I’ve been wanting to get back to Angel Island for a while now, but the pandemic and then it being hard to get weekend camping reservations delayed me until early 2022. I actually made the reservation way back in August of 2021. At that point I couldn’t only hope the weather would be good enough to actually go. Typically, March can be very rainy and stormy in the San Francisco Bay Area. But going during the late spring and summer tends to be very foggy, so limits the views. Sometimes you just have to roll the dice.

As March approached, I REALLY was eager to get out of the house and backpack somewhere (especially after my Yosemite New Year backpacking trip was cut short). Unfortunately for California, we’ve only had two big waves of rain and snow storms in October and December and almost nothing besides light sprinkles between long stretches of dry spells since then.

I had gotten a 3 night permit for Friday through Monday, which would allow me to start later or leave earlier if the bad weather was on Friday or Sunday. As luck would have it, after weeks of dry weather there was rain the forecast for… Saturday. Right in the middle of my trip. The days on either side looked like they would be pretty nice (partly to fully sunny), so I decided to go and take my chances. It looked like it wouldn’t be a lot of or constant rain. Of course, Angel Island is in the middle of San Francisco Bay and one side was directly in the path of ocean weather that could pound it mercilessly.

I packed my backpack and left early Friday morning to take BART into San Francisco to get the first ferry to the island. No bridges to this island (which was part of it’s charm). Nice and clear that morning and some great views as we left the City, passed Alcatraz, and circled around the east side of Angel Island before docking at Ayala Cove.

My campsite was on the southwest corner of the island and part of the three ‘Ridge’ campsites. There were also ‘East Bay’ and ‘Sunrise’ campsite groupings. There were also some group campsites and a kayak-in campsite on the island. It was only a mile and a half from the dock to the Ridge campsites, so as backpacking trips went this was a slam dunk for me. They even had water available near the campsites, so I didn’t even have to carry a lot of water with me. I could have made it more of a challenge and gone clockwise around the island on the Perimeter Road that circled the entire island about 200 feet over sea level. I could have also climbed to the high point of the island (Mt Livermore 788 feet) with my full pack.

But I wasn’t that interested in either of those challenges. 🙂 So, taking in the sights of the Golden Gate Bridge and the City along the way, I made short work of that short distance. Except for the climb up from the cove it was mostly a level road to hike along.

I was a little early and the people who stayed in my site the night before were still there, so I just enjoyed the views for a bit. Unfortunately, I got site number 6 (it was the only one available when I managed to reserve it), which didn’t have much of a view from the site itself. You had to walk out a bit to be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge or the City.

Site 4 had a panoramic view of the Bay Bridge, the City, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Mt Tamalpais. I had been lucky to get that site during a past trip to the island. Site 5 was a bit more wooded (which did give it more shade than the almost shade-less site 4), but still has some nice views of the City and Golden Gate Bridge.

But I didn’t plan on spending a lot of time at the campsite, so not the end of the world. After stashing my gear in the handy food locker, I grabbed my day pack and climbed up the ridge to the fire road that circled the island mostly above the 400 foot elevation mark. I decided to do this part of the island which was referred to as the ‘back country’ since it didn’t have any buildings or paved roads (anymore-there used to be a radar station on the top of the mountain that has been removed along with the paved roads that went up to it). Apparently, they also rebuilt about 16 feet of the mountain top that had been leveled by the Air Force during the Cold War.

The fire road trail was a complete circle of the island and gave me grand views of everything around me as well as sneak peaks of some of the old military posts and the immigration center that I planned to explore close up the next day. After finishing the loop, I almost decided to climb up to the top of Mt Livermore, but decided against it since I had planned to climb it for sunrise and sunset when the weather allowed. Instead I descended back to the Perimeter Road and hiked out to Point Stewart and explored a bit of Camp Reynolds.

