San Rafael, Shoreline Park - Mar. 3, '13

Walking Distance: 3 mi. (estim.)
Walking Time: 1 hr., 39 min. (4:31 - 6:10 p.m.)
Start and End Point: street parking near entrance to Jean and John Starkweather Shoreline Park

While I am walking around the Bay in a clockwise direction, I occasionally skip segments and then go back to walk them later. After hiking the southern end of China Camp State Park last week, today I backtracked (south) to walk a stretch of Shoreline in San Rafael that I missed.

This area was north of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (and San Quentin Prison), and south of China Camp and McNears Beach, and included a few miles of scenic shoreline trails (some paved and some packed dirt). Today's stretch is shown as solid, dark green (asphalt) and medium green (packed dirt) lines on the 2012-2013 Bay Trail Map set.

This afternoon's walk at Jean and John Starkweather Shoreline Park was a beautiful one by the Bay, with a winter bonanza of ducks -- more than 200 sighted in less than 2 hours, and great views of the Bay, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and Mount Tamalpais.

The entrance to this trail was located at the NE end of Bellam Blvd., marked by a sign (Jean and John Starkweather Shoreline Park). I followed a paved (asphalt) path toward the Bay and headed north.

Along the way I could see the Richmond - San Rafael Bridge to the southeast, two small islands in the Bay (part of Marin Islands National Wildlife Refuge). These islands are home to egrets and other nesting birds.

I walked north until I reached a small point and turned around. I then walked south, along a packed earth path for some of that time, then a paved path again, passing some light industrial/office buildings. At the south end of this stretch I reached a small beach. I sat down on a large driftwood log to watch birds for a moment. A gate blocked shoreline access further south (toward a shooting range and San Quentin).

On the return walk (north) back to the car, the sun was setting in the west and I enjoyed watching Mount Tamalpais turn into a dark and beautiful silhouette, surrounded by the sunset.

Wildlife Sightings:
209 ducks, including 20 lesser scaups; 24 little brown jobs (LBJs); 2 red-winged blackbirds; 2 UFO grebes; 4 Canada geese; 4 unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs); 7 crows/ravens; 5 bumblebees; 5 black-necked stilts; 1 killdeer; 1 coot; 1 cormorant; 3 sea gulls; 2 mockingbirds; 2 doves

Shoreline Kickoff, Walk #2 - Dec. 17, '11

Walking Distance: 4 miles (estimate)
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 5 min. (10:07 a.m. - 12:12 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Public parking lot, Shoreline Park, Mountain View, CA

Today I embarked on my second walk around San Francisco Bay. It was a beautiful, sunny day, a few days away from the start of winter.

I started my walk at the Lakeside Cafe, in Shoreline Park. Thank you

to Javier Rojo for fixing me a decaf cappuccino at the cafe. After that, it was time to grab the camera, break open the logbook and get going.

I walked past the boathouse/dock area on the lake, within view of paddleboats, windsurfing boards, small sailboats, and kayaks: all stacked up and ready to go. And from there I made my way along the paved (asphalt) walk (heading roughly east) to the Bay Trail.

In the distance, to the south were the large hangars at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale and a blimp in the same area.

I stopped to talk with a photographer, Ming W., who showed me a fantastic shot of a harrier she had taken. Part of the fun of walking the trail is to meet other people along the way.

I walked north on the Bay Trail (red line on the Bay Trail map), and crossed my first city boundary -- from Mountain View into the Palo Alto baylands,
passing through the Charleston Slough area.

Due to a prior engagement this afternoon, I had to turn around at the "Interrelationships" interpretive sign/plaque on the packed dirt portion of the trail, in between Shoreline Park in Mountain View and the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center in Palo Alto.

On the way back, when I crossed back over into Shoreline Park, I walked along the lake, back to the Lakeside Cafe, and the adjacent lot where my car was parked.

It was a great day to see lots of different kinds of birds, including
several species of ducks. Given that it was hunting season, and that I could hear the faint sound of guns being fired a few miles off during the walk this morning, I'd say these ducks had picked the right spot
to hang out.

