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Loma Alta

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

A Strait, Some Bridges, and John Muir

November 27-29, 2015

Trails and maps used on this leg:

http://www.ridgetrail.org/vallejo-benicia-buffer

http://www.ridgetrail.org/vallejo-benicia-waterfront

http://www.ridgetrail.org/al-zampa-memorial-bridge

http://www.ridgetrail.org/benicia-martinez-bridge

http://www.ridgetrail.org/martinez-city-streets-to-carquinez-strait-regional-shoreline

http://www.ridgetrail.org/mount-wanda-trail

We started this 3-day walk as the sun set on Friday evening. With our flashlights, we charged up the ridge that connects Vallejo and Benicia, and our view over the entire early-nighttime San Francisco Bay was replete with deep, shiny purple, dark blue, and black. This is clearly a great trail, and someday we'll walk it again when the sun's up.
Mt Diablo from Hulet Hornbeck Trail, Martinez


The next morning, we began our bridge-filled day with a view of these two! In 1927, the first major bridge that crossed the San Francisco Bay was built here across the Carquinez Strait, connecting Vallejo with Crockett. In 1958, the cantilever bridge pictured below (left) was built to accommodate eastbound traffic, and it is nearly identical to the 1927 bridge. In 2003, the new suspension bridge opened, and the original 1927 span was demolished a few years later. The new bridge was named after bridge worker Al Zampa (1905-2000), who famously survived a fall while working on the Golden Gate Bridge. Here is a short interview with Zampa.

Al Zampa Memorial Bridge (right)


Benicia waterfront



The Bay Area Ridge Trail to Martinez
Heading up Mt. Wanda early Sunday morning
We are looking forward to more walks in the East Bay this winter.
Do you want to join us?

More photos are here!

3 comments:

  1. I would love to see the trail from Glen Cove linked to the Carquinez bridge. I hope it happens soon. It would also be nice to see the Iron Horse trail linked to the Benicia / Martinez Bridge.

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  2. This is really good Molly! Have you heard about the John Muir Heritage Trail (on Facebook). Or Alhambra Hills, let me know if you want to help with your talents :)

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