San Francisco -- Fort Funston to the Zoo -- April 2009

　
Fort Funston to the Zoo
　
April 15, 2009 San Francisco # 2 conclusion

Taking up where I left off some months back, here is the conclusion of my 2009 San Francisco hike.  I seem to be having trouble getting the sizing on the captions right but I'll go ahead and publish anyway.
　

　


Fort Funston: Base station cupola.  Behind me the San Mateo coastline.

        

Fort Funston was as windswept as anything the previous day. The wind had shifted so that whereas it was blowing from the south west as I tried to walk south it was now blowing from the north west as I tried to walk north. We looked at various ruins from the Fort’s military days – ‘base stations’ for calculating the bearing and distance to that Japanese cruiser which never arrived. Farther up the trail lie the massive bunkers of Battery Davis which once housed two 16 inch guns.  These were added to San Francisco's coastal defenses in the late 30s, just in time to become obsolete.  There was another 16 inch battery on the Marin side of the Golden Gate.  All overgrown today -- in its prime the battery would have been concealed with netting and cryptic paint.



Battery Davis, landward side

Battery Davis, seaward side.  Not much for the crew of that
hypothetical Japanese cruiser to see till the 16 inch guns open fire. 



Main entrance to Battery Davis.




Battery Davis: South Casement.





Business end of North Casement.



The trail heads north over wind swept dunes – some with foliage, some without. Close to the parking lot and Battery Davis, numerous people were out running their (mostly large) dogs. Farther north the traffic thinned out. At last the poles marking the trail came to a fresh cliff. Time to backtrack to Skyline Boulevard and finish the last leg to the Zoo. There I joined Rosanna and Damien to visit the animals.



Fort Funston: Dunes, Dogs and Distance.




Sorry, trail ends here -- go back.





This happens to be where the 400 pound gorilla wants to sit.  Any problem?



Extremely rare non-sleeping Koala.

Zoo's latest resident and proud parent.

 
　

San Francisco, 2009 -- Segments 1 and Part of 2

April 14, 2009 San Francisco # 1 and part of # 2

From the Golden Gate Bridge to Sloat Boulevard

We had stayed the night before at a hotel in Clayton and visited relatives in the East Bay. From there we had driven across the Richmond – San Rafael Bridge and headed down Highway 101 toward San Francisco. It had been my intention to begin today’s hike from the north vista point of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately I missed the poorly marked turn. (And apologized for the resultant deplorable language.) Before any hiking could occur we visited the Palace of the Legion of Honor for an exhibit of Artistic Luxury. (Fabrege, Lalique and Tiffany.) From there we returned to the south vista point of the Golden Gate Bridge where we had lunch.

Armored against wind and glare.

Not your usual view of the bridge.

Fortifications galore.  View towards Land's End.

Segment 1 of San Francisco runs from the north end of the bridge to the Cliff House. However, by the time we had finished lunch and my wife and grandson had gone on to the Exploratorium, the wind had picked up substantially and I decided it would be the better part of valor to put off conquering my acrophobia to some other time. (See end note.) So, then, I began from the south end of the bridge.

The trail leads around the point and under the bridge. I had an excellent view of the underside of the bridge from an unusual angle. The trail continues past various costal fortifications from San Francisco’s past. I took the side trail ‘Batteries to Beaches.’ I was pretty thoroughly sand blasted at Baker Beach but I did get to see the disappearing carriage gun at Battery Chamberlain – whatever wasn’t shrouded in tarps against the blowing sand.  (You've perhaps seen these disappearing guns in old films?  Their recoil drives them back and down behind concrete ramparts from which they're raised for the next shot.  Very stylish around 1900 but thereafter mostly replaced by guns on more conventional mounts -- the price of disappearing was inadequate elevation and range.)




Battery Chamberlin.  The disappearing gun has disappeared
under a cloud of plastic tarps.

No San Francisco travelogue is complete without something like this.

　

The trail continues through the posh Sea Cliff neighborhood and around Land’s End below Lincoln Park, the Legion and the VA Hospital. Various signs announce the points of interest, ship wrecks here, former trolley line there. The old trolley line leads at last to the Cliff House. It was by now extremely windy, Marcel Marceau windy. The ruins of the Sutro Baths at water’s edge lie at the bottom of a funnel which directs all its force toward the parking lot at the top. It was literally impossible to walk down the stairs to the Baths. ‘Monsieur Bipp Walking Against the Wind’ with me as Marcel Marceau.

Ruins of the Sutro Baths where San Francisco used to gather to swim.
Unfortunately the wind is invisible but it's all blowing up those stairs.

After a pleasant day at the Sutro Baths, you could wander over to the Cliff House.

