Day 22: Lake Merritt Channel to Damon Slough

Day 22: Lake Merritt Channel to Damon Slough
(Oakland to Oakland)

Circle The Bay Part 3

June 27th 2018

6.8 miles in 1 hrs 13 mins

(Total:  238.8 miles in 59 hrs 40 mins)

For this East Bay segment of my bay circumnavigation, I've been crawling down the Richmond to Warm Springs BART line, one, two, or maybe even 3 stations at a time.  Today I started at Lake Merritt BART, then hugged the Oakland shoreline from Jack London Square to the Oracle Arena, former home of the Golden State Warriors, but you really can't tell yet as huge graphics of the stars who won another championship stare over I-880.  

I catch the 11 AM Caltrain to get to BART.  I could transfer at Millbrae, but what the heck, I rather enjoy the bike ride up the Embarcadero, excitedly dodging pedestrians and scooters and runners and other bikes to make it to the Embarcadero BART station.  When I get to the start of the day's ride (which was close by today), I bike down the Bay Trail or as close as I can muster until around 2 PM, at which time I try to make it back to BART in time to catch the 3:34 PM southbound Caltrain.  If I miss the 3:34 my trip home is delayed by an hour because the next train is an express that doesn't stop in San Carlos or Redwood City.

The result is I don't bike that long for that far.  But it is still worth it, with an hour or two bike ride I have enough material to write about for that day, and I get to enjoy all the getting to and from the trail as well.

Lake Merrit Channel

Non Canadian Geese

I-880 arching next to the Embarcadero

New Development at Clinton Basin

Trail Closed for Construction at Clinton Basin

"Camping" along the Bay Trail

American Vulture

Lunch Stop

Day 21: Jack London Square to Lake Merritt Channel

Day 21: Jack London Square to Lake Merritt Channel
(Oakland to Oakland)

Circle The Bay Part 3

June 14th 2018

1.5 miles in 0 hrs 29 mins

(Total:  232.0 miles in 58 hrs 27 mins)

This was the shortest day of biking or walking I've ever done on these circumnavigations.  I took Caltrain to BART to downtown Oakland, then biked down Broadway to Jack London Square.  After a mile and a half of following the shore I got stopped at a bridge that is under construction over the Lake Merritt Channel on Embarcadero.

At the same time a lunch date in San Francisco inquired what time I was going to make it (I had forgot for non-obvious reasons).  I calculated how long it would take to get back to the Lake Merritt BART and ride BART to 16th and Mission, cancelled the rest of the ride, and took off.

Colma BART

Downtown Oakland

Cargo Container Cranes, Port of Oakland

Scott's Seafood, Jack London Square

Bay Trail Sign

Public Shore Sign

Jack London Statue

Construction Stomper

Marina at Jack London Square

Kayaking in the Alameda/Oakland Slough

Taking a break after a mile and a half ride

Bridge over Lake Merritt Channel under construction

Day 20: Alameda Island

Day 20: Alameda Island
(Alameda)

Circle The Bay Part 3

June 12th 2018

20.0 miles in 2 hrs 44 mins

(Total:  230.5 miles in 57 hrs 58 mins)

Alameda is the island off of Oakland, separated by an estuary that was dredged out to the point of accommodating all but the latest generation of cargo ships.  At its northern tip is the former Alameda Naval Station, which is being rapidly converted into several non-military uses.

There are wineries and theater projects and startups here, but the Ocean Cleanup project is the one with the most potential impact.  They are building a huge floating structure out of giant PVC tubes that will harvest plastic from a northern Pacific gyre.  Its innovative sea anchor will slow the assembly relative to surface currents, and plastic will collect against the floating barriers and be collected and transported to land.

There is also the USS Hornet docked on Alameda, a retired aircraft carrier open to tourists.  It has been there a long time, but this is the first time I'd actually gotten close enough to recognize it.

In between the Ocean Cleanup assembly and the USS Hornet Anchorage is the Seaplane Lagoon, a body of water big enough to allow planes to land, then taxi to the ramps at the edge of the lagoon to drive out of the water on wheels.  At least I'm assuming that's how it works, because my uncle who flew those planes is long gone (30 years gone, not 70 years gone).  The last time I talked to him I had just moved to California, but I had no clue at that time to ask the questions I'd want to ask now.

