Bikepacking Angel Island
On a beautiful Friday morning in San Francisco, Dan, Clarissa, Tyler, and I set off from our apartments in San Francisco, bicycles packed with ~25 pounds of equipment each. From our neighborhood, we biked down to the waterfront and then along the Bay Trail, following the Embarcadero, until reaching the Ferry Building after about 3 miles. We boarded the ferry, stowing our bikes in the lower deck and then heading to the upper deck for the views.
After a short ferry ride, probably about 30 minutes, we arrived at the dock on Angel Island! Angel Island is a nice forested island in the San Francisco Bay, only a few miles across.
We biked for a little ways up from the dock until we reached the main path that circles around the island. Not in any rush, we stopped at a picnic table for lunch and to hang out.
I had picked up a pamphlet called “Common Birds of Angel Island” at the dock, and now, only 20 minutes later, we saw a cool bird overhead! Using the pamphlet, we identified it as a red-tailed hawk.
Later, we continued biking clockwise along the path for a few miles, before making the turnoff onto a dirt trail that led to our campsite. We were camping at Sunrise Camp, which has a view facing East overlooking the water towards the Bay Bridge.
After setting up camp, Clarissa, Tyler, and I went on a short hike to the summit of Mount Livermore, the island’s highest point. It’s only a few hundred feet of climbing with a spectacular 360 degree view at the top.
We returned to camp to pick up Dan and our bikes, and biked a lap of the island on the dirt trail. (The island has 2 trails around it, a paved path and a dirt trail.)
Back at camp, Clarissa cooked an excellent dinner of paneer and chickpea curry with rice and naan. We enjoyed the curry while watching the sunset over the bay.
We finished the day by playing Zendo at our picnic table.
The next morning, we awoke to the sunlight streaming through our tents and the sound of birds chirping. I cooked pancakes for breakfast (Kodiak cakes - thanks for the recommendation, Alex Honnold).
We packed up camp and headed out on our bikes! We biked around the island the opposite way that we had biked in, this time getting great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.
Finally, we took the ferry back to the mainland and biked the 3 miles home. The cool thing about this trip is that it’s so close to the city!
