Angel Island
Camp Review
We camped at the East Bay site #3, a huge site with beautiful views of the bay.
The tent spots were mostly sloped with only the spots at the bottom being flat. We ended up pitching our four tents really spread out—Annabelle at the bottom (flat) site, Gene next to the picnic table, and the other two tents near the top of the site.
There was a picnic table, a BBQ grill, and a storage box.
The previous camper left some trash in the BBQ grill, so we cleaned up after them.
The views were jaw-dropping gorgeous and it was so peaceful watching the boats go slowly by.
About 100 feet away, there was a water spigot with potable water as well as a pit toilet. The toilet was well stocked with toilet paper but was very, very smelly.
What I Learned
This was my first time using my Nemo Kunai 2-person tent. Much like the rest of the Nemo stuff that I have, it was easy to set up and rock solid. It was roomier than the Hornet 2P that I have, but the Kunai was heavier since it’s a 4 season tent.
For dinner, we ate instant Rappoki (Assi), Chicken Tikka Masala (Mountain House), Mashed Potatoes with Chicken (Mountain House), and Pasta Primavera (Mountain House). Most of us ranked the food in the order above, but we liked even the lowest-ranked one.
Cassie sprayed a bit of the table with insect repellent and it worked for a bit to keep the wasps away. I guess that the smell masked the food scent, as the hornets did come back after the smell faded away.
Annabelle carried 4.8 lbs, Kaylee 8.4 lbs, Cassie 23.8 lbs, and me 26.8 lbs. Everyone did well with their pack weight.
Friend
Gene graced us with his lovely presence on this camping trip. He took Bart to Embarcadero and took the ferry from the SF Ferry Building while we drove to Tiburon and took the ferry from there. The girls had not seen him since December, so it was nice to share meals with him and catch up in person. He’s so flexible and nice that there was zero change we needed to make to include him in our plans—at the same time, he brought so many additional smiles.
What Happened?
2.1 miles, 1 hr 46 mins, 644 ft of ascent
2.0 miles, 1 hr 2 mins, 262 ft of ascent
I had wanted to hike at Angel Island for a few years now and when the girls told me that they wanted to go camping more this year, I zeroed in on Angel Island. Due to how they get booked out 6 months in advance, Cassie and I woke up early and logged into the website at exactly 8 AM to grab the last spot we saw remaining.
I had initially guessed that we would just go camping after work and school, but it turned out that the last ferry left Tiburon at 3 pm, so I had to take the girls out at lunchtime at school and take PTO for myself.
After picking the girls up, we arrived in Tiburon with about 30 minutes to spare, so we used the opportunity to get a bite from our favorite fast food restaurant—Amy’s Drive Thru. I introduced the girls to the Crispy Chicken Sandwich (which after a bite they agreed was the yummiest thing), while Cassie tried the mushroom-Swiss burger, and Kaylee had the Amy Burger with spicy sauce. Of course, the girls also munched on fries and drank some lemonade. For me, I drank their fountain cola, which I think is better than anything from the Coca-Cola company.
After this pit stop, we made it to the long-term parking of the Tiburon ferry, paid $5 for the backpacker parking, and walked over to the ferry building in about 10 minutes.
The ferry was a short 15-minute affair that we shared with only 4 other people. It was so cool to have the whole boat to ourselves!
When we arrived, we hiked the short 1.5 miles to the campsite using the North Ridge Trail. The trail was steep in the beginning but flattened out at around the half-mile mark. I appreciated that the trail was more than 60% shaded, which helped since it was rather warm.
At the campsite, we ate an early dinner after setting up our tents—the kids devoured the dinner with nothing left over, even though we had a late lunch! During the dinner, wasps kept flying around and frightening the girls, so we went on the offensive. Cassie killed two of them when they crawled under a clear bag and I smashed three of them with an empty water bottle.
After dinner, Gene went for a sunset hike while we played a round of Monopoly Deal. When Gene got to the top, he called us to let us know that the views were amazing from the top of Mount Caroline Livermore, so after the game, we went on the girls’ first night hike to join him.
After the hike, we brushed our teeth and washed up as best as we could. Anna went to sleep early, while Gene and I journaled and Kaylee and Cassie played card games inside the Kunai tent.
As I was falling asleep, Cassie told me that Kaylee told her that she likes camping because we have more family time since we have to help each other. I just loved hearing that. With that happy thought, I fell asleep quickly.
I woke up to lots of condensation on the tent (all of us had this issue) and the bright sun warming the tent as there was no shade from the eastern direction. It turned out that Gene, Cassie, and I woke up many times during the night; the girls, however, slept through the night like rocks.
We made breakfast, cleaned/packed up, and headed out to the harbor. The hike back was much quicker than we had remembered and we enjoyed some time at the beach next to the harbor, where four seals played around.
When the SF ferry came, Gene first thought he’d take the next one as he assumed the next would come in another hour, but Kaylee saw that the boat would come in another 2 hours, so he said quick goodbyes and jogged to the boat. For the rest of us, we slowly checked out the cafe (surprisingly well stocked) and grabbed the seats at the boarding gazebo.
The ferry back was just as nice this time though there were more people on the ferry (it was funny to think that more than 10 people came to Angel Island and stayed for only an hour before going back). The walk through Tiburon downtown was just as delightful as the day before, and Ramona was there waiting for us at the parking lot.
Thanks to Gene for the two photos above!