My favorite bird was the sea gull who was trying to carry an overly large shellfish in its beak. A bird after my own heart.

Wildlife Sightings:
38 cormorants; 7 snowy egrets, 5 great egrets; 26 Canada geese; 40 sea gulls; 15 coots; 2 kite birds; 156 ducks; 2 brown pelicans; 5 little brown jobs (LBJs); 2 hummingbirds; 1 cute grebe/diver; 2 crows; 5 pigeons; 1 hawk/kestrel/falcon; 88 American avocets; 8 black-necked stilts; 67 unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs); 1 great blue heron; 2 jackrabbits

Home Stretch Walk - Sept. 11, '11

Walking Distance: N/A
Walking Time: 1 hr., 5 min. (11:25 a.m. - 12:41 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Michael's at Shoreline/Michael's Restaurant, Mountain View, CA

Today I celebrated walking around the San Francisco Bay with a group of family and friends. Thank you to all who joined in the fun. After meeting in front of Michael's at Shoreline, we followed the same paved (asphalt) bicycle and pedestrian path (solid red line on Bay Trail map) that I had scouted yesterday, with one small shortcut (we crossed over Whisman Slough on the first bridge vs. the second one.)

After walking a loop back to Michael's Restaurant, we had a bite to eat (I recommend the chopped cobb salad), and sampled some chocolates (since I was also celebrating five years of eating a different type of chocolate every day). Life is good, and thank you to Dan, Teri, Ashish, Ken, Alec, Sueling, Tom, Elle, Toni, Susan, and Elise for being part of the home stretch celebratory walk.

I'm sure I missed some wildlife today, as I was enjoying talking with people along the way. So, what I saw out of the corner of my eye, is listed below. I'm already planning to extend this Bay walk a bit; e.g. I will walk a few "new" or newly re-opened segments of trail in the next few months. At that time, I anticipate I will arrive at the 1,000 mile mark, after walking a few Bay Trail connector trails (purple lines on Bay Trail map).

Wildlife:
5 white pelicans; 5 terns; 6 sea gulls; 7 ducks; 2 red-tailed hawks; 7 swallows; 1 little brown job (LBJ).

Home Stretch Walk - Sept. 10, '11

Walking Distance: 3 miles (estimate) (2.5 "new" miles)
Walking Time: 1 hr., 46 min. (8:25 - 10:11 a.m.)
Start and End Point: Michael's at Shoreline/Michael's Restaurant, Mountain View, CA

Today was a practice run for my "home stretch" walk back into Shoreline Park -- my starting point for this round-the-Bay walk 2 years ago. I am looking forward to doing this walk again tomorrow with a group of great people who have joined me on Bay Trail walks.

From Michael's at Shoreline/Michael's Restaurant (near the Shoreline Golf Links golf course), I walked across the street (N. Shoreline Blvd.) out toward San Francisco Bay, and followed the (solid red line) trail in a southeasterly direction, then turned right (southwest-ish) and then over a bridge (second one actually, not shown on Bay Trail Map) and then northeast, toward the Bay again, until the trail ended at a locked gate. I then returned to Michael's via the same route.

On the way, I stopped to talk with a few people who were out walking, including one mother and son who was working on a Boy Scout badge; and I dawdled to do some bird-watching. I enjoyed watching white pelicans on the Bay; and one snowy egret, wading in some shallows, extending its yellow toes into the water and shaking its foot -- presumably to attract small fish. I was told that the fish think they see a worm wiggling. The foot shaking (fishing?) seemed to be working for the egret.

All in all, it was a very pleasant walk. The Bay was glassy still. The white tops of the Shoreline Amphitheatre (concert venue) poked up behind the golden brown hills (molded from garbage from many years ago when this Park was a dump site).

While I am returning to my starting point in Mountain View, I still have a few more segments of trail left to walk (some were closed for construction when I passed by originally). I should hit the 1,000 mile walk milestone before the end of 2011.

