Sunday, February 5, 2012

Angel Island

So the bizarre weather continues.  It being Super Bowl Sunday today, I decided to take advantage and go to Angel Island out on the bay.  We caught the ferry from Tiburon.
Had some great views of the Golden Gate Bridge on the ride over, and from the island itself.
Hiked up the North Ridge trail to the top of Mt. Livermore, the highest spot on the island.  Saw a lot of California hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) with long dripping catkins along the way.
And fields and fields of Star Lily, or Death Camas (Zigadenus fremontii)  Most haven't bloomed yet, but quite a few have.
Although there were some signs of the fire in 2008, which apparently burnt about half the island, the island seemed really green to me.  The north side of the island is still heavily forested and there were quite a few big oaks and other trees in other parts of the island.
We saw one deer, several hawks and vultures, and not too many people.  A really spectacular day.  In the 60s, sunny, almost no wind and great views.  All at the beginning of February.