Fun on the Bay Trail
Nov. 23rd, 2023 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaYesterday I had an appointment at UCSF, so I took a half day off, took BART to Embarcadero, and walked around the edge of San Francisco clockwise on the Bay Trail. It was a gorgeous clear day and I took a lot of photos of the Bay Bridge overhead, some including a departing ferry, and some including a gull perched on the railing nearby. Crossing a small bridge over the China Bay channel, I got a photo of a black-crowned night heron hanging out down by the water.
I worked at a startup South of Market in the late 90s, and it was still grimy and industrial back then. Now it's all cleaned up and gentrified and turned into stores and apartments. It looks shinier, but I've learned to wonder what happened to the displaced people and industries along the way.
On the way back I walked up 4th St. to Powell BART, because it was 2 miles rather than 2.5 miles and I was tired and it was getting dark and before the South of Market place I worked at the corner of 4th and Market, so I knew what I was aiming for. There were a lot of other people walking along. That area looked different too - there definitely wasn't a Trader Joe's on that corner back then!
Today I took BART in the other direction, got off at El Cerrito Plaza, and biked on the Bay Trail toward the Richmond/San Rafael bridge. This part of the trail goes through restored marsh and wetlands, and has stunning views of the city and bridges. I was considering crossing the bridge, but I decided to follow all the ins and outs of the trail right along the water rather than cutting across Richmond to the bridge.
And then I connected with an old friend who lives in that area now and walked together for a bit on the greenway under the BART tracks before biking the rest of the way home. I was glad it was Thanksgiving and most people were busy cooking, since I ended up on some big normally-busy roads heading for my friend's house from an unfamiliar direction.
That's 6 miles of walking yesterday, what with getting to/from BART on my side of the Bay, and about 20 miles of biking today, all more or less flat. A good way to spend a day and a half off! The Bay Trail is new since I lived here before, and I've enjoyed all the parts I've been on.
I worked at a startup South of Market in the late 90s, and it was still grimy and industrial back then. Now it's all cleaned up and gentrified and turned into stores and apartments. It looks shinier, but I've learned to wonder what happened to the displaced people and industries along the way.
On the way back I walked up 4th St. to Powell BART, because it was 2 miles rather than 2.5 miles and I was tired and it was getting dark and before the South of Market place I worked at the corner of 4th and Market, so I knew what I was aiming for. There were a lot of other people walking along. That area looked different too - there definitely wasn't a Trader Joe's on that corner back then!
Today I took BART in the other direction, got off at El Cerrito Plaza, and biked on the Bay Trail toward the Richmond/San Rafael bridge. This part of the trail goes through restored marsh and wetlands, and has stunning views of the city and bridges. I was considering crossing the bridge, but I decided to follow all the ins and outs of the trail right along the water rather than cutting across Richmond to the bridge.
And then I connected with an old friend who lives in that area now and walked together for a bit on the greenway under the BART tracks before biking the rest of the way home. I was glad it was Thanksgiving and most people were busy cooking, since I ended up on some big normally-busy roads heading for my friend's house from an unfamiliar direction.
That's 6 miles of walking yesterday, what with getting to/from BART on my side of the Bay, and about 20 miles of biking today, all more or less flat. A good way to spend a day and a half off! The Bay Trail is new since I lived here before, and I've enjoyed all the parts I've been on.
no subject
Date: 2023-11-24 05:34 pm (UTC)Ahhhh, trails which offer the juxtaposition of wild and city life are one of my favorite infrastructures.
That’s a lot of exercise!
no subject
Date: 2023-11-30 05:59 am (UTC)It's a great trail. Overall I wish we as a society were managing our interfaces between wilderness and city better. It improves the city, but not so much the wilderness.