Blog Archives

One Week Later

5/25/2019

Another east to west Land’s End hike from the Lincoln Park steps to Geary & 48th Ave.

East side: 1 thru 5

East and west stairs along the Coastal Trail: 6 thru 17

Continuing: 18 thru 23

This time instead of continuing to move along the more crowded Coastal Trail, up the 89 steps that connect the Coastal with the El Camino del Mar Trail: 24 thru 33

El Camino del Mar Trail: 34 thru 52

Out to the upper parking lot overlook: 53

The 59 connector steps from upper to lower overlook: 54 thru 58

Passing Fort Miley on the way out of the park: 59, 60, 61

15 West stairway

21 Mile Rock Beach stairs

24 Connector up to El Camino del Mar Trail

26 89 steps

31 El Camino del Mar Trail above

34 El Camino del Nar Trail

43 Closeup

54 Upper to lower overlook stairs

55 59 steps

59 Fort Miley Forest

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LE Main East

5/23/2019

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A Land’s End Coastal Trail hike up to the trail just before the upper parking lot overlook stairs.

First up the 52 LincolnPark steps and along the trail that’s just below there golf course down to the east trailhead for Land’s End: 1 thru 9

Coastal/Land’s End Trail: 10 thru 33

Up the 120 varied eastside steps: 34 thru 54

Down the westside stairway, 138 steps: 55 thru 73

Continuing, passing the Mile Rock Beach stairway: 74 thru 95

Up the trail, (not the stairs this tine) to the El amino del Mar Trail and out at the upper parking lot overlook: 96 thru 105

59 steps connecting upper and lower overlooks: 106

Heading south to exit the park for the #38R Geary bus at 48th Ave. : 107 thru 110

1 Lincoln Park steps

6 Bench at top

7 Trail just below the golf course

10 Sea Cliff neighborhood to right

46 Looking back

49 Miner's Lettuce

50 About 120 steps this side

55 Down the west side

57 138 steps

59 First of two benches

65 Second bench on the way down

81 About 262 steps down to Mile Rock Beach

84 Continuing along the Coastal Trail

88 Passing the connector stairs to the El Camino del Mar Trail (89 steps)

93 Looking back

94 Looking up

96 Up to El Camino del Mar Trail

99 El Camino del Mar Trail up ahead

100 El Camino del Mar Trail right

101 Second Coastal Trail overlook from El Camino del Mar Trail

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105 Coastal Trail from upper parking lot overlook

106 59 steps connect the two overlooks

107 One of three stairways descending to the west

108 Fort Miley Forest across

109 Second short stairway

110 Third short stairway - down to a parking lot

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Radish Blooms

5/22/2019

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This short Glen Canyon hike was to view the wild radish spectacular that happens each year around this time.

Descending from the canyon’s east rim this time, down from the west edge of Christopher Park in Diamond Heights: 1 thru 5

Steps down to the viewbench: 6 thru 10

93 steps in all for this first stairway: 11 thru 31

Continuing down: 32 thru 38

The radish flowers were mostly as remembered from last year in this area but it looked like a circle of tall grass and radish blooms had been mowed on the downhill side of the trail. So why not let the tall grass and radish alone for the short time this spring show runs? It will be desert-dry soon enough.

Uplifting blooms: 39 thru 59

Back again, this time ascending 79 steps to the top trail just below Christopher Park: 60 thru 71

Trail just below Christopher Park: 72, 73

Christopher Park: 74 thru 77

Steps to the tennis courts: 78, 79

1 Christopher Park

2 Top trail just below Christopher Park

3 Mount Davidson across

4 The street in distance is O'Shaughnessy

15 View east

16 Looking back

31 Looking back

32 Trail east

33 Diamond Heights homes in distance

36 Left trail

37 Looking back

39 Wild radish blooms

60 79 steps for this trail back up

74 Christopher Park

78 Steps tp tennis courts

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MS and LH

5/19/2019

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This vigorous Mount Sutro to Laguna Honda Hospital hike started at the foot of the Farnsworth stairs — 149 steps to Edgewood Ave.: 1 thru 5

Edgewood Ave.: 6

At the south end of Edgewood, onto the Edgewood Trail: 7 thru 17

Up to the road and east to the Aldea Center at the trailhead for the East Ridge Trail: 18 thru 33

Steeply up to the Quarry Road trailhead: 34, 35, 36

Shocked to see so much forest clearing on the Quarry and Clarendon Trails. Had been mostly pleased when I’d hiked this earlier, but this time disappointed (understatement of the year) at the results of all the hacking and chopping since my last visits: 37 thru 51

Reaching the foot at Clarendon, there were all these concrete chunks.

