Alcatraz Island
Walk Review
All walkways on the island (available for walking on) were paved with concrete.
About half of the walking was indoors, which meant it was away from the heavy winds.
There were two bathrooms on the island and they were clean and well-stocked.
On all parts of the island, the views were great—San Francisco, Angel Island, Golden Gate Bridge... everything looked pretty. I have heard though, that the island often gets covered in fog, so I think we got lucky with the weather.
There were some stairs, but most walkways were of a gentle grade and easy to walk.
There were lots of people on the island, but the audio tour (there were a few different devices) did a great job of dispersing the crowds.
What I Learned
All freshwater on the island is barged in. I was surprised as I would’ve thought there would be a small desalination plant, a freshwater spring, or something.
The best part of the walk was the audio tour, which did a great job of giving different perspectives (guards and prisoners) and telling interesting stories. I would usually skip something like this, but was glad I went with the Abshers who were keen on it.
I knew nothing of the 19-month occupation of the island by Native Americans from 1969 to 1971. It was interesting to find out about the rise and fall of the occupation and the public support for it.
Friends
We explored the island with Andi, Harmon, and Mike. As usual, they were kind, patient, and fun to spend time with. It was interesting that they had lived in the bay for their whole lives and had never set foot on Alcatraz. We were honored that they’d want to do it with us.
What Happened?
On our previous trip biking across the Golden Gate Bridge, we found out that none of us had gone to Alcatraz even though all of us had grown up in the Bay Area. So, we made plans to go to the island together and found a weekend where we were all free.
However, it just so happened that the day we decided to go to Alcatraz was the day of the SF Marathon. Because all of The Embarcadero was closed, we were worried about parking and traffic—we discussed taking Bart, bus, and even ride-sharing options. But because we were so northeast of most road closures, we found out that it would not affect us much. The extra research, however, turned out to be positive. I found out that on Sundays, there was free street parking in much of San Francisco.
We parked a block away from Pier 33 (this probably saved us $40) and met up with the Abshers. At the pier, there was a long snaking line where we stood for about 30 minutes—the ferry itself took about 15 minutes to get to the island.
Once we landed, we took almost 3 hours to tour the island and Harmon let us know that we walked about 4 miles during that time. We pretty much went to every nook and corner that was not closed off to make sure that we really saw everything we could.
Afterwards, we took the ferry back. I’m not sure if it was the winds or the tour, but we were all pretty tired by the end and I had trouble staying awake on the drive back—Cassie and the girls were pretty much sleeping 10 minutes into the drive.
