San Francisco #3: Angel Island

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Another early start today as I was off to Angel Island. I enjoyed another of the hostel's great breakfasts and then headed down to Fisherman's Wharf, where I would take the boat from. I had already purchased my tickets online and just needed to swap my reservation for my paper tickets. I was really surprised when I was looking on the internet at the ferry times and ticket prices, that they didn't run more frequently. I thought it would have been a really popular place to visit with lots of ferry options, but there weren't too many. After getting my tickets, I joined the queue and soon we were let on the boat. It seemed that it was a popular destination for school/camp groups as there was one or two on the boat. The boat took about twenty five minutes to reach Angel Island. The journey was nice and I enjoyed looking at the scenery as we went along. The weather was really good, so I got amazingly clear views. We were deposited at the dock at Ayala Cove. There were some park rangers there if you wanted to ask for any assistance. The walk along from the wharf was pretty and I came to a sign that described the history of the island briefly. In 1775, the Spanish ship, the San Carlos, anchored in the cove, while its lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala directed the first survey of the bay of San Francisco. He named the island Isla de los Angeles and since that time the island has hosted many different places including a Mexican rancho, a US military post, bay defense post, and a quarantine and immigration station. I had roughly planned what I wanted to, while I was on the island, which was to see and do as much as I could in the time permitting.

First I headed over to the small information centre, which is housed in an old dwelling. It was quite informative. The building used to be part of an old quarantine station, which was established in 1891. There were 40 buildings making up the quarantine station and it was used to isolate and stem the spread of disease. Next, I headed up on one of the trails that led to higher ground. This part of the trail was in the woods and was nicely shaded by all the trees that were growing overhead. When I reached the Perimeter Road I headed left and followed the road around. The trail around the island is 8 kilometres in distance, so not too long. I got some gorgeous views looking back over the water to San Francisco, although I'm not sure which part I was looking at. As the road curved around the island, a small cove called China Cove came into view. On the cliff above it to the other side, I could see the Immigration Station up ahead. There were some really cool trees lining the road. I saw the entrance to the Immigration Station and headed down the fairly long path. I was surprised at how quiet it was down there. I thought that there would be quite a few tourists, but there weren't many about.

I decided to head into the immigration station first and then explore the grounds later. Although, I did stop to look at the big stone steps on which what appeared to be people's feeling about being on Angel Island were written. None of it was very positive and their journeys through the immigration station must have been very tough. Angel Island is/was known as the 'Ellis Island of the West', as people coming from the Pacific Basin entered the US through this immigration station. Just before leaving Korea, one of the textbooks I had been using had a section on Angel Island and the immigration station and this had piqued my interest in visiting the island. I paid my entrance fee, which was only a few dollars and headed inside to learn about the people who emigrated from the east. Between 21st January 1910 and 5th November 1940, many people stayed at the immigration station, which is now filled with exhibits that display what life was like for them. it was interesting to see all the bunkbeds and people's suitcases filled with all their treasured possessions. There was also some poetry, written in Chinese, carved onto the walls. Later, the immigration station was used as a processing centre by the US military for prisoners of war during World War II. Then, the centre was abandoned and left to rot, until 1963, when it was converted into a state park and museum. After looking around inside, I explored a bit outside. I headed down to the commemorative bell and plaques, that were on display. Some of the plaques had pictures and one gentleman was the double of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un.

I headed back up to the main road. I had walked just under 2 kilometres of the Perimeter Road and I still have just over 6 kilometers to go, with plenty more to see on my way back to Ayala Cove. The next point of interest, I came to was Fort McDowell's East Garrison. The whole of Angel Island had, at one point, been known as Fort McDowell. The island served as a discharge depot for returning troops during the Spanish-American War and as a transit station throughout the first half of the 20th century. Then in World War II, the facilities on the island were expanded as more and more troops were needed in the Pacific. It became a recruitment depot and an Overseas Discharge and Replacement Depot. Not too many soldiers were actually stationed at Fort McDowell, the majority only spent about a week here, before being shipped out to where they were needed. I really enjoyed exploring Fort McDowell's East Garrison. There were so many abandoned buildings to wander around. There were signs up saying that the buildings weren't safe, so I stuck to the grounds floors of the ones that I was able to enter. I think I only saw one or two other people, this place was so quiet. There was also a small beach/cove, which was really cute. I took a rest there and ate some lunch. It was a lovely little spot with great views across the water to the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. From there, I continued up the hill. I check out a couple more of the old buildings, one was a hospital, before reaching the Perimeter Road again.

While walking along the Perimeter Road, I came across some old houses, which were now inhabited by the park rangers. They looked really cool, with their crumbling grandeur. There was another section of housing, but that out of bounds for non state park staff, so I couldn't have a gander at that. The walk along the Perimeter Road was really nice, as the views were just incredible. I could see the beauty of the island, its greenery and beaches, and also across to the mainland. There was a low-lying fog, obscuring my view of San Francisco, but I could make out Alcatraz, which was a cool sight to see. The Perimeter Road turned inland a bit and I happily continued walking, soaking in the sights around me. I loved how quite it was out here. By this point, I was almost half way through the walk.

Next, I came to a series of batteries, Battery Drew, Battery Wallace and Battery Ledyard. These batteries were installed to defend San Francisco Bay. The first, Battery Drew, was installed in 1898, on what was then known as Mortar Hill. The battery had a single 8 inch breech loading rifle and was capable of firing a shell almost twenty miles. Pretty impressive stuff. I had fun exploring the batteries. Walking around on the top of them and just generally scrambling about a bit. I liked that they were open meaning I could head inside for a look around, too. Also, due to their elevated position, I got some more amazing views across the bay to San Francisco.