Wildlife Sightings:
7 terns (at least 4 elegant terns) - squawking and diving for food; 9 ladybugs; 1 cormorant; 1 turkey vulture; 39 sea gulls; 1 hummingbird; 26 little brown jobs (LBJs); 22 swallows; 2 pillbugs; 16 white pelicans; 2 great egrets, 7 snowy egrets; 27 ducks, 1 darker headed smaller bird; 2 unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs), 6 tiny UBBs; 1 black-necked stilt; 12 starlings; 3 white butterflies, 4 skippers; 2 dragonflies.

Alameda - Shoreline Park, Posey Tube - June 9, '11

Walking Distance: 3.7 miles
Walking Time: 1 hr., 48 min. (7:10 - 8:58 p.m. - doesn't include dinner)
Start and End Point: Mariner Square, Pelican Pasta restaurant, Alameda, CA

I don't always eat before walking, but when I parked in front of Pasta Pelican, I felt tempted to have a light dinner; and I thought there might be some good views of Oakland, across the water, from a table by the window.

The views were nice. After dinner, I walked north a short distance, until I reached the blank (no trail) area on the Bay Trail map. I then walked south along the water, headed toward Shoreline Park.

The Shoreline Park area of trail (solid red wavy line on Bay Trail map), off Marina Village Parkway, was beautiful; and dozens of Canada geese, a few black-crowned night herons, and a smattering of ducks, sea gulls and crows apparently thought so too.

A marina area, with boats in the water, offered views of Oakland beyond appeared on the northeast side of the paved (asphalt) walkway, and a grassy, park area, with water features and trees, was on the southwest side of the trail. Thank you to Martha, another walker I chatted with while on the move, who lived in the area; it was fun to find out a bit more about the harbor/marina/yacht club area(s).

Just a short distance further northwest giant cargo ships lumbered through the Inner Harbor, but all was tranquil and calm here.

I turned around when I reached Triumph Drive, near Point Marina Vista and Oakland Yacht Club, where I'd left off on a previous walk. And, even though the sun was setting, I decided I had time to walk the Posey Tube -- (shown as a yellow-gold colored solid line on the Bay Trail map) connecting Alameda with Oakland.

To find the entrance to the Posey Tube, the second oldest underwater tube of its kind, look for a neutral-colored building or structure (see picture at right) that looked like it could have been influenced by both Art Deco and Modernist architectural styles of the 1920s. On the Alameda side, you'll need to cross a road (roughly indicated by two parallel yellow-gold colored lines on the map) and approach it from the southish side -- as, at least when I walked there, only one side of the tube is open to walkers.

A note of caution about walking the Posey Tube: the narrow sidewalk you'll be walking on is barely wide enough for two people to pass each other.

A bicyclist I met, on the way back to Alameda, kindly upended his bike to let me squeeze by him. So, if you bicycle through the tube and meet another bicyclist going the opposite way, I'm not sure how this would be handled.

It's also very loud in the tube. The acoustics are such that sound seems to bounce off the tile walls and be magnified and jumbled around.

However, it was a fun experience to walk through here. This may not be everyone's idea of fun; but I liked the adventure of walking under the water, and popping out near 4th Street and Harrison in Oakland on the other side, and thinking this must have been a relatively novel engineering feat almost 100 years ago.

Wildlife Sightings: 

4 pigeons; 28 sea gulls; 7 crows; 15 swallows; 5 little brown jobs (LBJs); 70 Canada geese; 9 ducks; 3 black-crowned night herons; 1 robin; 1cormorant; 2 domestic cats + 1 feral cat hunting in dry grass

Tiburon - Tiburon Blvd. - Feb. 8, 2010

Walking Distance: 1.4 miles
Walking Time: 1 hour, 7 minutes (5:15 - 6:22 p.m.)
Start and End Point(s): 2-hour spot on Main St., and spot on Tiburon Blvd., Tiburon, CA

This evening I covered from the Railroad Ferry Museum (Shoreline Park) to the intersection of Tiburon Blvd. and Mar West -- with a stop for tamales, guacamole, and a mango drink at Guaymas (Mexican) restaurant, near the Tiburon Ferry stop/dock.
No photos to show here due to the fact that it was too dark.

Wildlife Sightings:
3 sea gulls