Mill Valley - Sept. 18, '12

Walking Distance: 3 mi. (estimate)
Walking Time: 1 hr., 23 min. (11:42 a.m. - 1:05 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Parking lot, near 600 Redwood Highway, Mill Valley, CA

Today's walk in southeast Mill Valley (Marin County), followed Seminary Drive (named after a seminary in the area) down one side of a small peninsula, northeast of Sausalito and west of Tiburon, that extended into the Bay east of Highway 101/Redwood Highway.

Shown on the Bay Trail map (right) as a solid red line, and then as a double yellow line (unimproved trail), the walk was on a mix of asphalt path and sidewalks initially, and then packed dirt path/shoulder along paved roads.

From the parking lot, I walked with a friend toward the marsh area almost hidden behind a commercial strip (gas station, car wash, McDonalds). We found the path behind McDonald's (where I'd left off previously) and made our way north to Seminary Drive. Heading right/east on Seminary Drive, we walked along sidewalks and some unpaved road shoulders, continuing to follow Seminary Drive, past some apartment buildings, and along a broad curve -- southwest and then northeast -- toward Strawberry Point (the tip of the peninsula).

Along the walk we had views looking back toward Sausalito and also of Mount Tamalpais (west-northwest of this area). This mountain, also known as Mt. Tam, is approximately 2,570 feet tall, and is visible from most of the Bay Trail in Marin County (and many other counties).

From Seminary Drive, we made a slight right (south) onto Great Circle Drive (a detour from the Bay Trail) and, after a short block, took another right (west) and walked down a short entrance road into Brickyard Park, a small waterfront park with trees, a small playground area, and a few picnic tables and benches. It was a little breezy, but we stopped and sat for awhile to look out over the water, before heading back along Seminary Drive.

Thank you to Sandy for joining me on this walk.

Wildlife Sightings:
13 snowy egrets, 1 great egret; 3 brown pelicans; 10 crows; 3 sea gulls; 8 Canada geese; 2 little unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs); 1 cormorant; 3 little brown jobs (LBJs); 2 blue jays; 3 doves

America's Cup - SF 2013

America's Cup and The Bay Trail
January 2013

People have asked me if they can view the 34th America's Cup (AC34) yacht races (Summer 2013) from the San Francisco Bay and Bay Trail. The answer is yes, and maybe. The races are expected to draw thousands of visitors, and walking and bike paths will be an important part of getting people there and limiting car congestion.

Construction has been underway for some time to get ready for this event, along the Embarcadero, Piers 15-17 (new home of the Exploratorium), and Fisherman's Wharf, and other areas near or including the Bay Trail -- including segments of refurbished Trail segments for bicyclists and pedestrians. I look forward to walking these segments when they're completed.

More on the America's Cup
The races take place in 3 stages. The earliest America's Cup World Series took place in August and October 2012.

The races in 2013 begin with the Louis Vuitton Challenge Cup (July 4 - Sept. 1), and culminate with the America's Cup Finals from Sept. 7 until as late as Sept. 23, 2013. For more information and final dates, check with the America's Cup website.  Also check the Port of San Francisco site and the San Francisco Bay Trail website (click on the Maps/Guides tab).

The Red Bull Youth America's Cup selection series of races will be coming up in February (with final races in September) 2013.

Where to Watch
Most of the action is happening in northeast San Francisco, and viewing areas may stretch from the Marina Green/Presidio area in the north, to several piers south of the Bay Bridge.

Note: odd numbered piers start at the San Francisco Ferry Building (located at the end of Market Street), and extend north. Even numbered piers start at the SF Ferry Building and increase in number further south.

Possible viewing areas on the Bay Trail: Crissy Field (Warming Hut), Marina, Fort Mason (Greens), Aquatic Park, Hyde St. Pier, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, and places along the Embarcadero that offer Bay views. (See also previous walk entries and places to eat page on this site for more places in San Francisco.) There are also small pocket parks, some benches, and pier areas where boats may be visible.

Boats may also be viewable (depending on weather, fog) from the Bay Trail in other areas: Northwest Alameda; Alcatraz Island; Angel Island; Fort Baker; Fort Point; the Golden Gate Bridge; and Treasure Island. Bring your binoculars.

Where to Stay
Many of the hotels will have been booked by now. However, there are some great alternative sites that may have units or rooms available in San Francisco. Or, why not stay on a houseboat in Sausalito? Sausalito is a waterfront community (on the Bay Trail) on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge; ferries travel between Sausalito and San Francisco, Tiburon, Angel Island, Alameda, and other destinations. (See my earlier entries on Sausalito to get a feel of the place.)