　
Segment 2 of San Francisco begins at the Cliff House. Downhill from there one finds the Great Highway along the beach. The wind hadn’t slacked any. Sand blew through every gateway in the sea wall, off of every dune. I was sand blasted all along the Great Highway and eventually retreated a block farther inland to escape the abrasion. (How often do they paint the west side of the houses here, I wonder?)

Cliff Houe Totempole with Ocean Beach and the Great Highway.

Familar Golden Gate Park landmark.  To bad it doesn't work any more --
with all that wind it could have powered the whole City!

I finally had enough punishment and stopped for a snack at a café across the street from the Zoo on Sloat Boulevard. I waited there for my wife and grandson to finish the Exploratorium. The wind never let up. The chairs en terrace wound up en rue. A newspaper vending box likewise. Finally a particularly strong gust snapped the stop light on the corner and left it dangling limply by its power cable. I waited there for nearly 2 hours, drinking a latte, watching traffic blow by and conversing with a vanilla Laborador named Mr. Riley.

Note: The Golden Gate Bridge remains unconquered. On July 10, 2009 I attempted it from South to North. Staying on the inner side of the pathway and holding on to the roadside handrail for dear life, I got as far as the first tower.  I couldn't even just look down at my feet: the pedestrian walkway is lower than the roadway and you can see blue water 250 feet below through the gap!  The wind was blowing a gale around the tower and I could go no farther. I must have looked like hell since passing strangers asked, ‘Are you all right, sir? Are you scared?’ My reply was on the lines of, ‘Absolutely terrified but nothing getting off this @#*!!! bridge won’t fix.’  I struggled back to my starting point and took a bus to Sausalito where my wife was waiting to pick me up.

This is the second time I have attempted the Golden Gate Bridge, the first time being decades ago. I got as far as the first tower that time too. The vertigo sets in the moment I step off of terra firma onto the Fort Point Arch.  Small children and frail elderly ladies stroll steadily across, I can't stand upright without the guardrail's aid.  Well, suspension bridges being what they are, out to the first tower and back twice is the same distance as the entire bridge once. I may not have crossed the bridge but I have walked the equivalent distance on the bridge.  (Does the acrophobia affect me when driving?  Nope.  And I have no problems flying.)

Orange County -- Section 2

Another post from the very beginning of my coastal hike.  June 2008 and we were visiting Southern California for The American Library Association and Disneyland.  With those to occupy wife and grandson, I was off again to the coast to complete the two part hike I'd begun the day before.

June 26, 2008                                                                                                                  

Huntington Beach to Balboa Beach

After driving in from Anaheim where we were visiting Disneyland, I found long term parking in downtown Huntington Beach. I started south from the Huntington Beach pier. In town the trail runs past a vast Hyatt Regency Resort (laid back Surf City indeed!) and an equally huge, albeit more vertical, power station. The trail follows a paved promenade south as far as the Santa Ana River.

No camping out in your woody these days.

　

Not exactly scenic but definitely memorable.

I crossed the Santa Ana River on the Highway 1 bridge. The trail then follows the Santa Ana River County Beach to the Newport Beach Pier. At Newport Beach I bought batteries for the camera, then continued south to Balboa Beach Pier. Much of the time the trail runs along a paved sidewalk past various condos, apartments, cottages and rentals. These Southern California beaches are perfect for tanning, volleyball and surfing. They make for pretty dull walking: miles and miles of houses on one side, flat sand and sea on the other. Oh for a cliff, a precipice, a sea stack!

The mighty Santa Ana courses (oozes?) to the sea.

It stretches like this for miles.

But if the scenery were more exciting, could you do this?

Or this?

From Balboa pier I walked inland to catch a ferry to Balboa Island. The quaint main street (Maritime) leads to a bridge to the mainland. There I climbed a steep hill to Highway 1 and caught a bus back to Huntington Beach. With mostly paved trails the going was much easier than the day before. (The drive back to Anaheim was something else, unfortunately. I got thoroughly lost and, for good measure I got caught in a colossal traffic jam. 2 hours 15 minutes to travel an official 8 miles.)

Newport Beach.  Typical Southern California fauna and their habitat.

Arriving at Balboa Island by ferry.

Bridge to the mainland.  All uphill from here to the bus back to Huntington Beach.

           

　

　

Marin -- Bolinas: Mission Aborted . . . Twice

For the Martin Luther King Monday holiday I wanted to get in some part of the coast, so I chose a section that was reasonably short and accessible: Marin County section 6 from the Palomarin trailhead to Bolinas.  This was not to be but my failure did produce some decent pictures to share with you.

