ALCATRAZ ISLAND, Calif. -- Cold rain falls and clouds obscure theSan Francisco waterfront. Light fades from thin slots where prisonersonce clamored for a glimpse of the outside world.
On a night like this, three men fled the now-shuttered federalprison that inmates called "Hellcatraz." None were ever found, andall were presumed to have died in the cold, shark-infested waters ofSan Francisco Bay.
About 1 million people tour Alcatraz each year, making it one ofthe Bay Area's top tourist attractions. While most visit during theday, a night tour provides a more atmospheric glimpse of life on "theRock."
Hands grip cold steel bars and footsteps echo in long-abandonedhallways.
"It makes you really wonder what life was like for people here,"said Steve Chamberland, 43, a visitor from Orlando, Fla., who tookthe evening tour of Alcatraz recently with his wife and two sons.
Never a welcoming place, the prison is even more foreboding afterthe sun sets. Perched on a rocky islet just north of the SanFrancisco waterfront, it housed some of the nation's most dangerouscriminals, including Chicago mobster Al Capone.
"At first you think it's a tourist spot," Chamberland said. "Butthen I started thinking that I'm standing where some of the mostviolent criminals ever lived."
At $23.50 per adult, night tours cost $7 more than day trips, andthe proceeds support preservation and restoration efforts.
"We thought it might be more atmospheric," said Sheila Thomas, 42,of Columbia, Md., who booked her night tour in advance on theInternet.
The night begins at Pier 41 on Fisherman's Wharf with an often-chilly ferry ride to the island. As the boat approaches, visitors geta look at what's left of the prison post office and power plant. Somebuildings are beginning to crumble, giving the island a ghostly feel.
Alcatraz was first used as a fort in the 19th century, and morethan 100 cannons were on hand during the Civil War in case of aConfederate attack. The maximum-security federal prison opened in1934.
Night visitors arrive around 5 p.m. and hike up a steep path tothe main building. They are herded single file through a small door,much like inmates arriving here for the first time.
IN PRISONERS' OWN WORDS
The audio tour includes recordings of former inmates and guards.Most of the 1,545 men incarcerated here weren't as notorious asCapone, and visitors get a sense of the isolation they knew bylooking into their Spartan cells and hearing their stories.
One lonely prisoner talks of how he was sustained by the sight ofa woman making her way into the prison, while another describes theraucous sounds of New Year's Eve celebrations drifting across the bayon the wind.
The tour takes visitors through the main cellblock, where abarbershop and library once stood. The cells, with Army-style bunksand small toilets, are stifling. And the isolation chambers, whereinmates were locked behind two doors and deprived of sunlight, arefrightening.
"I couldn't live in one of those little cells," said visitor SusanFissel, 54, who toured Alcatraz during a break from a businessconference.
A menu from March 21, 1963 -- the last day the prison was open --is still propped up in the kitchen. Inmates had dry cereal, steamedwhole wheat and a scrambled egg that morning.
The kitchen was considered the most dangerous place in the prisonbecause inmates were armed with a knife and a fork.
The tour ends with a story of the famous June 11, 1962, escape,apparently executed with a stolen spoon. The story was made into thefilm "Escape from Alcatraz," starring Clint Eastwood and filmed onlocation.
Alcatraz was eventually closed by Attorney General Robert Kennedybecause of decrepit conditions and because it was expensive tomaintain.
The snaking barbed wire barriers may be gone and the gun towersunmanned, but a nighttime tour of Alcatraz remains a stark reminderthat some criminals are so dangerous they must be locked away fromsociety.
IF YOU GO:
Visitors sit in the dining area, where the prison's last menu isstill displayed.
ALCATRAZ: www.nps.gov/ alcatraz. The island is accessible only byboat. Ferries depart daily, beginning at 9:30 a.m.; evening tours at6:20 p.m. and 7:05 p.m., Thursday-Sunday. Round-trip fare and audiotour: adults, $16.50 daytime, $23.50 evening; children 5-11, $10.75daytime, $14.25 evening. Reservations recommended. Ferries are nowrun by Blue & Gold Ferry from Pier 41 -- www.blueand goldfleet.com or(415) 705-5555 -- but a new concessionaire begins service this fall,so consult www.alcatrazcruises. com if you're visiting after Sept.25.
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