A trip from Berkeley to San Rafael, via a new Golden Gate Transit bus route: 15 December 2015

I read an interesting news article. 

A summary: Starting immediately, Golden Gate Transit, the Marin County Public Transit entity, is inaugurating Bus Route 580, a new nine-month commuter bus service between Berkeley and San Rafael. 

I took the 8:13 am bus to San Rafael from Berkeley this past Tuesday. Bus Route 580 is only active during commuter hours, and I decided to find a different way to get back to Berkeley. 

My plan was to return to Berkeley by walking from San Rafael to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal and then take a ferry from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal to the Ferry Building in San Francisco. After which, it is a short walk to the Embarcadero BART station. I will then disembark at the North Berkeley BART Station and walk home.

Here are some downsides to this fabulous bus route: 1. Bus Route 580 has been funded for only nine months, after which there will be an evaluation to determine if it is feasible to continue the service. 2. Bus Route 580 is only active on weekdays during commute hours. 3. There is no weekend service.

UPDATE: The bus route has been canceled due to a lack of sufficient riders to make the route financially viable. Too bad.

Click on an image to view the full-size photograph.

US 101 is visible in the lower portion of this photograph. San Pedro Mountain is on the upper left, with China Camp State Park jutting out into San Francisco Bay. The view is looking northeast. 

The approximate distance traveled was 6.5 miles. The approximate cumulative elevation gain was 629 feet. 

This graph shows the elevation changes encountered in this ramble.

San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley. There is a new small sign to the left of the more prominent Alameda County Transit sign. The small sign signifies that this location is also a bus stop for Golden Gate Transit Bus Route 580.

A Golden Gate Transit Bus traveling to San Rafael in Marin County. Mount Tamalpais is visible in the background. The current location is on Interstate Route 580, moving through Richmond. 

4th Avenue in downtown San Rafael. 

On 4th Avenue, San Rafael. Arizmendi Bakery is located in this residential building. 

Church of Saint Rafael. This beautiful church is located at 1104 Fifth Avenue in downtown San Rafael. 

On 4th Avenue, San Rafael. 

Youth in Arts is located at 917 "C" Street, San Rafael. 

The Panama Hotel and Restaurant is located at 4 Bayview Street, San Rafael. 

This is the start of a climb up to Brett Harte Road. 

A view of central San Rafael. San Rafael Hill is in the background. 

Beautiful Mount Tamalpais. A segment of Corte Madera Creek is visible. The view is looking southwest. 

San Pedro Mountain is visible in this photo. US 101 can be seen as it passes through San Rafael. The view is looking northeast.

San Quentin Prison, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and the Larkspur Ferry Terminal are visible in this photo. The Larkspur Ferry Terminal is my destination on this ramble. The Ferry Terminal can be seen in the bottom right of this photo with its parking lot full of cars. The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is visible at the far left. San Quentin State Prison is visible at sea level adjacent to San Francisco Bay, just up from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. The view is looking southeast. 

Mount Tamalpais. This is a view of the mountain as seen from Greenbrae. The view is looking west. 

This is a view of the US Route101 interchange above Corte Madera Creek. 

I reached the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, my destination for the day. The ferry "San Francisco" is receiving maintenance work. 

The MV Napa, a catamaran ferry operated by Golden Gate Ferry, is now arriving at the ferry terminal from San Francisco. Shorty after it discharges passengers, it will turn around and return to the San Francisco Ferry Building. San Quentin State Prison is visible in the background. The view is looking east. 

The MV Napa is slowly moving to the loading/discharging platform.
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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.

Shan Dong Mandarin Restaurant in Oakland's Chinatown: 9 December 2015

I read a review of Shan Dong Mandarin Restaurant. What caught my attention in the review was that the restaurant provides its customers a choice of machine made noodles or hand made noodles. I found out where the restaurant is located; it is only about four blocks from the BART 12th Street Oakland City Center Station. I could easily travel to the restaurant via BART and not have to get into my car... I liked that. 

The restaurant is located at 328 10th Street. The restaurant is on the ground floor at the far left. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

As soon as I entered the restaurant, I saw this woman making noodles. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

A few servings of noodles are ready to be prepared as part of a meal. Click on the image to see the full-size photo. 

