Angel Island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay is a jewel. It's been unusually preserved as a park and
has hidden reclusive beaches on the East Side. A hike to the top of Angel Island affords spectacular 360 views.
On a clear summer day you can see all the way down the South Bay and up the North Bay. If you go for sunset
it can be a life memorable experience. The hike to the top is for the energetic but there are other hikes circumventing
the island with great views too. The hike around the island takes about 2 hours. Though there are other extensive trails,
historic sites, superb views and a museum.
There are barbecue grills and picnic tables in various spots on the Island, but the most popular are
the tables in Ayala Cove because that is where the Angel Island Ferry lets you off. There are also picnic
amenities in China Camp Beach. Sometimes on the weekends reservations are required for the main barbeque's
and picnic tables in Ayala Cove.
Angel Island has a large collection of wooden military buildings erected from 1863 on.
Most of the buildings are closed both for safety reasons and to slow their deterioration, but two have been restored.
One of the buildings is at Camp Reynolds on the East side of the island was an active military position during the Civil War. It faces logically
towards the Golden Gate Bridge and the mouth of the San Francisco Bay to protect the area in the event
of a confederate invasion. The whole island was "Fort McDowell" then. Every summer there is a reenactment
with cannons. See the Angel Island website for dates.
Angel Island was the Ellis Island of San Francisco. New immigrants were brought there, particulary Orientals.
They were housed at China Camp which now has memorials and information on the injustices that happened there.
New to Angel Island is the Cove Cantina featuring Barbecued Oysters. The Cove Cafe offers boxed picnics and they are
pretty good! (Barbequed Ribs or Tyson Chicken)
I circumvent Angel Island in varous boats and by helicopter. A vision that sticks in my mind is back from the days
of the filming of "Nash Bridges" here in the bay area and the script called for fog. Well, just their luck, no fog.
So a plane was generating artifical fog over the Island. To be fair, I don't accuately know that it was that show, but
a camera plane was following the fog generating plane filming. I don't know about you but I find humorous irony in generating
fake fog over Angel Island. - Sandra Cannon for SFBAYAXIS.com
