Richmond Ramblings

Today started super early.. I woke up long before I planned to for a small adventure to Shipyard #3 for the 70th Anniversary Commemoration of the Port Chicago Disaster.. The anniversary was actually the 17th, but the public event was held this morning in the shadow of the Red Oak Victory.. A lovely backdrop to remembering a horrible day in American history.. Rather than get into that I want to share the better part of my day.. the walk to and from the Shipyard from where the bus dropped me off in the historic part of Richmond.

To get to the beginning, I took the 7:20 AM BART to Richmond.. from there you take the 72M to the Richmond "Plunge" the big Municipal Pool out in the historic part of town:


this is actually where they dropped me off.. by the Mechanics Bank.. Then you just walk up the street a ways, through the tunnel around the bend, around another bend.. oh wait..

THIS Tunnel:


and out the other side:


..which takes you to Keller Beach and the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline.. It was still early, the mist of fog and wind accompanied me as I walked along a very paved sidewalk past the hills, breezy shoreline, and grassy picnic areas..

All along the way I was tempted to stop to take in a view or the occasional information posted along the way:




other trails called people off the main path:

look at those steps!! Oh I have to be somewhere, but I would have ran up that hill too if I thought I had time!

mmmmm... rot and railroad tracks to nowhere..


I can see the City from my walk:


Cairns?


these seem more like little shrines..


everywhere..



eventually I did get to Shipyard 3.. and you can see that set (with the pix I took at the Port Chicago commemoration and the Red Oak Victory pix) HERE

but one of the treats was getting to see this lovely Osprey:


which lives in a huge nest built atop an old crane:


but on my way back I had an interesting moment where I was walking, accompanied a bit of distance away by a lady and her dogs.. We were walking in peaceable silence when I heard some sharp chittering cry.. like a Meerkat letting the gang know there was stuff to be aware of.. I stopped looked up.. and saw what looked at first like squirrels.. no chipmunks.. no gophers?? BIG gophers.. scampering through the hill.. the funny thing is, unless they moved, I couldn't actually see them..


you can see how they would blend in?? Everything is sort of brown..

I laughed along with the lady dog walker as she said, "They're yelling at us.." or some such... There were so many paths that I wanted to investigate, and the shoreline.. and more trails.. The entire winding walk was a bit over 4miles.. my cel got no service once I was at the Shipyard, so it wasn't recording the first mile of my walk back, which was.. frustrating.. but I know how much I did.. Along with my walk home from Downtown Berkeley BART, I am pretty sure to have managed at least 10 miles today (4.4 miles each way to/from the Shipyard.. plus about 1.3 miles home.) Not bad. ;)

I plan at some point to walk the Ohlone Greenway.. that is only about 6 miles.. totally do-able.. just not this weekend.