IFR then VFR back to KPAO

DJ,
I never scud run in bad weather over a route that I have not 'surveyed' in
good weather. Every route has its limitations.
The Carqunez Straits have orange balls on the wires now but
You should know that above all the wires you can see by about
ten feet is another wire you won't see in time to miss it. Fly over
the towers ONLY. Fly your SVFR routes in good conditions to take the stress
out of doing it when weather is poor.

The absolute lowest route could well be by way of Susun
Bay. Never fly along the shoreline of a river used by large ships.
600' towers live there. The valley into Hayward from Dublin has
a power line. Don't fly it until you have flown over it's towers to
find your MSA (Minimum Safe Altitude)

Go from Benicia to Vallejo via freeway and then use your radio to
get through Oakland's airspace SVFR if you must. 600' will do it.

Watch out for errors in ATC instructions. Once I was told to fly
to the middle of the San Mateo Bridge enroute to PAO. My
early experience in Florida during the war taught me that a causeway was not
a bridge. I took three heads-up calls by me to get ATC
to realize that they were vectoring me right into SFO final approach
corridor which is over a bridge that has a long causeway to the west.

Use good weather as an opportunity to determine your MSA both for weather
and night. Hardly a year goes by that some high-time
pilot in the Bay Area gets down to get under when he should'nt.
Gene Whitt