Now there are only so many ferrys going over to Angel Island and there are only so many coming back. So I wanted to make sure I get on the 10am ferry...then get the 2:30 heading back. Plenty of time.....NOT.I got to the area and had 10 minutes to find a parking spot and get my ferry ticket...so I was in a rush. BIG MISTAKE. I finally found a parking spot....10 bucks for the day...not so bad. I grabbed my stuff and ran the block and half down the alley to get to the ticket booth. Whew! I was in line. Only problem...I left my beverages back at the car. Geesh!
Too late...I'm not going to be over there too long...I'll get back and they will be waiting for me.
There was a group of older folks taking a guided tour that was on my boat. This is looking over at Angel Island.
Did I mention that every time I am down there, it is very windy and usually kinda a cool. So I have on my pants that can turn into shorts, my sweatshirt, and a long sleeved shirt on underneath. I'm prepared. HA...Today...it has to be 80 degrees with no wind....WOW...was I hot....This is looking back at the dock...
Now I mentioned there was a tour group on this boat. This guy in the hat is the hero of all of these ladies. He's actually a pretty entertaining guy. He brought bread for all of his folks to feed the seagulls off the back of the boat. The ladies loved this!
Here he is in action:
Thats him on the left in the cool hat.
So my thought was, when we approached the island, it felt like I was going to Jurassic park. Very quiet. There was nobody there. Our boat maybe had 40 people on it. Here we are arriving:
So I hit the ground running. What I didn't realize was the island to take the path around is 5 miles. Thats not counting any excursions off the trail which I like to take, or a trip to the top, which is around 1000 feet. So making the 2:30 ferry might be tough.
Once I headed up these stairs I was on the path and just like that, it was quiet, and no one existed. It was like everyone on earth had disappeared.
It was like Fantasy Island...I went through the portal.
I headed down the path around the west side first so I could see the GG Bridge and work my way around to Alcatraz and then back up the east side.
I quickly found myself venturing off the path in to the brush, out of the brush, through the trees, thinking any minute i'm going to see a dinosaur.
The island is rich with history that seems to have been just left.
This area with these abandoned houses used to be an Army post during the civil war.
There is also an abandoned Nike Missile site. On the north side there is a beach you can get down to, but I didn't go. I did see a couple people down there.
Just after this area, I headed up the hill to try to get to the top. So far, my people count is 2 at this point....and dinosaurs = 0.
This was the path I took to start to the top....I guess its not really a path, but it was my path. I had to stop a few times....cause it was kind of steep. This is the point where I started removing clothes. I was hot.
There were all kinds of areas to explore and no one there. The kids would have really liked this place. So after quite awhile of hiking, I make it to the top. As you can see in the pictures on my website, I slowly get to the top and you can tell because of the view of the pictures. Some very nice views and again, always very quiet....until you get to the top....
I was there maybe 5 minutes. Now the trail going up is narrow and the old timer group with the guy in the cool hat was headed down, so I had to step into the weeds for a little bit and let all these people pass.
When I finally got to the top, I was disappointed because there were probably 50 people up there. There wasn't alot of room and everyone had all the tables for lunch. Oh, I forgot to mention the 5 obnoxious college guys who were talking and being quite loud. Really ruined it for me....So I was off and back down I went.
I'm still thinking I'm going to get to the ferry on time.
i read the sign....I have about an hour to get there. The sign says 2.2 miles...I'm like OMG....I'm never going to make it. As I come around the east side, this is where WW2 had a immigrant processing area and this is where all the big shot army people lived...you could tell the houses, although abandoned, looked bigger and nicer. They had a baseball field, although it was pretty small.
It was a long 2.2 miles....up hills and down hills....geesh. I got back to the dock at 2:25, only to find out there is no 2:30 ferry today. 3:30 is the next ferry. So I get to sit and rest for an hour.
I was sooooo thirsty. I hogged the water faucet. This was the last ferry of the day. There had to be close to 200 people on the ferry. I was beat! I got back to the car and drank 5 bottles of gatorade and ate my bag of beef jerky I forgot to take with me.
I didn't even stop for the bridge or the Marin Headlands. I went straight back to the hotel. It was an hour drive back. I got me some dinner and started packing for the trip back home.
Pretty interesting place. Alot of history that is still there, seems untouched. Kind of spooky looking to see it all still there, like the people just disappeared. Very strange!
No comments:
Post a Comment