Photowalk @ Alvarado Park

Any time I can get out of the car, stretch my legs, breathe some fresh air and take photos is a very very good day. And because I use that excuse to have a good day, I have accumulated a ton of photos in my albums. Just like these photos I took on New Year's Eve, they were still sitting on my PC waiting for their time to be featured here.

Alvarado Park abuts Wildcat Canyon - another park that is one of our regular spots for walking and is close to home. It's also a very convenient, being so close to town.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Alvarado Park:


Alvarado Park (formerly Grand Canyon Park) is a subsection of Wildcat Canyon Regional Park in Richmond, California and is a National Historic Place. It is located at the mouth of Wildcat Canyon is the Alvarado Park section. Between 1909 and 1923, Alvarado Park was a private park that was owned and operated by local residents. In 1923, it was donated to the city of Richmond. Then, in 1985, it was incorporated into Wildcat Canyon Regional Park and forms a historic district.
In its early years, Alvarado Park was served by its own streetcar line from the East Shore and Suburban Railway, a Key System precursor, which was later discontinued. The park district made certain improvements including a new children's play area, conversion of parking into meadows, and demolition of dilapidated structures. It was also the home of the Grande Vista Sanitarium, later known as Belgum Sanitarium.Though the associated buildings have since burned to the ground, their foundations and the surrounding grounds, including an orchard remain. The park also features distinctive and noted stone masonry, retaining walls, and classical stone lampposts. The lampposts are no longer lit. A stonework bridge spans Wildcat Creek in the park main entrance. The park district is currently struggling to return the river to a more natural state in hopes of restoring its fish population and their runs. The park also featured an open air pavilion dance hall which was converted to roller rink, and subsequently destroyed by fire.

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Entry

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Picnic/bbq area.

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This stone stairs goes down..........

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....to this.

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and this.

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We took the same familiar paths by the eucalyptus trees.

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And ended up in another part of the creek where we photograph......
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this.

Along the way we managed to capture these:
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You see I'm quite behind with my postings :).

Comments

  1. i love that tree on the bbq area. sigh, same here, i'm so behind with my posts. i have so many photos that sometimes i don't even remember why or where i took them.

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  2. you are so lucky to be living in that area, a lot of things to do and shoot whenever there is time.

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  3. hahaha same here. i have so many things to posts but i can't seem to compose them. photos na lang kaya. i love going to parks. that park seems big i'm sure you have captured a lot there:)

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  4. Ohh I love the b&w pictures! Very reflective.

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  5. You gave us a nice survey of the park with excellent color and many black and white pictures. It looks like a wonderful place to visit. It has an interesting history too. Nice post.

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  6. I've never been here before! It's so close though. I enjoyed your wonderful captures...there are lots of goodies to photograph in the canyon!

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  7. I think you and I have one big thing in common when it comes to this "Any time I can get out of the car, stretch my legs, breathe some fresh air and take photos is a very very good day." :)

    The tree in the second photo and the bench and tunnel in the fifth are wonderful. (Benches, chairs, and trees happen to be at the top of the list of things I like photographing.)

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  8. That is a wonderful walk, love the B&W and the colour pictures, you made a great choice between them.
    Always a delight to look at your pictures.
    Astrid.

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  9. You may be behind, Maria, but at least you've now posted these. I was looking for a post on my blog the other day from April of 2010 and when I couldn't find it, I discovered I never posted it! I especially like the move in images from color to B&W and then back to color. :)

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  10. Very nice photos. I particularly loved the last one!

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  11. i find looking for mushrooms fun. specially on the wild.

    i actually googled street car line grand canyon.

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  12. i like the photo of the stairs and where it leads down.

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  13. There are some very lovely spots along the creek on the same side as the initial picnic shot with the large tree. At the end of the trails along the creek is Camp Well, which features an old capped well. It used to be the main source of water for the area! The creek used to be much larger and wider, and decades ago, down by the Marin Street Bridge, they used to rent paddle boats! This park used to be an old Indian village, and you can still see the old grinding rock behind the gazebo. Historic park with lots of character.

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