Baker Beach, San Francisco

I had an awesome opportunity to visit Baker Beach on the southwest side of the Golden Gate Bridge, today. I had been in the Bay Area for a whole week and the weather was cool, windy and rainy. I am leaving tomorrow to head back east. Today was a beautiful day! Upper 60's to lower 70's.

I was headed to cross the bridge, going north. I sat in horrible traffic for about 45 minutes. When I was getting close to the last exit before the bridge, I noticed that I was nearly out of gas. Thinking that I would not make it across the bridge on the remaining fuel, I took the exit. Wandering around some small roads, near the bay, I noticed a sign for Baker Beach. Idesperately needed to get a photo of the bridge to show my wife, as I had promised.
I parked the car, put on a light jacket and headed down to the beach. The brown sand is very soft and shifts with every step. It made for a great leg workout. I walked along the beach near the water's edge headed toward the bridge. When I was about half way to the end of the beach, I noticed that there were a few nude people there. That was it! I headed back to the car, changed from jeans to shorts in the public restroom, then headed back to the beach, with iPhone in hand.
I found a nice spot to spread out my towel, near some other people enjoying the sun and volleyball at the base of the cliffs, stripped off my t-shirt and shorts in record time and headed to the water again. Oh! What a wonderful feeling! I was finally at a nude beach! The breeze, the awesome waves and the view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I took many pictures of the bridge, the cliffs and the waves crashing upon the rocks. I found a couple of clothed girls, watching the ships come and go, and asked their help in taking a picture of me with the bridge in the background. They were very nice and agreed. I in turn, took a picture of them with the bridge in the background. I found out later, they were in San Francisco for a friend's wedding the next day. Even though they knew Baker was a nude beach, they visited anyway, but remained clothed.
The rest of my time on the beach, I waded in the surf, climbed rocks, took pictures of the bridge and sea, and watched the volleyball game. The sun, wind, surf and sand were perfect. No one mentioned anything about me being nude, as there were several other men nude as well as several topless women. Clothed and nude men and women milled about without issue. It was an enjoyable experience, although very short, due to meeting relatives for dinner.
Factoids

• Traffic to the Golden Gate Bridge is bumper to bumper. There is a $5 toll going south on the bridge, but no toll going north.


• On your way along the beach, toward the bridge, the yellow police call box is the unofficial demark for the nude portion of the beach.


• There is quite a bit of free parking for the beach, however, I am sure that it is quite crowded on beautiful weekends.


• Be sure to take some drinking water if you are going to be out there very long.


• Be very careful of the riptides. Just wading up to your knees can be dangerous. It is a very strong current when the waves recede to the bay.


• Be careful of climbing on the rocks. One slip and you could get hurt very badly, if not drowned among the rocks and large waves.


• Everyone to whom I spoke were very nice and courteous. I did not really have a feeling of anyone being a creeper. Although, I am sure that some of the clothed people may have been there for that purpose.

All-in-all, I had a great experience. Everything seemed to be perfect for an afternoon at the beach.
-JR
Friday, 07 October 2011

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