The island was used as a fishing outpost for the Coastal Miwoks for nearly three thousand years before Spanish Captain Juan Manuel de Ayala sailed through the entrance of the San Francisco Bay on August 5, 1775. He had left the city of Monterey in the San Carlos on July 26. His mission was to scout the San Francisco area by sea. Viceroy Antonio Maria de Bucareli was determined to expand the Spanish influence in New Spain and put together a seperate land expedition, led by Juan Bautista de Anza, to establish a permanate settlement in San Francisco. This expedition, numbering 240 soldiers, men, women and children left the city of Tubac (known today as the city of Tucson in Arizona) on October 23, 1775.
de Ayala was supposed to wait in the bay until the de Anza expedition arrived but after 44 days of exploring the bay and naming the island: Isla de los Angeles. He also named two other known landmarks in the bay: Sausalito (little bay of thickets) and Alcatraz (island of the pelicans.)
On March 28, 1776 de Anza arrived in San Francisco, now the area of Fort Point, and planted the Spanish flag. The Mission San Francisco de Asis was completed on June 29, 1776. And so began the overland link connecting New Spain with California.
In 1905 construction began on a new Immigration Station that was located in China Cove on the island. This station was in direct response to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Opening in 1910 and dubbed the "Guardian of the Western Gate" by the staff that worked there, the station's sole purpose was to keep Chinese immigrants, and eventually all Asian immigrants, out of the United States.
Today the Immigration Station Museum is the island's pride and joy. After many years of restoration the public can now tour the original buildings and see for themselves the living conditions and the history left behind by the immigrants that stayed there, some for more than two years.
At the end of March I had the opportunity to go back to Angel Island for a overnight camping trip with Troop 136. My last visit to the island was six years before and my first scout outing as the trip leader. That trip was one I will never forget. Under my charge was a 17-year-old scout that had lost a leg to cancer. This was one of his first outings after his surgery and his father, who was the co-committee chair of the troop, was also along. His father had made a reservation for the disability camp at the top of the hill leading to the group camp. I can still remember the ranger at the check-in booth asking for proof of disability. His father had brought along proof but I simply called the scout over who proudly showed off his new leg. That same scout scared the hell out of both me and his father later that day has he took off running down a very steep hill just below the summit of Mt. Livermore. It rained cats and dogs late that night and my older son's tent collapsed which caused him and his tent-mate to wake the entire camp as they struggled to dump the water and get their tent re-set.
For this trip I would be a simple parent, and I was lucky enough to have both of my sons (my oldest son was finishing his backpacking cooking requirements for the Cooking Merit Badge and my youngest was finishing his term as Senior Patrol Leader), and my wife who was backpacking for the first time. As you can tell from the photos below I had a great time coming back to the island and hope to have another trip in the near future.
7:30 AM at the back of the zoo. My son Gavin takes roll call and reads out the driving rosters.
My wife Ami (left) with my long time hiking partner and current Scoutmaster Emily Malcolm.
A truckful of backpacks.
9 AM: We arrive at the ferry dock in Tiburon.
Ami sporting her new backpack.
9:30 AM: boarding the Angel Island ferry.
The first close-up view of the island.
Ayala Cove.
We arrive on the island.
9:45 AM: We meet with the ranger and have our safety briefing. We have volunteered to work on a service project on the island so we can stay overnight for free. Our Service Coordinator is the gentleman in the back on the right with the white mustache.
My son Gavin goes over the hiking order.
We head out for the service camp, about 2 miles away.
My wife dubbed this the "stairway to hell." This is the shortest route form the dock to the perimeter road. I have hiked this staircase 6 times over the last 8 years and I have never been able to get the same count of steps. All I can say is that it is somewhere between 97 and 105 steps.
A nice view of Tiburon.
Coming up the last stretch of stairs.
My son Gavin takes sweep so he can do a headcount at each stop.
At the top of the staircase. Gavin calls a short break though we have only hiked 200 yards.
Ami at the top of the stairs.
Scouts will take any opportunity to break along the trail.
On the perimeter road headed toward the service camp. The fence encircling the Immigration Station is on the left.
The road dips up and down. There is very little flat space on the island.
We approach our camp for the night. Our turn off is just past the building. The road on the left leads down to the Immigration Station.
My older son Austin headed towards camp. The trail to the camp is just past the shop building on the right. This is Austin's third backpack trip to the island. I brought him here for his first backpack trip when he was 10-years-old, over 7 years ago.
The road to our camp.
We arrive at the service camp. In the high tree line to the upper right is a geocache I will go after later that afternoon.
Our kitchen area. We have running water, a sink, cement BBQs and a large food storage box to keep the raccoons out.
12:00 PM: we hike down the road to the Immigration Station to begin our service project.
We wait for our Service Coordinator outside the Immigration Station.
This was our project: to pull out these tiny weeds and clean up the visitor area outside of the Detention Barracks. After two hours we would completely fill two large garbage bags.
Gavin explains to the troop what we will be doing.
We start pulling weeds.
This was the upper area, we also had two lower levels that we worked on at the same time.
My older son Austin supervises one of the groups working on the lower area.
A diorama of what the station looked like when it opened.
