Stairways are Heaven
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Stairways are Heaven

Potrero Roller Coaster

5/7/2011

1 Comment

 
Picture24th St. De Haro down to Rhode Island.





The #19 Polk will take you up and down the roller coaster that is Potrero Hill.

Especially fond of the unique, steep, bricked block from Rhode Island up to de Haro on 24th; 23rd with its sidewalk steps on one side; the 22nd St. stairway down from Wisconsin; the Other Crooked Street (Vermont) and McKinley Square Park next to it; the many smaller, older cottages (particularly one on Carolina); the community gardens; and the Whole Foods on 17th. This branch now sells kombucha on tap.

First counted the sidewalk steps on the south side of 24th: 132; then down the north side: 107 steps. The photo above is of the south side near the top.


On 23rd are uneven concrete sidewalk steps up the south side, except for a short railed stairway from the top of these that continues up to Wisconsin on the north side: 78 total.

Over to 22nd and Wisconsin for the railed, concrete stairway down to Arkansas: 147 steps. At the top are dead-end signs, but the street continues a little way down along the south stairs.

There are a few old wood posts to mark the dead-end and a scraggly wildspot the rest of the way that could have real potential as a future gardenspot transformation. Now there are lots of weeds, nasturtiums, and tall fennel plants along the stairway.

At the foot, cross Arkansas and continue down some wood steps (47) between Potrero Hill Recreation Center above on the right and the two community gardens on the left side as you descend to Connecticut.

These gardens were locked today; usually they are. But there’s a bench at the Connecticut Friendship Garden entrance near the tiled cube. Lots of different flowers and trees around here: beautiful spot to sit a while even if you can’t get into the garden itself.

At 20th and San Bruno, however, is the Potrero Hill Community Garden, an open garden (with view) where you can go inside and walk around. This is just before you get to McKinley Park and the top of curly Vermont.

Lately upon walking in various neighborhoods have seen some of my favorite houses up for sale and also some that have been given hefty facelifts since I last drooled o'er them … like a long-beloved tiny cottage in Bernal Heights that now has a solid wood fence surrounding its front yard. 


1 Comment

Elizabeth Sidewalk Stairways

5/5/2011

1 Comment

 
PictureCuesta stairway under Market St.

When counting both sidewalk stairways on the last (west) block of Elizabeth, climbing steeply into the Twin Peaks neighborhood from Noe Valley, got 281 steps for the north side and 218 steps for the south, Hoffman to Grandview.

At Grandview to the left is 24th St. and just past that is where 76 steps for the Cuesta stairway climb under Market from Grandview up to a sign for three streets: Corbett / Portola / Cuesta. To the right from Grandview at the top of Elizabeth you’ll see a spiral walkway to the pedestrian skyway that will take you across Market St. 


Here are a few upcoming street fair dates I've been able to find online so far. I’m hoping for free samples of stuff; maybe these larger celebrations will be more promising.

Union Street Festival - June 4-5


Haight-Ashbury Street Fair - June 12


57th Annual North Beach Festival - June 18-19


SF Pride 2011 takes place June 25-26 at Civic Center Plaza where the two-day celebration is free and open to all.
http://www.sfpride.org

Fillmore - July 2-3



1 Comment

Fort Funston Fun

5/5/2011

0 Comments

 
#6600CCTop of stairway up from John Muir, Fort Funston

There are two long beach stairways in San Francisco that are called "The Sand Ladder." 


Baker Beach’s Sand Ladder has approximately 253 steps and descends from Lincoln Blvd. in Presidio National Park.

The second Sand Ladder is several miles away in the southwestern part of the city and starts partway up a steep duney trail from Ocean Beach. Fort Funston’s sand ladder steps total about 160. This park is abloom with iceplant flowers along its skinny trails.

The other stairway has around 167 wood steps and climbs up from John Muir Blvd. up into the park. Look directly across to the east as you ascend, across the busy highway, for a great view of Lake Merced.

Sometimes these beach stairways are completely covered with sand but you may feel the wood steps below as you climb or descend. Made an effort to feel around with my feet as I hiked these two at Fort Funston (twice for each: up and down; down and up) so as to count buried steps.

If dogs make you nervous, this is probably not going to be your favorite park. Lots of ‘em all over the place, especially down at the beach. 

This park was once a military outpost with a two-gun battery. Battery Davis, with its short walk-through tunnel, was completed in 1938.

This is the park where the hang gliders hang, but the wind wasn’t right today (too calm) so people were sitting around on the wood hang gliding deck enjoying the view.

They usually glide 500-600 feet above Ocean Beach. There’s an orange windsock above the platform. Conditions are perfect when the windsock is blowing straight out; it was droopy this time.

There should be an easier, quicker way for me to get here via public transportation. Today walked above the beach all the way from a block north of the zoo, the last stop for the L-Taraval Metro. Last visit I walked all the way to the foot of the Sand Ladder Trail on the beach, also from the zoo area, but down on the beach at that time it didn’t seem as far. However, this time I was one of many atop the cliff watching the surfers.

Down from the park later, keeping an eye out for a bus stop, started out along Brotherhood Way, partway around Lake Merced on its south side, crossing the midlake walkers bridge, and ending up walking a long way after that. Finally reached a street called Payson and crossed, where on both sides of Brotherhood are walkers’ ramps that take you up to neighborhood homes. One of those bad bus days. Waiting on 19th Ave. at Chester in the Oceanview ‘hood, three M-Oceanview trains passed going the other way before an inbound showed up. Same thing outbound earlier at the downtown station; all the other trains came before the M.

0 Comments
Forward>>

    Author

    I like meandering around on San Francisco's park trails and public stairways, sometimes taking photos, and enjoying nature and the outdoors.

    Archives

    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.