Sausalito Ferry Terminal, South - Sept. 8. '12

Walking Distance: 2.2 mi.
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 47 min. (includes dinner break) (6:35 - 9:22 p.m.)
Start and End: Street parking along Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA

This evening's walk, was part 3 of a 3-part adventure today, that started earlier in the afternoon with a seaplane ride, followed by a nice walk in Mill Valley and Bothin Marsh. On the drive south heading back home, I stopped in Sausalito, and walked this segment in south Sausalito, from Alexander Ave., (and the road that leads toward Fort Baker) to the Sausalito Ferry Terminal.

Earlier this month, I'd skipped this stretch, shown as double yellow lines on the Bay Trail map. The double yellow lines, in this case, meant a nice stretch of cement sidewalks, but also some narrow, rather dangerous curved road on a hillside with mixed traffic (bicycles, cars and people).

As I usually do, I parked my car in the middle of the walk (near Tiffany Beach and Park) and made a loop, ending back at the car. This evening, I parked on Bridgeway (the main road running through Sausalito), and first walked south (the more challenging direction) while there were still some light left.

I followed Bridgeway, as it curved right and went uphill to Richardson, then turned left on 2nd Street (at Golden Gate Market). I made a left on South Street (or where the road curved left and became South Street) and watched carefully for traffic in both directions in spots where curves made it difficult to see traffic. Then, once I was on the straight-away, I made my way to the intersection of Alexander Ave. and East Road, where I'd stopped previously, enjoying views out on the Bay during this walk.

Views included looking across the mouth of Richardson Bay to the Tiburon peninsula, Belvedere, Angel Island, the San Francisco skyline and Alcatraz island in the distance. Overall, a very scenic walk. And all this scenery and watching for cars and bicycles zipping around corners made me hungry. So, I popped in to enjoy the dining scenery at Aurora Ristorante on the walk back through town. Thank you to the staff there for whipping up a gluten-free version of a great pasta dish. After dinner, and on the way back to the car, I made my way out onto a small spur trail/wooden boardwalk over the water -- where lights from houses on a hill were reflected on beautiful glassy water on the Bay.

I concluded my walk with a trip to downtown Sausalito to the Ferry Terminal. However, by that time, it was dark, most shops were closed, or were closing. Ferry runs had ended for the day, and it was very peaceful and quiet.

Wildlife Sightings:
1 rustle in the bushes; too dark to see anything else

Sausalito-Marin - Aug. 10, '12

Walking Distance: 2.4 miles
Walking Time: 1 hr., 14 min. (7:12 - 8:26 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Shopping center parking lot, Harbor Drive and Marinship Way, Sausalito, CA

This evening I took advantage of the longer daylight hours of summer and took a walk in northern Sausalito. Fingers of fog were starting to roll over the hills, cooling things down.

First, however, I needed dinner.

I checked out "Fish," a restaurant at the (east) end of Harbor Drive, by the water; it looked great. But, I was in a hurry to do some walking before dark.

So I hiked back up toward Bridgeway and I bought dinner at Mollie Stone's off Harbor Drive, near the intersection with Marinship/Bridgeway. This local grocery store always seems to have a great selection of high-quality foods that are also portable enough for walks. I remember stopping here on my first walk around the bay a few years ago.

Most of tonight's walk was along paved road, asphalt pathways, or sidewalks. However, I did take a few detours along some packed dirt transitions or smaller trails closer to the water -- particularly when I walked back closer to the water (southeast) on Gate 5 (road) and back up (west on) Harbor Drive on the walk back (not on the Bay Trail).

After dinner, I walked north along Bridgeway, the main road running roughly north-south through Sausalito, at about the point where double red lines turned into a solid red line trail on the Bay Trail Map.

I eventually made the transition to the bicycle - pedestrian path and walked north toward Marin. This part of the walk was closer to the water (Richardson Bay), which afforded great views of a variety of different houseboats (loved the colorful jumble of mailboxes facing the road), and Mount Tamalpais before sunset.

There were also several white egrets fishing near the shore, in the grasses and shadows.

I passed the Seaplane Adventures office (which was closed for the day). I hope to take a flight on one of these seaplanes soon to get an aerial view of Richardson Bay and San Francisco. I turned around at the Shoreline Office center.

Wildlife Sightings:
1 crow; 25 sea gulls; 6 snowy egrets and 2 great egrets

Sausalito - Aug. 2, 2012

Walking Distance: 2.0 miles (estimate)
Walking Time: 4 hours (11:10 a.m. - 3:10 p.m. total, 4 stops)
Start and End Point: Parking lot, near Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

If you like boats, this would be a great walk for you. We started with a ferry boat ride from San Francisco (Ferry Building) to the lovely coastal town of Sausalito in Marin County.