Two hours later, the weeds are gone. After we completed the project they allowed us to enter the Detention Barracks for a private tour.
We meet with the ranger at the entrance to the Detention Barracks.
The introduction room.
Two Chinese poems carved into the walls of the barracks.
The barracks.
Another view of the same room.
Carving on the wall outside the first floor.
The upstairs barracks.
The game room.
The barracks for the Europeans. Each nationality was segregated into different barracks.
The staircase down.
The bell at the wharf: this was the original entrance to the station.
At the entrance to the Detention Barracks.
2:45 PM: We arrive back at camp for a late lunch.
The camp from a higher point of view. My wife's tent is the tan and reddish color just to the left of center past the orange colored-tent. I am sleeping outside in a bivy just on the other side of her.
I go searching for a geocache. The hint said to follow the dirt road above the service camp. This is the dirt road.
The geocache is at the base of that tree.
The location of the geocache.
This was the first of six geocaches I would find on this trip.
A raccoon that came down to investigate just before we started making dinner. It decided to move just as I was taking his picture.
Another photo of the same raccoon. When the sun went down we were visited by 12 different raccoons that scouted the area and searched for scraps around the kitchen area. Several of the adults sleeping on the outskirts of camp had raccoons walk right by them.
Sunday morning. Ami with my oldest son Austin. Behind him is our breakfast: blueberry-cinnamon bread topped with scrambled eggs and maple syrup wrapped up first in parchment paper then wrapped in foil and placed over hot coals for 30 minutes. He added a dried fruit compote as a strong morning tea. Breakfast was delicious!
The troop packs up, ready for a day of hiking. Our outhouse is in the distance. My wife is used to flushing toilets. She still made do.
Austin packed up and ready to go.
For the most part I let Ami pack what she felt she had to bring. The only things I packed for her was her sleeping bag, air mattress and tent (I carried the poles). Most of her bag is filled with clothes she later admitted she didn't need.
Both of us before we headed out.
On the way to Fort McDowell.
We reach the outskirts of Fort McDowell on the eastern side of the island.
On my last visit here myself, some adults and all the scouts played a very comprehensive game of capture the flag in these buildings. All I can say is that it was epic. Now, six years later, the buildings are off limits due to safety concerns. This is the hospital complex.
The entrance to the hospital.
The far side of the complex. You can see why the scouts wanted to play a game of capture the flag in there.
Ami and I in front of the Post Exchange.
On our way to Quarry Beach.
Quarry Beach.
Ami on the seawall.
While Ami and the troop stayed at Quarry Beach I left to do some geocaching.
Austin relaxing on the seawall.
A half mile down the road I find my next geocache in the stump of an old burned out tree.
As I was logging the cache Ami walked by with a few scouts and she just couldn't resist saying: "Now here is the geocacher in his natural habitat..."
Lunch time. From here some of the troop broke off to go climb Mt. Livermore, the highest point of the island. Having climbed it twice before, I decided to break off with a handful of scouts and go geocaching.
A view of the Golden Gate.
I collect my scouts and say goodbye to Ami. I will see her down at the docks. To the right is a old Nike Missile site.
My next geocache. It is a micro hidden inside the stump. Great view of the Golden Gate in the background.
San Francisco. Alcatraz is just to the right.
The Grand Chasm: the site of the next geocache. This is essentially a crack in the island left over from the San Francisco quake.
Another view of the chasm with the Golden Gate in the background.
We find the geocache.
The scouts log the cache.
We find our last geocache of the trip. It is a micro cache hidden in direct view of this picture (and it is not in one of the stumps...)
The Rock Crusher.
We hiked past this goose standing on the side of the road above Fort Reynolds. It was so still and blended so well with the environment I had to point it out to the scouts. One of them nearly jumped out of his skin because he was so close to it and hadn't noticed.
Fort Reynolds. We have almost come full circle back to Ayala Cove.
The group campsite I stayed at last time we came to the island.
We reach the cove.
Ayala Cove.
What I wouldn't give for a sloop like this...
We arrive back at the ferry dock. We had about an hour to kill for the ferry so we dropped packs and explored the cove area.
Boarding the ferry for the return trip to Tiburon.
Ami boards the ferry.
Austin and Ami on board and waiting for the ferry to finish loading. It was the next to last ferry of the day and 300 people were on board.
The first time Gavin has smiled the entire trip. This was his last outing as the Senior Patrol Leader. He stepped down on April 1 and turned the troop over to another scout who will serve as SPL until October. Gavin is smiling because his responsibility for the troop ends once we reach the dock in Tiburon.
We arrive in Tiburon.
Gavin gives last minute instructions on the dock in Tiburon. From here we hiked the quarter mile to the parking lot where we left our vehicles and head back to Sacramento.
http://spartacus-educational.com/WWayala.htm
Juan Bautista de Anza:http://spartacus-educational.com/WWanza.htm
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882:http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=47#
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation:http://aiisf.org/
The Hart Hyatt North Photo Collection - Angel Island:http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/cic:@FIELD(TITLE+@od1(+photographs+from+the+hart+hyatt+north+papers:+angel+island+))
Angel Island Conservancy:http://angelisland.org/
Angel Island Company:http://www.angelisland.com/
Angel Island State Park:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=468