I kept walking and soon came across a big ol' rusty machine. The machine had been built by the army in 1931 in order to sort and crush serpentine rock from the nearby quarry. Once the rock was crushed, it was used to pave the roads on Angel Island. The roads had not previously been paved because the army had been using mules and the dirt was gentler on their hooves. Moving on from the rock crusher, I could see something up ahead in the road. It looked like a snake, so I slowed down as I didn't want to scare it off and I wanted to get a closer look at it. However, my plan was thwarted as two people came flying by on bikes and scared it away into the bush. The bastards! As I was walking along, I came to a nice section to take a rest and enjoy the views. While I was there, the bus/carty thing that offers tours around the island pulled up, the guides voice was quite loud over the speaker, so I got a free bit of commentary. I remember him saying that one of the houses across the water was where Robin Williams lived.

The last place I visited on the island was Fort McDowell's West Garrison, which is also known as Camp Reynolds. It was was named after Major General John Reynolds. I came to the entrance, which had a church by it. The church was built by the army, in 1876, and not only functioned as a place of worship, but also as a schoolhouse for children living on the island. One of the chaplains of this church was Lt. Colonel Allen Allensworth, who when retiring from the army in 1906, was the highest ranking African American officer. He went on to found the town of Allensworth in California in 1908. I took a walk down the gently sloping ground. There were lots of derelict buildings all boarded up, however there was one house that looked like it was well maintained, painted red and white. At the bottom of the slope, there was a big brick building. I wondered if it had been some kind of factory. There were also some tents set up nearby, I wondered if people were actually staying in them or if they were just used to illustrate that the fort was so busy that people were put up in tents. I headed down to the water's edge and saw some wooden poles sticking out of the water. I had no idea what they were for. But there weer a few birds sitting atop them. From Camp Reynolds I headed back to the Perimeter Road and the final stretch back to Ayala Cove. I had a bit of time before the boat was due, so chilled on the picnic benches near the beach at Ayala Cove.

Since it was still pretty early when I got back to the wharf, I decided to check a cable car ride off my bucket list. I could have took the cable car from near the wharf, but I wanted to do the one going up all the hills. It took me a while to walk all the way down the steep slope. At least the grid layout makes it easy to follow and I could follow the cable car's track. A fool proof way of stopping me from getting lost. I arrived in the downtown area and had a look in a couple of shops since the cable car queue was huge. I went and bought my ticket fro the little stand selling them. I think the fare was $7 something, which is quite pricey, definitely a novelty and not a mode of transport I could afford to use everyday. The downtown area was canny rough, there were a few smackheads and beggars around. I kept my head down while I was in the queue. The San Francisco Cable Car is the last manually operated cable car in the world. The cars would come down the hill, park up on this circle thing, that a bloke turned to deposit it on the track on the other side of the road. It was fun to watch the first couple of times, but since I was in the queue for about an hour, I was over it by the time I got near the front of the queue. There are three cable car routes in the city, one is the California/Van Ness route, which is separate from the other two and not as popular. I was at the intersection of Powell and Market Street near Union Square, I could see it just across the road, where the Powell/Hyde and Powell/Mason lines originated and terminated. The cable car was built in 1873 and is ran by a 'grip man', who operates the grip and rings the bell.

Finally, after waiting ages I got on the cable car. I made a mad dash for the other side as I wanted to hang off the outside as we were going up the hills. There was no way I wanted to be trapped inside, that would totally kill it for me. I managed to find a strap to hold on to,so I could swing off the side of the cable car. I can't remember if I had my camera with out with me or if I tucked it away in my bag for safe keeping. Anyway, I really enjoyed the tram ride going up the hill. It felt very safe as it didn't go too fast and I liked retracing my steps and seeing the views from a different angle. Hanging off the side of the cable car, I definitely felt like I should have been in a film. The cable car came to a halt at the end of the line. Bugger, I had wanted to take the Powell/Hyde Line as that would leave me at the end of Fisherman's Wharf and I wouldn't have too far to get back to the hostel, however I ended up on the Powell/Mason Line, which stopped a few blocks back from the wharf. So now I had a lot further to walk to get back to my hostel. I knew roughly where I was, near Fisherman's Wharf, so headed back along there. It was busy as always with people hanging out. I had read online about Boudin's Bakery, the home of the original San Francisco sourdough and since there is one on the Wharf, I popped in there for a look around and to pick up some goodies. The Boudin family started making this sourdough French bread in 1849 and still use a portion of the original mother dough in every loaf they make. It was rammed. I saw that they made their own clam chowder, so decided to purchase a can of that for my dinner. I also chose one of their cute small tortoise sourdoughs. it wasn't cheap, but it would be a novelty meal.

I walked back to the hostel, past the small beach and into the Fort Mason area. Since I was hungry, I decide to cook my tea, not that warming up a tin of soup take too much effort. The clam chowder was a bit of a disappointment, it was very bland and I had to add a tonne of salt and pepper to it. The bread was good though. That night, I just relaxed and re-organised my backpack ready for my flight the next day. I had really enjoyed my time in San Francisco. I only got a taster of the city, exploring the major tourist sights. There is so much more I could have seen and done. As I was told it is freezing in summer, if I am lucky enough to return, I would definitely go in autumn when it's warmer.

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Photos

Quarantine Station
Ayala Cove

Quarantine Station
Ayala Cove