According to Hiking the California Coastal Trail volume 1 you can hike this segment on the beach if you do it at low tide.  Low tide on Monday was scheduled for 12:06 PM at Bolinas.  I left home about 10:30 so this was within the realm of possibility.  From Highway 101 south of Novato I followed the Lucas Valley -- Nicasio -- Point Reyes Station route.  Slow but pretty.  Left Highway 1 at the Bolinas-Olema turnoff and drove through the outskirts of Bolinas to Mesa Road.  This goes a a couple of miles north, passing itself off as a paved two lane road most of the way.  I think my driveway is wider.  Finally it turns to gravel which feels wider even if it isn't because there's no center line to force you to one side.  I arrived at the Palomarin Trailhead in the Point Reyes National Seashore around 12:30.  Not long after low tide I followed the Palomarin Beach Trail down to the Ocean.

Palomarin Trailhead.  A photo caption on Google Earth points out
 that it doesn't need a caption since it has a sign.

The weather was clear.  Visibility over twenty miles -- the Farallones were easily visible, both the larger southern rocks and the smaller northern ones.  Fog lurked somewhere beyond.

Visibility 20 miles -- the Farallones.

The beach is about a mile from the main trail so that took about 20 minutes.  The beach trail provides some great views south toward Bolinas Point.

Bolinas Point -- the first of several shots from various angles.

The beach is gravel running down to flat rocks and tidepools.  Not much life in the tidepools as far as I could see.  In fact, other than plants and occasional birds, not much life period.  Bolinas Point looked a long way off and I didn't have any idea how fast the tide might come back in.  As it was nearly 1:00 by this point and a two or three hour scramble over gravel and rocks would leave me in Bolinas, five miles away by road late in the afternoon, I chickened out.  Some other time.  Back up to the main trail and Palomarin Trailhead.

Tide Pools and Bolinas Point.

My, my, that's a long way off.  Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

Lunch in my car and I'm ready for some more hiking.  By this time it's about 1:30 PM and a 10 mile round trip by road to Bolinas is looking pretty iffy.  So I decide to see how far I could get in an hour or so.  The trail follows the road for the first mile or two.  Past the Bird Observatory, past the Coast Guard communications station.  Past superior cows 'outstanding in their field.'  At last the road takes us to a turnoff marked Commonweal 451.  From here there's a farm road heading out across the fields.  I pass through the gate and head out.  Over an hour has passed since I left the trailhead.

Typical West Marin residents.

Spotting more cattle ahead, I decide that it's about time to turn around.  The guidebook urges the hikers not to frighten the farmer's cows.  What if the cows frighten the hikers?  At any rate, it's getting late and I'm in no mood to play John Wayne crossing the corral in Red River.
I turn back.

Terra Incognita: Traveller beware: Here there be cows.

Mesa Road would be a scary, dangerous place with all its hills and curves if it weren't for one minor detail -- virtually no cars.  In another hour I'm back at the Palomarin Trailhead.  Home again as the sun sets.

Mesa Road.  This would be darn near suicidal -- if there were cars.

So ended my first attempt at hiking Bolinas, cut short twice, once by sea and once by land.  The moral of the story: start earlier and give myself lots of time.  Arrive while the tide is still going out so I can say, 'Looks pretty good and it's only going to get better.' 

Orange County -- Section 1

I have Word Perfect Files of my previous hikes in Sonoma, San Francisco, San Mateo and Orange Counties.  Can I import them?  Let's see: where's 'Help?'  Ah ha.  Well, that's useless.  Let's try copying and pasting, shall we?  Works for text but how do I do the pictures?  Now where are those files?  (Dear reader, it's a good thing you get to see the finished product, not the messy process.)

Orange County 1: From Seal Beach to Huntington Beach

June 25, 2008

This marked the beginning of my project to walk the whole California Coastal Trail by the time I am 70.

After an uneventful drive from Anaheim where we were visiting Disneyland, I arrived at the Seal Beach Pier and its rather expensive parking lot. Parking cost me $11 for a $6 space. I didn’t have the exact amount for 12 hour parking so I had to find change – after first paying $3 for 2 hours parking. I had to buy a $3 latte in order to change my 20 into enough fives and ones for the 12 hour space. At least, someone there since 6:00 sold me his $6 tag for $5. About 10:45 it was finally time to walk.

Seal Beach Pier.

USS Higgins:Southbound end of Northbound destroyer.

Starting at Seal Beach Pier I walked south along the high tide line until I reached Anaheim Bay and the fence for the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Depot. It was time to turn inland to Highway 1. As I walked along the highway, I had a good view of the USS Higgins, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer moored in Anaheim Bay.