How could I not try her noodles! Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

I ordered a serving of Hot and Spicy Chow Mein Noodles with vegetables. I am not sorry I tried the restaurant. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

A few pictures of Oakland's Chinatown. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

The Tribune Tower was constructed in 1923. It was the home of the Oakland Tribune newspaper. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

“A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.”-Dorothea Lange

You are welcome to visit my primary website  www.mishalov.com

The eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, an update: 23 November 2015

I was interested to see how much progress has been made removing the old portion of the bridge. When the new bridge section was first opened Caltrans stated that the bicycle/pedestrian pathway should be completed to Yerba Buena Island by the end of 2015. The completion date has now been pushed back to the summer of 2016. It is a work in progress. Here are pictures I took while walking on the pedestrian/bicycle pathway.

Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

A small freighter is heading to the Port of Oakland. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

Downtown Oakland is visible in the distance. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

I am on the cantilevered portion of the new span and am looking west, towards Yerba Buena Island. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

So close and yet so far. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

Flowering plant along the pedestrian/bicycle pathway. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

The round trip distance was approximately 8.5 miles. Elevation gain was about 248 feet. Click on the image to see the full-size map.

“A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.”-Dorothea Lange

You are welcome to visit my primary website  www.mishalov.com

A visit to Lake Chabot Park to explore Nike Missile Site SF-31L/C: 21 November 2015

Nike Missile site SF-31 had two components that by design were physically located in two separate locations. The locations are about 1.5 miles from one another.

1. One component is the Nike Missile launching site (SF-31L), where the missiles were stored underground and were able to be fired towards incoming airplanes, in the event of an enemy attack by air. An East Bay Regional Park service yard now occupies the former Nike missile launching site. The service yard is closed to the public, but friendly service yard personnel allowed me the opportunity to walk through the site and photograph the remnants of the Nike missile battery. Two of the underground Nike Missile storage/launching sites are currently visible in the service yard. 

2. The second location of the Nike Missile site is the radar communications and control facility (SF-31C). I left the East Bay Regional service yard and drove about two miles west on Fairmont Drive. I then parked in the small parking lot at the beginning of the Fairmont Ridge Trail. It is the trail that leads to the former Nike Missile radar location (SF-31C) where missile targeting and fire control took place. The former Nike Missile radar site is now occupied by the radio transmission tower of KYA-FM San Francisco, and microwave repeater communication antennas. 

An East Bay Regional Parks service yard now occupies the former Nike missile launch battery site. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

Click on the image to see the full-size map.

The remains of a hydraulic lift used both to store missiles underground and also raise missiles to ground level for firing. After the missiles had been raised, the missiles were rolled by hand a short distance from the hydraulic lift, raised up and put into firing position. These were surface to air missiles with a range of between 25 and 50 miles. They were designed to protect the continental US from an enemy attack from the air. The Cold War was active at the time, and the main concern was that the Russians would launch a surprise attack. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

The missile storage areas are still underground. Each storage area was capable of storing 8 Nike missiles. I was able to locate two underground storage areas. The storage areas are located about 30 feet underground. An underground storage area interior dimensions are about 40 feet wide by 75 feet long and 15 feet high. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

I believe this was designed to be an emergency exit from the underground missile storage area. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

Here is a second missile storage area/firing area hydraulic lift. I was able to locate two hydraulic lifts on the East Bay Regional Park site. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

This view is looking west at Fairmont Ridge. Fairmont Ridge was the location of the Nike missile radar installation. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

At the end of the Fairmont Ridge Trail is the entry to the former SF-31C Nike Missile Radar Station. The site is currently being used as an FM radio transmitter location, and it is fenced and inaccessible to the public. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

 Inside the radar station site. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

The guard post located at the main entrance to the radar station site. Click on the image to see the full-size photo.

Inside the radar station site. Click on the image to see the full-size photograph.

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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.” Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.

San Francisco's Potrero Hill, Dogpatch and Mission Bay communities: 24 October 2015

A group of 50 adventurous people did a walk from the Mission District up to Potrero Hill, down to Dogpatch and Mission Bay, and then back to the Mission District.

Click on an image to view the full-size photograph. 

In the Mission.

The approximate distance traveled: 7.2 miles. Approximate cumulative elevation gain: 420 feet. 

24th Street in the Mission District. 

In the Mission. 

On Potrero Hill. 

Crossing the 280 Freeway. 

In China Basin. 

This is a graffiti tagger's dream! The building is located on 16th Street. 

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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.” Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.