SSF to Brisbane - Mar. 18, '12

Walking Distance: 3.8 miles (estimate)
Walking Time: 1 hr., 57 min. (9:42 - 11:39 a.m.)
Start and End Point: Public shore parking spot, behind Marriott Residence Inn, South San Francisco, CA

From the small public shore parking lot, I headed north on the paved (asphalt) stretch of Bay Trail (shown as a solid red line on the Bay Trail map), and across the bridge toward Brisbane.

Relatively early on, there was a fork in the trail, where the paving ended, and there was a packed dirt stretch (shown as a yellow line on Bay Trail map). I followed the path that curved right/east, which joined up to another paved (asphalt) section soon thereafter. This path then curved north toward Brisbane Marina, passing a small playground area along the way.

It was a blustery day out at the north end of Sierra Point today. A lone fisherman was hunkered down at the end of the fishing pier being buffeted by gusts of wind. To avoid getting blown around myself, I kept my head down (except for a brief look up at Candlestick Park/Point to the north) as I headed west; and in so doing, I lost the trail for a minute. Note: one needs to cut left/south through buildings/near Tsing Tao bldg., to continue on paved trail, otherwise you'll end up in a packed dirt no-man's land, save what looked to be a make-shift dirt bicycle stunt hill.

When I reached a stoplight with Marina/Sierra Point, I turned right, and walked under the Highway 101 underpass to Sierra Point Parkway (shown as double red lines on map). Note, there are no real sidewalks here, so proceed cautiously if you're on foot, when crossing freeway on-ramps and off-ramps. Once on the other side of the freeway, I walked northish along Sierra Point Parkway -- parallel to the lagoon on right/east/tree and bush side of road. Gusts of wind were blowing dust and pollen around, which was not that fun. But, traffic was light, except for two different pairs of Canada geese that were sitting near the road on the lagoon side, a group of willets (shown), and one or two cars.

I turned around just beyond the intersection of Sierra Point Parkway and Lagoon Way; and I walked back on the opposite/west/Brisbane Lagoon side of road (pollen allergies were less bad). I walked back under Highway 101 again (snapped a picture of a few pigeons), and turned right toward the Radisson and Homewood Suites/Hilton hotels. I stopped briefly at Homewood Suites to pick up some information, and then returned to the trail and where I crossed from Brisbane back to South San Francisco; crossed the bridge, and arrived back at the car -- just as a light sprinkle of raindrops started falling. Good timing.

Wildlife Sightings: 155 ducks; 12 coots; 42 Western/Clarks grebes; 3 UFO grebes/divers; 19 sea gulls; 5 crows; 1 hummingbird; 2 cormorants; 7 pigeons; 4 starlings; 4 Canada geese; 1 tern; 14 little brown jobs (LBJs); 10 willets; 1 partly deflated basketball