is when I knew we had ate too much; the vultures were waiting for us to die so they could feed off of us for two years.

As we continued on, we saw such fantastic views of the City with the "backside" of Alcatraz. Angel Island reminded me of Disneyland, with it's Kodak Photo Spots. Point your camera anywhere and you had a great shot.

I love this shot that Lisa took when I set my camera and hiking staff down on the stump. I think that it says a lot about me and naturally Lisa saw this and captured it. It shows two of the the four things I love the most. (yes, my wife and family/friends are the other two). I didn't see her take the shot and only saw it when I downloaded the pics from her camera after the hike. Perfect.

After a full day of hiking, talking, walking, exploring, and checking out the campgrounds, the ferry arrived to take us back to San Francisco. We got clam chowder with Win and Mona and walked around Pier 39. What a wonderful day. We decided to return in the Fall for an overnight backpacking trip and to attend the opening of the refurbished Immigration Center.

Mona and Winfred: Thanks for a great time!