Marin County – Blithedale Summit Open Space Preserve & Mount Tamalpais: January 2019

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

The 6.8-mile Blithedale Ridge hike, as depicted in the below map, was tracked with a Garmin GPS.

"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 that were posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

   A Sony camera was used to take these photographs.

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

Tiburon Peninsula – Old St. Hilary's Church & Belvedere Island: December 2018

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

This is Old St. Hilary's Church. The church was built in 1888 as a place of worship for the local railroad workers, many of whom were Portuguese immigrants. It was constructed with a redwood exterior and interior, and the ceiling was made from Douglas-fir. The church is sited on a hillside with grand views overlooking San Francisco Bay, Belvedere Island, and the Golden Gate. The building is one of the few California examples of buildings created using the Carpenter Gothic style of construction to remain in its original condition and setting. The church was eventually deconsecrated, and it was saved from demolition by the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society which purchased the building in 1959. This view is looking north.

This is a scene of Old St. Hilary's Church as viewed from the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve. The view is looking south.

                                                  Old St. Hilary's Church.

This is a map of the southern portion of the Tiburon Peninsula. The 122 acre Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve is shown on the map.

NOW This photo was taken from Belvedere Island, and it is looking east towards Tiburon. The undeveloped land seen on the hillside is the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve. A white building is noticeable at the lower right side of the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve. Yes, that is Old St. Hilary's Church.

THEN Old St. Hilary's Church as seen from above Beach Road, Belvedere. The view is looking southeast. Francis Joseph Bruguiere took this picture in 1907.

THEN Old St. Hilary's Church is visible in this photo taken in 1901. The tracks of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad can be seen.

Here is a photograph of Angel Island as seen from the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve. Visible ahead is Hospital Cove. There is a pier sited within the cove and ferry services to Angel Island are available from San Francisco, Sausalito, and Tiburon. The picture is looking south, and San Francisco is visible across San Francisco Bay.

This photo from the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve is looking east across San Franciso Bay. The cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Kensington, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and the northern part of Oakland are discernable within this photograph.

This photo was taken from the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve. This view is looking northwest, and beautiful Mount Tamalpais overlooks the scene.

Here is a photograph of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge as seen from the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve. The picture is looking north.

This is a view of the northern boundary of the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve. Housing occupies the hillside.

Here is another view of the northern boundary of the Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve.

This view is looking west, and it shows Belvedere, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Marin Headlands. Belvedere is located 1.5 miles across Richardson Bay from Sausalito. Belvedere is an island located adjacent to the Tiburon Peninsula and is accessible via a short roadway from the city of Tiburon. This picture was taken from Old St. Hilary's Open Space Preserve.

This bucolic scene across Richardson Bay was the site of the World War II Marinship shipbuilding facility. Marinship built a combined total of 93 cargo ships and oil tankers between 1942 and 1945. Two-thousand workers worked 8-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year until the Japanese signed an unconditional surrender on 2 September 1945. This picture was taken from the west side of Belvedere Island.

THEN There are six ships under construction in this picture of the Marinship shipyard. Harbor Point is visible in the background. This picture is looking north and it is circa 1944.

THEN There are eight ships under construction in this picture of the Marinship shipyard. Ahead is Belvedere Island; behind Belvedere Island is the Tiburon Peninsula. This picture is looking east and it is circa 1944.

NOW This is an overview of the Marinship shipyard location. This picture of the Marinship site was taken from the Marin Headlands, and the view is looking north. This photograph was taken on 31 March 2005.

This photograph was taken from the west side of Belvedere. The view is looking south.

This is a view from Belvedere looking west across Richardson Bay. Sausalito is ahead.

This is the main entryway to Villa Belvedere. The view is looking west, across Richardson Bay.

This lovely artwork is at the entryway to a home located on the west side of Belvedere.

This is a photo of the southern portion of the Tiburon Peninsula, it was taken from the east side of Belvedere.

This photograph of Angel Island was taken from the southern side of Belvedere. A Golden Gate Ferry is motoring from Sausalito to the Hospital Cove dock at Angel Island. Angel Island was the site of US military posts for almost 100 years. A partial view of the first US Army camp constructed on Angel Island is visible in this picture. A cove is noticeable to the right of the ferry, with a brick warehouse building detectable at the shoreline. This was the location of Camp Reynolds; the camp was built during the American Civil War. 

NOW This photo of Camp Reynolds was taken from a ferry traveling from San Francisco to Sausalito on 13 August 2016.

THEN This photo of Camp Reynolds was taken in 1890. Some of these buildings are still standing. This view is looking southeast. The brick warehouse is not visible in this photograph, it is just out of view on the right side of the photo.

–

"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 that were posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

   A Sony camera was used to take these photographs.

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

Novato – A ramble from San Marin High School to the summit of Mount Burdell: December 2018

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

This is a view of the summit of Mount Burdell, 1,558 feet (475 meters), as seen from a street in the City of Novato. The picture is looking north.

This ramble started at San Marin High School, and we immediately started climbing up the Bay Area Ridge Trail. We continued onto the Dwarf Oak Trail, and then went up the Deer Camp Fire Road and the Cobblestone Fire Road. After which, the summit beckoned, and we summited Mount Burdell. Our descent from the summit of Mount Burdell back to Novato was more direct: we went down the Old Quarry Trail, the San Carlos Fire Road, and the San Marin Fire Road. It was then onto San Marin Drive and the return to San Marin High School. The round trip distance as recorded by a Garmin GPS was approximately 7.8 miles and the cumulative elevation gain was about 1,574 feet.

Here is a delightful oak tree as seen from the Dwarf Oak Trail.

The picture was taken from the Dwarf Oak Trail.

Yes, this is the Cobblestone Fire Road; we are near the summit.

Here is a view from the Old Quarry Trail.

We are cranking up the Dwarf Oak Trail.

This is a view from the Old Quarry Trail.

This picture was taken from the Deer Camp Fire Road.

Here is a scene from the summit of Mount Burdell. Chinese laborers constructed a rock wall at the summit in the 1870s, the remnants of which can be seen. The Pacific Ocean is visible on the horizon, and the picture is looking southwest.

This picture was taken from the summit of Mount Burdell. The view is looking west.

This is a view of the Petaluma River Marsh Wildlife Area as seen from the summit of Mount Burdell. The picture is looking east. 

Traveling south on the Old Quarry Trail, and heading back to Novato.

"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 that were posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

   A Sony camera was used to take these photographs.

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