If BART adds a third tunnel, its would make sense to add a stop on Alameda Island.  I would think this a bigger priority than adding a stop on Treasure Island, because  Treasure Island can be serviced with a MUNI train, as it is part of San Francisco.

I look forward to the return of good governance that gave us the Naval facilities to win World War II, and the innovative engineering of BART to move people around the bay.  It seems propaganda about taxes has wrenched our society apart, with people feeling it respectable to avoid paying their fair share for those less fortunate than themselves.  When did being well off enough to have the money to assist others become anything but a show of strength (of character)?

Former entrance to Alameda Naval Air Station

Brewery with tasting room with a view

Naval hangar with bomb proof doors converted into a bus repair garage

Other door of converted naval hangar

The Ocean Cleanup project to remove plastic from Pacific Ocean gyres

Cranes lifting segments of Ocean Cleanup into place for assembly

Towable end of Ocean Cleanup assembly

Propeller (?) attached every 100 feet of the Ocean Cleanup assembly

Barge the Ocean Cleanup assembly is tied to

Seaplane ramp

Park and Charge and Stay Cool

USS Hornet

USS Hornet

Washington Park, Alameda

Excellent bike path on west shore of Alameda

Bridge to Oakland Airport

Bridge from Alameda to Oakland

Famous Dave's, whose first restaurant was on Round Lake WI

Posey Tunnel from Oakland

Container Ship leaving Port of Oakland

Helicopter observing container ship leaving Port of Oakland

Day 19: West Oakland BART to Jack London Square

Day 19: West Oakland BART to Jack London Square
(Oakland to Oakland)

Circle The Bay Part 3

June 7th 2018

9.7 miles in 2 hrs 11 mins

(Total:  210.5 miles in 55 hrs 14 mins)

Until today I have never quite understood the layout of West Oakland, and how the freeways and cargo container cranes came to be where they are.  This bike trip gave me all that, so I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to understand the Port of Oakland and its surrounding environment.

Starting at the West Oakland BART I biked west on 7th St. out the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park.  7th St. is one of two routes into the port, and crosses under and over the railroads and I-880 as needed.  On the way to the park I had to bike by a mile long back up of semi trucks (parked in the bike lane) waiting to either pick up or drop off a container.

It seems there were 3 different harbors that made up the Port of Oakland.  The Middle Harbor was a Naval facility, now being restored into a environmentally protected shallow bay and wetland.  The other two were organized around two different set of tracks that made their way down 5th St. and 1st St. respectfully, for the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific transcontinental railroads.

A restored control tower from the Central Pacific train yard explores this rivalry, telling the story of how hired muscle from the Southern Pacific landed on newly dredged landfill next to a newly constructed jetty (on the northern side of the Oakland/Alameda estuary) to claim it for their company, to break through the monopoly their competition had on the waterfront of Oakland.  

From here freight or passengers can depart for far away lands or San Francisco, whatever their pleasure.  For the first time I took the ferry from Jack London Square in Oakland to San Francisco.  Which means I have to take the ferry back on the next trek.  Which worked out to be quite a lucky break, because the Warriors swept the NBA championship, which makes a million people descend on Oakland for a parade, most using BART if they're smart.  But for my circumnavigation of Alameda Island I can sneak in and out on ferries, never having to cross under I-880 or over the Central Pacific or Southern Pacific tracks.

Crossing under I-880

Pedestrian Tunnel along 7th St.

Middle Harbor Restoration

Control Tower Museum out on Long Wharf

Control Tower Interlocked Switching Equipment 

Naval Memorial at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park

Captain Stomp, one of the A's Stomper statues around Oakland

Cargo container cranes copied for Star Wars V

Middle Harbor Shoreline Park

Miles of trucks waiting to get in the port

Crossing the tracks back from the port

Tourist Stomper in Jack London Square

Another Stomper

A yacht from another era

Oakland Ferry Terminal