WEEKLY WALKER

By Tom Davids

A Short--Very Short--Walk on the Bay Trail

South End of San Carlos Airport, San Carlos

"Walks: The body advances, while the mind flutters around it like a bird."

-Jules Renard, Journal

Directions: From the 101 Freeway, take Redwood Shores Parkway east to Airport Way. This is the first stoplight from the freeway. Turn right and right again onto Skyway. Continue on Skyway to the end. There are seven regular parking spaces plus two handicapped spaces at the end of the road.

Grade: Level.

Distance: About 300 feet.

Time: As much as you like.

Special Conditions: Handicapped accessible. Trail is wide and hard-packed. Dogs OK but keep on leash. Good for children.

This is the shortest "hike" ever featured by the Weekly Walker. It's ideal for those times when you just want to get out into the fresh air and enjoy good bay views. Or you may focus on the waterfowl that inhabit the slough and pick away at the mudflats. Or you may enjoy watching the frequent landings of small aircraft at the San Carlos Airport. Or you may just sit and watch the tidal action along the Pulgas Creek outlet into the bay. The bottom line is that you don't have to walk for miles or get you blood pumping to enjoy a brief respite with nature.

This short stretch of completed Bay Trail is in the middle between two portions not yet defined. To the north, the problem is extending the trail safely past the San Carlos Airport so that it joins the levee trail along the north side of Steinberger Slough. To the south, the trail could take a couple of routes. A bridge could be built over the slough to the existing Bair Island Trail or a pathway could be constructed as a part of the new auxiliary lane that will be built between Whipple Avenue and Holly Street. But for now, this short segment of the Bay Trail can entertain us visually rather than physically.

The parking area at the end of Skyway has seven regular parking spaces plus two handicapped spaces. The broad, hard-packed path leads from the parking area to the top of the levee and on for a few hundred feet to the locked airport gate. Along the way are two metal benches with trash cans, and at the trail's end are two more benches with another trash can. I imagine the planners assumed that this would be a popular place for a brown bag lunch.

From this trail, you have many view options. Straight ahead is Bair Island--now a part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Bair Island includes three islands separated by tidal slough channels. The refuge acquired the inner island, which is in your view, from the Peninsula Open Space Trust in 1999. Historically, the area consisted of tidal marsh and mudflat. It was diked in the late 1800s and early 1900s for farming and cattle grazing. Later Leslie Salt Company converted the majority of the island to salt evaporation ponds. As part of the refuge, a plan will be developed to restore the area to tidal wetlands. This restoration will provide habitat for endangered species, specifically for the California clapper rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse. You will probably see persons walking and jogging on the three-mile trail that circles inner Bair Island. That trail starts from the foot of Whipple Street in Redwood City.

If atmosphere conditions are right, you will enjoy clear views of the East Bay and South Bay hills. Closer in, the Port of Redwood City, the new Pacific Shores office development, Moffett Field, and features along the West Bay Peninsula are visible.

During most weekends, air traffic into San Carlos Airport is heavy with single- and twin-engine private aircraft gliding in for touchdown. Since wind conditions in this part of the bay are normally from north to south, planes usually approach the runway from over Bair Island. If you are an aviator, this viewing experience could be the high point of your day. If you are just casually interested, you can't help but admire the way a pilot approaches the runway at an angle while flying into the wind, only to nose in at the last moment for a successful landing.

If you have ever worried about where and how much of the storm water runoff from San Carlos enters the bay, the answer is right in front of you. The three-part culvert under the freeway connects Pulgas Creek to the San Francisco Bay. Tidal action affects the depth of this slough, and at high tide the water fills the culvert and the creek back toward Old County Road. The culvert was recently enlarged to handle a "100-year storm."

Despite these few good reasons to visit this short segment of the Bay Trail, I must admit to one downside--the trail is close to Highway 101, and the traffic noise can be intense. But don't let that dissuade you from spending a little time on this unique addition to the Bay Trail.

Your comments and hiking suggestions are always welcome.

E-mail to: trekertom@aol.com.

Footnote: Check out the Weekly Walker Web site at www.weeklywalker.com.