7.5 miles for that loop plus the 1.5 miles from the dock to the campsite made for a long 9 mile hike for the first day. I setup my tent and had dinner then decided that because there was a good deal of cloud cover to the west, it might not be that great of a sunset. So, I decided not to go to the top of the island to see the sunset from there the first night.

Instead, I went out to the nearby Battery Ledyard which had an unobstructed view of the Golden Gate Bridge and coastal mountain range that the sun would set behind. It was one of three military batteries used during the Civil and Spanish Wars to protect the Golden Gate (before the bridge). The guns were removed long ago, but the concrete foundations and gunpowder storage rooms where interesting to explore. Battery Wallace was actually right next to my campsite (literally right between campsite 6 and campsite 5), so had several opportunities to explore that one during my trip.

The sunset was pretty nice from there, but maybe a bit lacking in variations of color. It was still a good way to finish my first night on the island. Before going to sleep, I spent some time looking at the lights from San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. That was another great benefit to camping on the island that day trippers don’t get a chance to see.

As usual when I backpacked, I woke up and had breakfast before sunrise. Partly since my body tended to wake up earlier when I camped, but I also wanted to see the sunrise if possible. I headed over near Battery Drew, since that part of the island jutted out to the south and should have a good view of the rising sun. Unfortunately, the skies were pretty full of clouds and I was unable to see the actual sun rise.

But sometimes the light from the rising sun can dance off clouds in interesting ways, so the morning wasn’t a total loss.

After enjoying the light from the sunrise along the Perimeter Road, I explored Battery Drew and enjoyed some more of the morning light from there.

Because the day was supposed to be overcast with periods of light rain, I had decided to hike counter-clockwise around the entire island along the Perimeter Road. It was paved, so wouldn’t get muddy and most of the old buildings and ruins were easily accessible from there.

As I reached the east side of the island, I took a look at the old Nike missile site there. It was the last military use of the island during the Cold War. Not much more than concrete and steel doors covering the missile bunkers was left. Arodunt hat time, I felt the first rain of the day was very brief and barely qualified as ‘rain’.

After that, I reached the East Battery of Fort McDowell. I started by taking a stroll down Quarry Beach. The overcast weather wasn’t the best time for a stroll on the beach, but it still had some nice views of the City and the East Bay.

Then I spent some time exploring the buildings and ruins of Fort McDowell. It really was an interesting walk through history to explore the area.

From there, I made my way to the Immigration Station. It started as the North Garrison of Fort McDowell, but became an immigration station early in the Twentieth Century. Unfortunately, it was used to enforce some incredibly racist and exclusionary policies at the time under the guise of protecting public health and morals. Unlike Ellis Island, it was not usually seen as a good place to emigrate into this country.

There was a recently restored hospital building to explore. It had just opened to the public a few months earlier and I took the chance to explore it. It almost seemed like they restored it too well. it looked a bit TOO immaculate and unblemished. Didn’t really feel like an old building. Regardless, it was an interesting sight to see.

From there I explored the grounds and the cove where the dock used to be. It was protected from the severe ocean weather on this side of the island, so like most of the eastern and northern side of the island, had quite a lot of lush vegetation and trees growing all around.

A few drops of rain chased me into the old main immigration dormitory to look around. I had seen this building several times before, but it was still an interesting bit of history. Some of the Chinese people who had come through had left poems carved onto the walls as they sometimes waited in vain to get admitted.

Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past, will repeat the same mistakes. Seems to be very true these days considering some of the World events that have occurred in recent years.

The light rain had stopped by the time I left the building and finished exploring the area. I then headed down to Avala Cove, partly to see the area around the dock and also to get soem Diet Coke and maybe a real hot meal at the little cafe. Unfortunately, despite what their website said, it was not open. I don’t know if they closed early or never opened since the bad weather kept most of the day trippers away.

Wasn’t the end of the world, but a minor disappointment. I finished the complete loop using the Perimeter Road and spent a little time relaxing at my campsite and exploring the nearby Batteries in more detail.

