Objective: Mount Caroline Livermore 781 feet.
Stats: 5 miles and 900 feet of gain round trip. Strava track.
Partners: Deez and our new friends Dwight and Co.
Notes: Ferry required to reach the island.
Links: Angel Island web page. Wiki page.
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| Angel Island. |
We were in San Francisco for a New Years Eve concert. After getting concert tickets, booking a flight and hotel and all that stuff, the next thing we did was look for a reachable ranked peak in the area. A quick map check revealed that there are several peaks near by. The most interesting one was on Angel Island. Angel Island is known as the Ellis Island of the west. Unfortunately, nothing on the island was open and we didn't get into the historical side of it.
The first order of business was to catch the ferry to the island. $19.50 round trip per person; park entrance fee included. It was a windy day so the water was fairly choppy. I spent a good amount of time staring at my shoes to avoid the vertigo that I usually get when on a boat in high seas. I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that this was a "strenuous" six to seven mile round trip. I thought this might make it a tight window since the last boat off the island (which we really wanted to catch) gave us a little over four hours to make the trip.
Keep in mind that my idea of a vacation is most peoples worst nightmare. What some people consider "strenuous" I consider easy. But the stats don't lie and a 6-7 mile hike with 800 feet of vert falls in my "easy category". Four hours should be plenty of time to tag the peak and get back to the dock to get a beer that we can't buy because the cafe is closed...
The boat docked and we were on our way up the trail. The wind wasn't as bad as I expected and the warm temps soon had us hiking in T-shirts.
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| Start of the North Ridge Trail. |
We took the North Ridge Trail on the way up and it starts with a long set of stairs. I think I read somewhere that there were 140 steps but I didn't bother to count them.
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| Deez on the trail. |
The north side of the island is shaded with big trees and ferns. Very pretty!
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| Looking at the high point from the trail. |
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| Beautiful and fun rolling trail. |
The trail was very easy and not at all like what I thought I read somewhere.
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| San Francisco and Alcatraz Island, |
After 2 miles I checked the map and saw that we had less than half a mile to the summit. Hooray!
A beautiful 360 degree view of San Francisco Bay greeted us at the top.
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| Tiburon, Ca. |
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| Summit shot. |
Chilly winds out of the north had us back in our shell jackets while we took pictures.
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| Deez in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. |
We headed down to the picnic bench and had a snack. We were sitting next to a group of three that we had hiked near on the trail. Then the guy I was sitting next to asked me about my jacket. Yeah we talked for a the rest of the time we were there. They were a very nice group from the Philippines staying in SF for a month on holiday. Turns out Dwight is a mountaineer himself! We wished each other well as Deez and I packed up and headed out.
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| Sunset Trail. |
We took the Sunset Trail on the south side of the island on the way down. Still great views, slightly warmer and very similar to the Boise Foothills.
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| Enjoying the view on the way down. |
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| Golden Gate Bridge. |
There was a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Crazy to think that all that stands between you and Japan is the Pacific Ocean. I think I miss the coast.
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| I believe this is Mount Tamalpais but I could be wrong. |
We got down to the dock with plenty of time to spare and hunkered down out of the wind. We ran into Dwight and Co. again and hung out with them on the way back to the dock at San Francisco. We were now a group of five! Dwight, his wife who just happens to be an ultra marathoner and I believe her sister were a pleasure to meet. We exchanged contact info with the hope that we can climb together sometime. Too bad we didn't get a picture together.
We parted ways and Deez and I headed off to ring in the new year at the Masonic Theater with one of my top 3 favorite bands, Thievery Corporation. Oh man they were ssssooooooo good!
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| Thievery Corporation on stage. |
