UNDER THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE and A WALK IN THE REDWOODS: Marin County, CA

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Baker, Sausalito, CA

If there is one image that symbolizes San Francisco it is the Golden Gate Bridge, the soaring metal structure that connects the city with Marin County to the north. During the recent Christmas holidays, which we celebrated in Oakland, we had a guest who had never been to California. The Golden Gate Bridge was a must-see on our list of things to show her.

Round safety mirrors mark sharp turns in the hiking path so that bicycle riders–and pedestrians-- can check for oncoming traffic.

So, on a bright sunny day, we headed across the Richmond Bridge from the East Bay to Marin County, where we planned to hike to the north end of the bridge. In Sausalito we took the road to Fort Baker and parked at the end of the road near the fishing pier. Although there were quite a few fishermen, we didn’t see anyone actually catch a fish.

Hiking and biking path from Fort Baker to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

We then proceeded on foot along the path as it wound its way under the bridge and up the hillside to the visitor area on the west side of the bridge. It took us about fifteen minutes to get to the top.

There a series of information signs explain how the bridge was built. On a previous visit with another guest, an engineer, this was his favorite part of our excursion to the bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge is painted red.

A fenced walkway under the bridge allows pedestrians to cross from one side of the roadway to the other. As we walked under the road we could hear and feel the roar and vibration of the traffic above us as we got a close-up of the giant steel beams that support the bridge.

Lone Sailor Memorial

The visitor area on the east side, called Vista Point,  provides spectacular views–of the bridge, the city, and surrounding San Francisco Bay. In the middle of the parking area stands a large monument–the Lone Sailor Memorial, honoring the people who serve in the Navy, Merchant Marine, Coast Guard and Marine Corps.

View from the Lone Sailor Memorial. In the background is a classic car filled with stuffed teddy bears, apparently also enjoying the view!

After admiring the view along with dozens of other tourists and taking numerous photos, we retraced our steps back to our car at Fort Baker. We had brought a picnic lunch which we ate at one of the picnic tables along the road into the fort.

Redwoods in Mill Park, Mill Valley, CA.

Our next stop was to another classic tourist sight for visitors to California–the giant redwoods. We didn’t have time to go to Muir Woods, the national park famous for its trees, even though it was just a short drive away. Instead, we went to Mill Park in the nearby town of Mill Valley, where a beautiful redwood grove is a city park next to the public library.

Downtown Mill Valley

My parents lived in Mill Valley for thirty-seven years and although I never lived there  I often visited, so, for me, this trip to the redwoods and the Golden Gate  Bridge brought back many memories. 

Enjoying Peet's Coffee, Mill Valley, CA

For the final event of our day’s outing, we stopped for coffee at a shop in downtown Mill Valley. Then we headed back to Oakland as the winter sun set beyond the Golden Gate on the other side of the Bay.
                                               

WALK BY THE BAY at McLaughlin Eastshore State Park, San Francisco Bay, CA

View of Golden Gate Bridge from Chavez Park in Eastshore State Park

On New Year’s Day the weather was crisp and clear, so we decided to go for a walk on the trails in Eastshore State Park along San Francisco Bay. After parking at the corner of University Avenue and Frontage Road in Berkeley, we passed through the gate and walked through the Berkeley Meadow, partly fenced off for habitat restoration.

Path through the Berkeley Meadow

On the other side, near the Berkeley Marina, we joined the trails of Chavez Park. Along the shore, we watched coots and other water birds swimming in the bay. Ground squirrels foraged for food in the grass, popping in and out of their holes when people came too close. As we looked east over the water we could see the University of California campus in Berkeley; to the north we saw horse stables for the Golden Gate Fields race track.

Path along the North Basin

One hundred years ago, the tide flats and meadows that now make up the park were part of San Francisco Bay. Gradually the shoreline changed as trash and landfill were dumped into the water. It was an ecological disaster. A community effort led to cleaning it up and turning the land into a recreational area that everyone could enjoy.

On October 3, 2012, the California State Park and Recreation Commission renamed this 8.5-mile shoreline parkland McLaughlin Eastshore State Park in honor of Save The Bay co-founder Sylvia McLaughlin.

On the west side of the Chavez Park we looked out over San Francisco Bay toward the Golden Gate Bridge. There was a steady wind, perfect for sailing and kite flying. It was a beautiful day and a great way to begin the New Year.

Kite Fliers in Chavez Park

For More Information:
Eastshore State Park (http://www.ebparks.org/parks/eastshore) extends 8.5 miles along the East Bay shoreline from the Bay Bridge to Richmond. It includes 1,854 acres of uplands and tidelands along the waterfronts of Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, and Richmond. Eastshore State Park parallels the most heavily traveled corridor in the East Bay, making it a highly visible, highly accessible area of parkland. The website provides directions and a map of the trails.

Note: Sylvia McLaughlin, after whom the park is named, was a remarkable woman. She recently passed away at the age of 99. You can read about her life and efforts to Save the Bay in this obituary at the Los Angeles Times.

Ground Squirrel

SAN FRANSICO BAY-DELTA MODEL, Sausalito, California

One of my favorite places in the San Francisco Bay area (and unknown to most people) is the Bay Model, a working demonstration of water flow in and out of San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. Tucked along the waterfront in Sausalito, the Bay Model is located inside buildings that were part of a bustling shipyard during World War II.  (An exhibit on the main floor of the building displays photos and artifacts from the shipbuilding era.) 

