Candlestick Point - July 8, 2013

Walking Distance: 3.2 mi.
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 19 min. (10:26 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Candlestick Point State Recreation Area (SRA), picnic/day use area parking lot, San Francisco, CA

This morning I went "backwards" and walked a stretch of Bay Trail in southern San Francisco that I skipped last year. Thank you to Ellen, Betsy and Susan for their good company. We had beautiful sunny weather, during today's walk at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area in San Francisco. We walked on both paved and packed dirt areas (solid green lines on Bay Trail map), and enjoyed a day with no wind (unusual for this area).

We parked in a day use parking lot and walked south along the bay shore (Jackrabbit Cove). We stopped to investigate some purple flowers that were growing by the water line, and were approached cautiously by a few ground squirrels.

We walked out to Sunrise Point and back. We continued southeast, stopping to walk out to the end of a public fishing pier and back.

We followed packed dirt trail(s) along Hermit's Cove that ran in parallel to Hunters Point Expressway/Jamestown Ave., then along Harney Way (the roads that have historically been jammed with traffic on game days for the 49ers and other football teams playing in nearby Candlestick Park stadium). We passed several picnic tables (many with wooden walls to help shelter picnic-ers from the wind).

We paused to try out some exercise course equipment/bars (part of an old Par Course perhaps?), and then continued east. We enjoyed walking on a very creative, multi-colored sidewalk (visible from Harney Way, and accessible by foot). The design was one of a large primary-colored mosaic along Candlestick Cove.

We walked as far as possible, to the end of Harney Way, getting close to the hum of traffic on  Highway 101. We turned around at a cement utility tower and enclosure, north of the San Mateo County boundary, and then we back to the car.

Wildlife Sightings: 

35 ground squirrels; 3 crows/ravens; 2 white butterflies; 102 sea gulls (about 100 were on the beach area by highway 101); 3 cormorants; 2 little brown jobs (LBJs); 1 robin; 1 lizard; 1 rusty screw; 2 mockingbirds

Candlestick (back-track) day - Nov. 28, 2009

Walking Distance: 4.98 miles
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 1 min. (12:46 - 2:47 p.m.)
Start & End Pt.: Candlestick Point Recreation Area
(California State Park), parking lot, San Francisco, CA

We got lucky. Today (Saturday) was a non-49er-football game day at Candlestick Park; and we parked in the Park area, across from Candlestick Park Stadium. It was sunny, but quite windy at the end of the point past the last fishing pier. You could, when gusts were strong, easily lean into the wind, without falling over.

After walking out to the Point, we walked (West) down Harney Way toward Bayshore (yellow parallel lines), retracing some of my steps along the Bay from earlier in the week.

We then walked East, and North as far along South Basin as possible. A few 49ers fans (for game next day) were starting some early tailgate picnic activities; and ground squirrels were in abundance, dashing across the trail at unpredictable intervals.

Wildlife Sightings:
16 ground squirrels; 88 sea gulls; 16 ducks; 1 black oyster catcher with orange beak; 6 crows; 26 little brown jobs (LBJs); 7 unidentified brownish shorebirds; 3 rusty screws; and 1 rabbit.