No doubt whatsoever which way to the Ocean!

I crossed a highway bridge over Anaheim Bay into Sunset Beach. Here an enormous water tower converted into a rental house marked Anderson Street, the return to the beach. I followed Sunset Beach to its end.

View North: The most populous State in the Union?

 

View South: The most crowded part of that State?

At Bolsa Chica Beach I switched to a paved trail to conserve my ankles. This led to the Blufftop Trail into Huntington Beach. The erstwhile ‘Surf City’ has gone upscale – I doubt there is much there an impoverished surfer could afford these days. Lunch at a café a block or two inland, was however not too expensive and quite satisfactory. (Minestrone, spaghetti and meatballs, Blackwood Merlot.) I walked out to the end of the pier before catching a bus back to Seal Beach and my car.

 

 

Blufftop Trail toward Huntington Beach

The 9 3/4 mile hike had taken 3 ½ hours. The bus ride back took about 20 minutes with stops. Thus the journey of 1260 miles begins with the first 9 3/4.

Huntington Beach: Maybe this is the most populous State after all.

 

Welcome to Surf City -- if you can afford it!

 

San Mateo -- Pacifica

January 7, 2012

     Having stuck my neck out with wild claims about resuming my little jaunt down the California Coastal Trail, I had to do some hiking to get this project back under way.  Off to Pacifica for Section 1 of San Mateo County.  Only it turned out to be Section 2 and not all of that.  Confused?  'Allow me to explain.  No, I don't have time to explain.  Let me sum up.'
     The sections are numbered according to the scheme set out in the books Hiking the California Coastal Trail, volumes One and Two.  From North to South, these guides break down the 1200 plus miles of California Coast by County and by section.  Most of the sections are basic day hikes.  (Except in places like the Lost Coast where nothing's simple.)  San Mateo section 1 runs from Fort Funston in SF to Mussel Beach in Daly City.  But I missed the turn and didn't reach the Ocean until Pacifica Pier in the middle of section 2.  Rather than backtrack, I started there.

Pacifica Pier, my inadvertant destination.

          After lunch in my car I headed South toward Mori Point.  It was a fine day (for January): mild weather, light winds, wispy high clouds, occasional seas mists, but basically sunny.   Innumerable people (I was too lazy to count) were out walking their dogs, children and selves.  Apart from human beings, the commonest creature to be seen was the Chihuahua.  I've never seen so many little dogs.  (Also Poms, Pugs, Yorkies and all other breeds of the toy size.)  The only other wildlife comprised large, sleek, well-fed ravens.  No doubt they flourish upon a steady diet of stray Chihuahuas.

Nevermore!  Chihuahuas give me indigestion.

     Ocean lay to the right, golf course and wetlands to the left.  The sort of windswept cypresses on associates with Monterey are found here as well.  Beyond this the trail ascends Point Mori.

Cypresses and succulents.  Can ravens digest golf balls?

     The Point, a sign tells us, has a long and varied history having been a various times the site of an inn, a speakeasy, a farm and a proposed I-380 connection to the airport.  (The last mercifully aborted.)  It is now the home of various endangered wildlife -- so kindly stay on the trail!  Climbing over it involves a staricase of over 100 steps and that's just the beginning.  But the views from the top are worth it.  Wandering around to the back of the Point I found a level, paved bike trail and, descending along sketchy trails from the heights, followed it to Rockaway Beach.

Point Mori from afar.

Dear reader, I climbed these steps so you don't have to.

But the view was worth it.

     At Rockaway Beach the trail ascends along a series of sharp switchbacks.  The dutiful majority follow them.  The antinomian scofflaws don't.  For shame!  Where's Ranger Rick when you need him?  Or Smokey Bear with a shovel?  (Or Quickdraw McGraw with a guitar?)  The hill you ascend thus is a designated tsunami shelter area.  But rather than wait there for the next Big One to happen offshore, I followed the trail to Pacifica State Beach, the southern end of this section.

Especially tsunamis.  Head for the hills!

The Portola expedition camped here, October 11, 1769. 
There's a statue on the other side of the highway to prove it.

I returned to Pacifica Pier the easy way, along the bike trail.  This eventually connected to the Old Mori Road that runs along the North side of the Point, a cool and shady interlude.  The signs explaining the rehabilitated wetlands had been defaced by vandals.  (Hey Kweeksdraw!  Kabooong!!!)  This brought me back to the Ocean once more and to Pacifica Pier.  The northern half of San Mateo Section 2 I shall leave for another day and annex it to Section 1.  Time to head for home after walking six or seven miles to officially log three.

Much easier than all those nasty stairs and climbing.

Interlude on Old Mori Road.