Another Part of the Bay Trail:

Fortunately, we only had to ride a short distance on this ‘freeway’ before we hit the entrance to the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Damon Slough Staging Area. Up in the park we caught part of the Bay Trail, a wonderful bike/walking path that hugs the shoreline. What a welcome change from the grueling hardscape! The breeze was soft and cool; we saw lots of birds and rode by beautiful native grasses and marshes. Across the way was Alameda, houses floating as if from another world.

The Bay Trail petered out and we had to ride through hybrid industrial waterfront areas with warehouses, the glass factory, debris, and homeless encampments. Right by High Street we came upon a new park along the water. It is a very nicely designed small space, with a meandering path, native grasses and appealing benches. In this park there was an enormous mound of material; it looked like the entire contents from a multi-unit apartment complex had been carefully piled to form a new kind of dwelling. We didn't see anyone around, but assumed that at least one person lived there. After a short distance, the path unfortunately dead-ended, so we had to ride on E. 7^th Street, paralleling the freeway.