Moving west on Clarendon, north side of the street: 52

Across the much appreciated green-railed skyway over Clarendon from Ashwood Lane in Forest Knolls to Midtown Terrace Playground: 53 thru 64

Continuing along the sidewalk on this side with the forest above me, soon reached the Laguna Honda Woods Trail. I’d walked it twice before but not in a while: 65

Apart from a few tree stumps that were not there before, it still looked like it did earlier, green and lush and a delight to climb, winding up to the back of the hospital buildings.

No mountain bikers encountered this time — good thing as the trail is narrow. Later was on the hospital grounds and noticed a couple of them swooping down.

They’ve been doing an excellent job bagging all the old junk that had accumulated over the years back here. Bunch of bags full at the edges of the trail, including some old metal garbage cans with their bottoms rotted out. A former dump site for the hospital?

No sea of daisies on the slope near the top of the trail this time.

The trail up: 66 thru 107

Upon reaching the hospital area started to descend, but wanted to explore some of this interesting maze partway down: 108 thru 119

One of the highlights of this long hike was a greenery-enclosed dirt trail between the hospital grounds and Laguna Honda Blvd. Started out closer to the hospital buildings than the street way down there (view west), and then it began to curve downhill: 120 thru 123

The trail merges into a short paved walkway that'll take you nearly to the foot of the main stairway which climbs to the hospital from Laguna Honda Blvd. Directly across the street from the Forest Hill Metro Station — so THAT was convenient: 124 thru 135

1 Farnsworth steps at Willard, just up from Parnassus

2 149 steps

6 Edgewood Ave.

7 South dead-end of Edgewood Ave.

10 Edgewood Trail

21 Wild onions

25 North Ridge Trail to left

32 Fairy Gates Trail below

33 East Ridge trailhead

37 Quarry Road Trail

40 Left turn down to Clarendon

51 Clarendon below

52 North side of Clarendon

53 Green skyway over Clarendon from Forest Knolls to Midtown Terrace

54 Ashwood Lane stairway below

58 Ashwood Lane below

60 Across to Midtown Terrace Playground

61 Midtown Terrace side

65 As seen from Clarendon, going up here

66 Trailhead for LagunaHonda Woods trail

69 Looking back

71 Looking back

76 Midtown Terrace neighborhood across

78 Midtown Terrace is Twin Peaks west

82 Laguna Honda Hospital above

89 Still climbing

98 Stairway closed at top

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101 Back on the main trail

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106 South trailhead

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El Polin and Ecology

5/5/2019

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Starting this hike at the Presidio’s Lover’s Lane, a paved trail: 1 thru 5

Moving west, log-sitting: 6 thru 12

Descending to El Polin Spring: 13 thru 21

El Polin Spring: 22 thru 31

69 steps from El Polin to Ecology Trail: 32 thru 37

Ecology Trail to Inspiration Point Overlook: 38 thru 48

If these wood boxes were intended to replace the curvy old wood steps to Inspiration Point Overlook, they’re sure taking their time with it. Fine with me; hope they don’t get replaced: 49

Still 45 older steps: 50 thru 56

Inspiration Point Overlook with parking lot off Arguello: 57, 58, 59

1 Lover's Lane descends to left

12 A newer stairway

59 View east from the overlook

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Canyon and Coralino

5/3/2019

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Through Glen Park Rec, Center from the Elk & Bosworth bus stop: 1, 2, 3

Main Glen Canyon trail heading north: 4 thru 9

Green beauty, continuing: 10 thru 22

Up to a higher trail with Diamond Heights stilthouses above: 23 thru 37

This short stair-trail goes up to Turquoise: 38 thru 41

Turquoise homes, south now: 42 thru 45

Turquoise ends at Amber. Coralino Lane climbs from Amber to Cameo, 130 steps: 46 thru

A short trail connects the Police Academy with Christopher Park in Diamond Heights: