Fort Baker - July 28, '12

Walking Distance: 3.2 miles (estimate)
Walking Time: 1 hr., 50 min. (4:40 - 6:30 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Fort Baker, Marin, CA

After a few stops in San Francisco, we headed north and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. Taking the second exit off Highway 101 after crossing the bridge -- down to Fort Baker, we found a street parking space at Fort Baker. From our parking spot we headed up the hill (back toward the Bridge). Note: these roads are marked in white on the Bay Trail map shown at right, indicating they are not "improved" trails.

We walked up the hill on Bunker Road/Danes Drive -- enjoying the sight of a mother deer and two fawns grazing in the shadows. We took Alexander up to the intersection with the Golden Gate Bridge approach road (to a spot where there was a grate in road near a stop sign -- where I'd left off before). Note: there were a few spots on this paved section of curvy road where it's fairly narrow, with shared setbacks with bicycles, so walk with caution. On the plus side, the view looking backwards (through a short tunnel) framed the San Francisco skyline very nicely.

We turned around at this grate/intersection, and on way down, took Alexander Road toward Sausalito (not technically part of the trail), until it joined with East Road. We turned right onto East Road (to walk back toward Fort Baker), shown as a solid red line on map. It was great to see the newly improved packed dirt pedestrian/jogger path, separated from the bicycle path on this stretch. (This area had been under construction during my last walk here in 2010.)

On the way down East Road toward Fort Baker, we turned right to climb the packed dirt Eucalyptus trail (Drown Road trail - not shown on map) to its end -- a fence that separated the trail with Alexander (busy road on other side of fence, where we'd walked earlier as it turned out). We then walked down to the Chapel at Fort Baker and took a peek inside. Taking the Chapel Steps Trail, we walked down a set of stairs and returned to the car.

Nice views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay, Angel Island and SF City Skyline on this walk.

Thank you to Ken for joining me on this walk.

Wildlife Sightings:
5 little brown jobs (LBJs); 1 robin; 1 hummingbird; 3 deer (mother and two fawns); 5 dragonflies; 6 crows

Marin, Vista Pt., Ft. Baker - July 15, '12

Walking Distance: .8 mi. (estimate)
Walking Time: 50 min. (11:10 a.m. - 12:00 Noon)
Start and End Point: Marin Vista Point (North end of Golden Gate Bridge), Marin, CA

This was a short walk, part 1 of 2 today, from the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge (Marin Vista Point parking lot) to the dirt service road that curves around and goes down under the Golden Gate Bridge.

This curved dirt road (visible from Google Maps insert at right), downhill from the Vista Point parking lot, ends under Highway 101/Golden Gate Bridge, at a controlled access point, where only employees are allowed to pass through a gate). However, it is an excellent vantage point for views down into Horseshoe Bay (on Fort Baker side), across the Bay toward Angel Island and San Francisco, and of the Golden Gate Bridge from the north side.

Note: To cross underneath the Bridge or access Moore Road which turns into Conzelman Road -- and goes through to the Marin Headlands (west side of the Golden Gate Bridge), you need to approach this from the Marin Headlands (west) side, or follow Bunker Road down (north) to Fort Baker - take a right on Murray Circle and stay right to continue on Moore Road. Watch for speeding bicycle traffic coming down the hill. 


After walking back up to Marin Vista Point, we walked a bit farther down toward Fort Baker, turning around just past the intersection with Alexander Avenue.

Wildlife Sightings:
13 sea gulls; 5 little brown jobs (LBJs); 3 swallows; 2 brown pelicans; 2 white butterflies; 1 bumblebee; 1 turkey vulture.