It was a beautiful day for a ferry ride across San Francisco Bay, with views of Angel Island on the way. As we pulled into Sausalito a thin layer of fog was curling over the tops of the hills, but it was a beautiful sunny day. From the ferry terminal we walked to Bridgewater, and headed north toward Harbor Boulevard.

Along the way, we walked primarily on paved sidewalks and road surfaces, although we did take a few detours. For example, we walked along the wooden planked docks to see houseboats* and on paved dirt/gravel paths to check out Carl Dunphy Park and to see an art car. And we sauntered along a gravel/dirt road next to a boatyard, as we were looking for Gate 5 and Harbor Blvd.

There were several interesting places to visit, and to eat and drink on this walk. We passed by the Visitors Center and Historic Exhibit building, but stopped at Cibo, a cafe in a brick building on Bridgeway, for some lunch. After our meal, we continued north and spent time taking a tour through The Bay Model.

The Bay Model was a very large scale model of the San Francisco Bay that, run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, that was open to the public. While more sophisticated computer models have replaced some of the original functions of this huge physical representation of the Bay (roughly the size of two large warehouses inside), the Bay Model Vistors Center represents a great learning environment for school groups and anyone else interested in knowing more about the history and geographic and hydrological workings of the Bay. In addition to short films and interactive displays, there was a tule boat, and an exhibit area with information about the building of ships during WWII.


Continuing north, we visited a large building that housed dozens of artists studios on Harbor Blvd. (A small "Art" sign on the building that housed West Marine led us here.) And, last but not least, we took a trip into Heath Ceramics. We needed to get back to catch our ferry back to San Francisco, but if we'd had time we would have had some dinner there; we heard good things about "Fish" restaurant at the end of Harbor Blvd. Next time...


On the return Ferry ride back to San Francisco we cruised by Alcatraz Island, and were close enough to see details of buildings and structures there.

*For those interested in more information on the wooden boats, you might also enjoy:
Vistoria Colella's Sausalito Wooden Boat Tour: http://www.SausalitoWoodenBoatTour.com

Thank you to Elise and Camille for joining me on this walk.

Wildlife Sightings:
12 sea gulls; 3 pigeons; 1 crow; 7 little brown jobs (LBJs); 1 cormorant; 1 butterfly

Sausalito - Mill Valley - Jan. 10, 2010

Walking Distance: 5.8 miles

Walking Time: 3 hrs., 37 min.
Start and End Point(s):
1.) Near Gate 6, Marina area, Sausalito, CA (2:54 - 4:32 p.m.)
2.) Public Shore Parking spot, Mill Valley, CA (4:44 - 6:13 p.m.)

Today was a big mileage day, and I finished walking well after dark.
And even though the birds in the Richardson Bay, Bothin Marsh area,
became more difficult to see, I enjoyed seeing lights on the water and
on and under the freeway underpass. This was an area of nicely
developed trail, which made walking in the dark much more
enjoyable than the unimproved city streets or pathways.

Wildlife Sightings:
6 little brown jobs (LBJs); 18 pigeons; 6 crows;
76 sea gulls; 2 snowy egrets; 2 great egrets; 21 ducks;
10 unidentified brownish shorebirds; 1 great blue heron;
12 American avocets; and 24 Canada geese

Sausalito - Jan. 9, 2010

Walking Distance: 3.57 miles
Walking Time: 2 hr., 55 min. (between 2:32 - 5:40 p.m.)
1.) 1 hr., 48 min. (2:32 - 4:20 p.m.) street parking, Pine and Bonita
2.) 39 min. (4:23 - 5:02 p.m.) Bay Model parking lot
3.) 28 min. (5:12 - 5:40 p.m.) street parking, along Bridgewater

I was hoping to make it to the Bay Model today, but the building and exhibits closed at 4 p.m. I will have to try again at a later date. I did pass a few marinas, stopped at the small, but interesting Sausalito historical museum, and at the Cibo cafe for a pistachio macaron. I also enjoyed watching a sculptor building free-standing rock sculptures that seemed to defy gravity (see image for two examples). And speaking of sculptures, the two stone elephants (one pictured), near the Ferry boat area, are a classic Sausalito landmark.

Wildlife Sightings:
15 crows; 61 pigeons; 4 Western grebes; 42 little brown jobs (LBJs); 44 sea gulls; 7 cormorants; 2 brown pelicans; and dogs in Dunphy Park