Читать книгу Afoot and Afield: San Francisco Bay Area. A Comprehensive Hiking Guide онлайн

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Stow Lake is a favorite birding destination — from its shore you may spot great blue herons, black-crowned night herons, egrets, gulls, ducks, geese, and songbirds. Sometimes a rare bird shows up and creates a stir among local birders.

Passing the Boathouse and ambling beside the lake, you come to Roman Bridge. To visit the island, turn right and cross the bridge. At a four-way junction, you turn right again and now begin to circle the island counter clockwise on a dirt path. A hillside rises steeply left, and after about 100 yards you come to a fork; the branches soon rejoin, so you can take either. Passing Rustic Bridge, you soon come to the colorful and elaborate Chinese Pavilion, a gift from San Francisco’s sister city, Taipei.

On the east side of the island is Huntington Falls, fed by the outflow from a reservoir atop the island. A series of stone steps allows you to cross the rushing water, which flows unimpeded into the lake. Just past the falls are steps leading to the reservoir. Now back at Roman Bridge, turn right to cross it, then right again when you reach the paved path to continue around the lake. At the northeast corner of the lake you close the loop. From here, retrace your route to the trailhead, or spend more time exploring the park and its many other attractions.