Day 1: A million dollar view on a $30 campsite

February 13, 2010

Whoa, Angel Island is cool!

It started in Tiburon where we boarded the ferry for the short trip to the island. The fog was just beginning to lift and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge were just beginning to poke their heads above the fog.

On the ferry we bumped (figuratively) in to three other guys on bikes who were also camping on the island. They asked what camp site we had? "Site 5?" one guy said. "That's the best one!" Wooo-hooo!

We noticed several things when we got off the ferry. First, the place was practically empty--wooo hooo! Next, the restaurant, store and some of the attractions were closed because it was the off season and the place was practically empty--woooo hooooooo!

We rolled off the ferry ready to ride towards our camp. It is only 2.5 miles from the ferry to our site so there was absolutely NO rush. We stopped at the interpretive plaques, historical buildings, and other places that just looked cool in general. The island has a big military history and there a lot of interesting places related to that. In fact there are many buildings, gun emplacements and other military stuff from the late 1800's. Much of it was abandoned in 1915.

The fog started to clear when we got to our camp site and we could JUST make out the "big house" (Alcatraz), the Golden Gate Bridge and the city--it got clearer as the day went on. It was a million dollar view on a $30 camp site!

As it turns out, I didn't think that site 5 was the best. Site 4 was better because it was higher on the hill. Still, as you will see from my pics, site 5 did not disappoint.

After setting up camp we explored the island by foot. The views were amazing with panoramas from all sides! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on that account...

We saw others walking and biking, but NO cars and NO tour car/bus/thingy's that you might see in the summer. In fact, by 3:00 all of the day hikers and riders were gone with the last ferry and all that were left was a hand full of over-nighters. We had the place to ourselves!

The best part of the day was the night, which is not really the day anymore, but you know what I mean. The night was clear and we stared at the city lights for hours. I had fun playing with my camera's "starry night" mode until the battery ran completely dry because I got addicted to the cool pictures from the "starry night" mode. Still, I got the shots I wanted so that was ok.

We went to sleep to the sound of fog horns of the ships big and small as they made their way across the bay. I LOVE that sound! What a great day!