I had dinner and was pretty much resigned at not seeing much of any sunset. So, I again decided not to make the climb up to the summit of Mt Livermore. But as the time for the sunset approached, the clouds started clearing up and I walked a little way to Point Knox to see what I could of the sunset.

It turned out to be a pretty nice sunset with enough gaps in the clouds to see the sun and enough clouds to bounce some multi-colored light off of. More colorful than the night before, which made me wish I had taken the time to climb up. Still a nice end to the second day.

12 miles on my 2nd day on the island.

The weather report for the next day was clear and sunny, so I made a point to get up early enough to have breakfast and climb up the ridge to the top of Mt Livermore to enjoy the sunrise from there. I was not disappointed by the 360 degree view of the Bay and the surrounding hills and cities. It was the grand sunrise that I had wanted to see since arriving. Always a great way to start the day.

From there, I descended the east side of the mountain and then down the Ida Trail. I had noticed the previous evening when I looked at my GPS tracks that I had covered almost all of the trails and roads open to the public on the lower part of the island the previous two days. With a little planning, I could end up covering the remaining trails and roads on the third day and be able to say I hiked everything on the island.

So, I hiked along a portion of the fire road that I had hiked the day before and climbed up the Sunset Trail back towards the summit. A little redundant, but I did pop back up to the summit to see the mid-morning light. It was a short 100 foot climb from where the Sunset Trail merged with the North Ridge Trail, so what the heck.

From there, I descended towards Ayala Cove along the North Ridge Trail, which finished off all of the trails on the upper part of the mountain.

At the cove, I was happy to see the Cafe was open and grabbed some cans of Diet Coke (but they spelled ‘Coke’ as ‘Pepsi’ on the cans for some odd reason). I also got a hot dog for lunch, which was a nice change from dehydrated food.

After that, I headed back to my campsite and explored the rest of Camp Reynolds along the way. I also hiked down the to the kayak-in campsite and shoreline nearby to help round out my list of trails I had hiked.

I took a rest at my campsite and then headed down the last remaining trail on my list towards Perles Beach. I had hoped the later time in the afternoon would have cleared out the day trippers, but there was a large group at the east end of the beach along with several other scattered people.

With high tide rolling in, the beach was getting smaller, but I took the time to get my feet wet and see the waves crashing against the shoreline. The water was way to cold to consider swimming or going in further than my knees. I relaxed until I grew bored and climbed back up to my campsite.

I verified that I had covered all the trails and roads (except a couple service roads that were off limits) as I had dinner. With the nice weather, the was no question that I would make the climb back up to the top of Mt Livermore for sunset. It was a quick 30 minute climb up and I had plenty of time to see the 360 degree view as the sun slowly set to the north of the Golden Gate Bridge. I had the thought that I should check the sunset data to see if it ever set behind the bridge from this viewpoint (it would have to be in the summer).

Besides that thought, I enjoyed the light from the sunset as I bid the third day goodbye.

Add another 9 miles to my total for the weekend.

For the final day, my goal was to get on the first ferry back to San Francisco and go into my office to work. It was very near the Ferry Building, so I figured I’d save having to take a day off by showing up to work dirty and smelling odd after three nights on the island (fortunately, we had showers at my office).

That meant getting up early enough to have breakfast, pack up my tent and gear, and then see one last sunrise. It would take too much time to go up to the summit again, so went over to Battery Drew to get a pretty nice view of the sunrise from there. It did not disappoint.

From there it was a short walk back to my campsite to collect my gear and head back to the docks to wait for the ferry. I even took the time to attend a team meeting on the ferry to justify me working a full work day. It also gave me a chance to have the Golden Gate Bridge in my Zoom video that wasn’t a static wallpaper background. 🙂

Overall, a nice long weekend that hopefully will get me ready for a summer full of backpacking. Over 30 miles of hiking over a very enjoyable weekend (my feet disagree).

Photos below and time lapse movies of sunsets and sunrises, plus videos of San Francisco at night and beach videos.