Alviso, California
If you want to be far from the maddening crowd, head for Alviso. This small town, at the south
end of San Francisco Bay, used to be a bustling port until the San Franciso to San Jose railroad opened in 1865. Now the marinas are silted up and all that remains are the entrances to the docks and lots of weeds.
Alviso itself is a sleepy little town with the railroad running through it and several good Mexican restaurants. A lot of the new houses are built on stilts because this place has flooded several times. The last major flood was in 1958. Since then the sloughs and creeks have been improved so hopefully it won’t happen again.
The Marina car park has had a face lift recently and it is much improved. More footpaths, information boards and seats. This is an important wetlenad area with several large salt ponds. There are always a lot of marsh birds to be seen - American Avocets, Black-necked Sandpipers and Plovers. (Once Tom and I saw a Black Skimmer here but that was very unusual.) They nest on the levees and in the sedges, salt grass, rushes and cordgrass. Around the salt ponds are levees which are ideal for walking and cycling. You can go for miles and miles and see very few people.
Today the weather was perfect - warm with no wind. We set off round the Marina Loop Trail. Tom stopped several times to take photos and I walked on by myself. I wrote this as I walked as there is nowhere to sit down. One cyclist and one walker have passed me on my perambulation. Apart from the bird noises and the occasional train whistle, there was utter peace.
I watched a Red Kite flying around and saw him swoop down. He didn’t take off again so I guess he was enjoying his breakfast among the weeds.
If you visit during October and November, there is one extra sound you may hear and that is gun shots. During duck hunting season several areas of the salt ponds are closed off.
One place near here which we would love to visit is Drawbridge. It is now a ghost town right out in the middle of the marshes. In the 1920s there were nearly 100 residences and it was a wild town. The last resident left in 1979. The only way to get to it is over a bridge via the railroad tracks. You can clearly see the abandoned buildings but it is dangerous to attempt to walk to it. Heavy fines can be imposed to anybody foolhardy enough to make a dash for it. Once there, the danger is not past. The buildings are very unsafe and the whole town is slowly sinking into the march. The only way to get close is to take a train ride through it.
Four joggers have just passed and Tom is about to catch up with me. It is difficult to walk fast and write.
Be warned, these levees are deceptive. We thought it would be easy to walk all the way round. As we set off, we saw a distinct full circuit but as we got closer we realised the trail veered to the left before turning right again. There was a levee there but it was closed ‘to protect wildlife’. We could have carried on because it was a loop trail, but it would have added another three miles to the walk. Besides which, we were hungry. Next time we will bring our bikes.
December 07 2007 05:19 pm | Neighborhoods
