Point Pinole: Cook's Point Trail

After several days of 90 degree weather where I barely left the house (yeah, I'm a heat wimp) we were able to get out for a real hike today. Pt. Pinole is one of our favorite parks - not too far away, right on the SF Bay, and most of it allows dogs off leash. We usually head along the Bay Trail and then branch off from there. Today we headed to the east side of the park, a place we'd never explored. The park is mostly level with what seems like endless trails. Most of it is multi-use and we usually encounter people on bikes and often horses. Almost any trail you pick ends at the water and today we spent some time enjoying the view from Cook's Point. This park is built on the site of an old gunpowder and dynamite company and there are remnants of the buildings scattered through the park. This trail leads you to the black powder press where there's an interesting description of the old manufacturing, including statements that workers left "because we never knew when it was going to blow up." With all of our exploring we ended up hiking about 3.5 miles today!

Park information is here.

Complete photo set is here.