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

SSF to Brisbane - Mar. 18, '12

Walking Distance: 3.8 miles (estimate)
Walking Time: 1 hr., 57 min. (9:42 - 11:39 a.m.)
Start and End Point: Public shore parking spot, behind Marriott Residence Inn, South San Francisco, CA

From the small public shore parking lot, I headed north on the paved (asphalt) stretch of Bay Trail (shown as a solid red line on the Bay Trail map), and across the bridge toward Brisbane.

Relatively early on, there was a fork in the trail, where the paving ended, and there was a packed dirt stretch (shown as a yellow line on Bay Trail map). I followed the path that curved right/east, which joined up to another paved (asphalt) section soon thereafter. This path then curved north toward Brisbane Marina, passing a small playground area along the way.

It was a blustery day out at the north end of Sierra Point today. A lone fisherman was hunkered down at the end of the fishing pier being buffeted by gusts of wind. To avoid getting blown around myself, I kept my head down (except for a brief look up at Candlestick Park/Point to the north) as I headed west; and in so doing, I lost the trail for a minute. Note: one needs to cut left/south through buildings/near Tsing Tao bldg., to continue on paved trail, otherwise you'll end up in a packed dirt no-man's land, save what looked to be a make-shift dirt bicycle stunt hill.

When I reached a stoplight with Marina/Sierra Point, I turned right, and walked under the Highway 101 underpass to Sierra Point Parkway (shown as double red lines on map). Note, there are no real sidewalks here, so proceed cautiously if you're on foot, when crossing freeway on-ramps and off-ramps. Once on the other side of the freeway, I walked northish along Sierra Point Parkway -- parallel to the lagoon on right/east/tree and bush side of road. Gusts of wind were blowing dust and pollen around, which was not that fun. But, traffic was light, except for two different pairs of Canada geese that were sitting near the road on the lagoon side, a group of willets (shown), and one or two cars.

I turned around just beyond the intersection of Sierra Point Parkway and Lagoon Way; and I walked back on the opposite/west/Brisbane Lagoon side of road (pollen allergies were less bad). I walked back under Highway 101 again (snapped a picture of a few pigeons), and turned right toward the Radisson and Homewood Suites/Hilton hotels. I stopped briefly at Homewood Suites to pick up some information, and then returned to the trail and where I crossed from Brisbane back to South San Francisco; crossed the bridge, and arrived back at the car -- just as a light sprinkle of raindrops started falling. Good timing.

Wildlife Sightings: 155 ducks; 12 coots; 42 Western/Clarks grebes; 3 UFO grebes/divers; 19 sea gulls; 5 crows; 1 hummingbird; 2 cormorants; 7 pigeons; 4 starlings; 4 Canada geese; 1 tern; 14 little brown jobs (LBJs); 10 willets; 1 partly deflated basketball

South SF - March 11, '12

Walking Distance: 8 miles
Walking Time: 4 hrs., 59 min. (11:31 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Parked: Public shore pkg. lot, at end of Belle Air Rd., SSF, CA

I started today's walk by the bay under overcast skies, but it did clear up later in the afternoon, and I enjoyed this entire stretch of mostly paved (asphalt) trail (show as a red line or more developed trail on the Bay Trail Map).

From the public shore parking lot, near the wastewater treatment plant at the end of Belle Air Road, I walked north over the first of a few bridges. I passed the Colma Creek Habitat Restoration Project, and over a second bridge;

I passed by the Bay Trail Overlook spot and several Genentech buildings. I also walked by a Bike Share rack -- with a row of bicycles ready to go. A few steps away was Pt. San Bruno.

I stopped for a restroom break, and lunch at Oyster Point Bait, Tackle and Mini-Mart; and I took my microwaved chicken tamale with hot sauce out to the patio to enjoy.

After lunch, I continued along the water, and wound my way around a detour near Oyster Pt. Marina (near what I'm assuming was a ferry terminal/stop.)

It was interesting to walk around the inlet where Liberty ships were made back in the World War II era.

I passed two Marriott hotels, and turned around before the pedestrian/bicycle bridge to Brisbane.

As this was a longer walk, and a nice afternoon, I took a few 5-minute rest stops on a few benches, to enjoy bay views, on the way back.

In the last stretch of the walk, I startled a feral black and white cat; and when the cat ran across the trail to run into a bush, it flushed a handsome looking falcon or hawk into flight. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to act fast enough to capture this on film. However, I did snap one or two shots of hummingbirds feeding on flowers in bloom on the way back.

Wildlife Sightings:
6 UFO grebes/divers; 12 Canada geese; 23 sea gulls; 5 pigeons; 4 bumblebees; 155 unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs), 120 tiny UBBs; 4 black-necked stilts; 182 coots; 1 pillbug; 154 ducks; 29 American avocets; 1 tern; 27 little brown jobs (LBJs); 4 hummingbirds; 28 blackbirds; 45 starlings; 6 crows; 1 snowy egret; 1 snail; 1 small caterpillar; 2 white butterflies, 3 black and yellow butterflies; 1 dove; 1 feral black and white cat; 1 falcon/hawk

South SF - March 4, 2012

Walking Distance: 2.1 miles (estimate)
Walking Time: 1 hr., 4 min. (4:28 - 5:32 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Public parking lot, off North Access Road, South San Francisco, CA

I ended my walk yesterday just south of the San Francisco International Airport -- where there is one of the larger gaps in the Bay Trail, for security and other logistical reasons. Today, I picked up the trail at the north end of the airport -- off North Access Road.

I parked my car at the Samtrans Peninsula public shore parking lot. I walked around this leaf-shaped, mostly paved (asphalt) peninsular trail, and, having finished a last stretch of dirt trail and returning to the point where I started (the stem of the leaf shape), I took a right turn onto North Access Road. From here I was walking west on North Access Road, where there are some nice views of the water with the hill in the distance that was engraved with the white letters: South San Francisco.

I crossed over a small bridge (noticing what I think was the same barnacle-encrusted, upside down shopping cart in the water that I saw a few years ago on my first walk around the Bay); and a minute or two later passed a large parking structure, then jogged right and then left toward Airport Boulevard.

In a few blocks (just past a Costco gas station), I turned right off South Airport Blvd. onto Belle Air Road -- a short street that ends in a cul-de-sac, at the Water Quality treatment plant, and a public parking and trailhead area that led to the next section of Bay Trail.

I realized, however, that I will have to come back next weekend, to finish walking another section of road (shown as red, and dotted red line on Bay Trail map). Given that is adjacent to a relatively major Highway 101 interchange, I may not see much in the way of wildlife, but I'll wait and see.

Wildlife Sightings:
20 sea gulls; 106 ducks; 33 unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs), 47 tiny UBBs; 25 American avocets; 6 black-necked stilts; 1 ladybug on a green leaf; 5 little brown jobs (LBJs); 3 Canada geese; 3 doves; 3 bumblebees; 1 hummingbird; 1 hubcap; 1 starling