Built in 1957 by the Army Corps of Engineers to test the impact of proposed changes in the Bay, the Bay Model spreads over 1.5 acres.  As you walk the ramps and platforms around the water, you can orient yourself by signs and the miniature bridges that connect the land around the bay–the Golden Gate connecting Marin County to San Francisco, the Bay Bridge crossing from San Francisco to Oakland on the east side and, to the south, the long San Mateo bridge over the shallow water of the tide flats.  Unlike in real life, in which the tide changes every twelve hours, the schedule of the model is speeded up so that the tide comes in and goes out every 14.9 minutes, whooshing through the Golden Gate and visibly creeping up the adjacent shores. It makes you realize the drama of this daily cycle and how important it is to people and wildlife along the shores.

Until about ten years ago, the Bay Model was used for scientific purposes, as a place where people made important calculations about water movement in San Francisco Bay.  Now, those calculations are done by computer and the model is no longer used in the same way for scientific research.  Instead, it has become an educational facility.  (I remember going to visit when it was a working model and watching scientists taking their measurements.)  The building has been recently remodeled (it was reopened in January 2012) and now has a handsome redwood entrance to the visitor center with a gift shop and art gallery.  In one corner is an amazing scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge made by a 14-year-old student as a 4-H project. Inside the main building along the walkways are photos, state-of-the-art videos, interactive displays, and explanatory panels telling about the history of the model, how it works, and the ecology of the Bay Area.  On the day I visited with a friend we did a self-guided tour, but ahead of us was a school group getting a tour with a docent.  Whether you go by yourself at your own pace, or with a group, it will definitely give you a new perspective on San Francisco Bay.

After our visit to the Bay Model we explored downtown Sausalito, had lunch at one of the many cafes in this popular tourist town, and then went to Fort Baker for a close-up of the real Golden Gate Bridge from below.

Visiting Information:
The Bay Model is at 2100 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965, telephone (415) 332-3870.  For directions, hours, and more information go to the website http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/bmvc/.

How do they make the tide in the model? To recreate the rising water level of a flood tide, more water is pumped into the Pacific Ocean area with less water allowed to flow out.  To model the falling waters of an ebb tide, less water is pumped in and more water is allowed to flow out.  A valve system controlled by a computer controls the flow of water.

The Golden Gate Bridge: Celebrating 75 Years!

Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, view from the Marin Headlands

On April 19, 1937, four days after the paving of the deck was finished, the first ceremony celebrating the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge was held.  Two companies of soldiers from nearby Fort Scott and a group of officials, which included Joseph Strauss, Chief Engineer, and San Francisco’s Mayor Angelo Rossi, marched to the center of the bridge.  There, after listening to several speeches, they stood back to watch while a ceremonial gold rivet was driven into place by Edward Stanley, a bridge worker who had also driven the ceremonial first rivet.  His nickname was Iron Horse Stanley.
Unlike the steel rivets for the bridge, which were always heated to make them pliable, the gold rivet, being made of a softer metal, was thought to be sufficiently pliable to be driven cold.  However, much to the embarrassment of Stanley and everyone else, the gold rivet proved to be too difficult to drive, and after a great deal of effort, the attempt was abandoned.  Later, the gold rivet was successfully placed in a nearby panel.

Cutting the ceremonial chain on opening day for cars, May 28, 1937

There were two official opening days for the public–one on May 27 for pedestrians only, and one the following day for automobiles.  The morning of May 27, 1937 was cold and foggy, but this did not deter the crowd of 18,000 people, all eager to be among the first to cross the bridge.  Some, including a boy Scout named Walter Kronenberg, had been waiting since 7:00 pm the night before.  Kronenberg was identified as being the first in line to cross the bridge.  Like the others, he had paid the required five cents pedestrian toll. At noon on May 29th, in Washington, D.C., President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key announcing that the bridge was in public use.  More than one hundred ships were waiting in the water below the bridge to begin their salute.  Overhead, five hundred Navy airplanes flew in formation over the bridge and at the same time, throughout the Bay Area, every foghorn, ship’s whistle, church bell, automobile horn and siren bleated, honked, and blared in a noisy cheer for the new bridge.

Caroline's parents at the 50th Anniversary Celebration, 1987

Over the years, the bridge has witnessed numerous anniversary celebrations including the 25th, 40th and 45th anniversaries of its completion.  On January 5, 1983, the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the bridge construction was celebrated.  Many of the men who had worked on the bridge came together again and shared memories.  A garden plot commemorating the five year period of bridge construction was planted in nearby Golden Gate Park.  Then in March 1987, the bridge celebrated the 50th anniversary of its completion as 300,000 people crowded onto the bridge, testing the limits of its weight capacity.  The day began as "Bridgewalk 87", a reenactment of "Pedestrian Day 37".  By 11:00 a.m. the bridge was cleared for a motorcade of vintage automobiles.  As a token of appreciation to the thousands of motorists who use the bridge each day, the board of directors suspended toll collection for the day.
Now, in 2012, the Golden Gate Bridge celebrates its 75th anniversary with a year-long series of events which began with a festival on May 27th, culminating with glorious firework display.  Events and exhibits will continue through the year.

Until the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was built in 1964 to join Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York, the Golden Gate Bridge had the longest center span of any suspension bridge in the world.  It is still one of the most beautiful bridges in the world. To find out facts about the bridge's construction and answers to questions ranging from toll and traffic information, the formula for the distinctive orange paint for the bridge, and “When did the Golden Gate Bridge appear on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine? (February 26, 1976),  go to the website of the Golden Gate Bridge Organization.

I first crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in 1966 when I came to visit my parents, who had recently moved to San Francisco from their home in Minneapolis.  I have crossed the bridge many times since, in wind and rain, sun and fog.  The view is always spectacular.  In anticipation of the 50th anniversary celebration of the bridge, I wrote a book for children, The Golden Gate Bridge (Franklin Watts, 1986.)  It has long been out of print, although you might be able to find it in a library.
[The photograph above, from my book, is of the opening day for cars in 1937, and is courtesy of the archives of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.]