Blog Archives

Botlove

9/26/2018

There's free admission to Golden Gate Park’s Botanical Garden for those with identification showing they’re San Francisco residents.

Google Maps shows all the individual gardens. Go see this in person; photos don't do it justice.

Starting on the south side, winding round to the west, then north side:

0 Comments

Stow Beautiful

9/24/2018

0 Comments

Trail to Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park: 1

Strawberry Hill up ahead: 2

Crossing the 1893 stone bridge: 3, 4

A trail up Strawberry Hill: 5 thru 12

Trails and stairways on the east side: 13 thru 29

Down another stairway to the north bridge: 30 thru 44

Trailing around to the east and Huntington Falls: 45 thru 56

Chinese Pavilion: 57 thru 68

Circling back to the south bridge again: 69 thru 82

1 Trail to Stow Lake

2 Strawberry Hill

13 Steps to top of Strawberry Hill

15 Walkway across Huntington Falls

16 Huntington Falls

21 To top of the hill

23 Main stairway down

30 Now the north stairway

32 North bridge below

46 Round the east side

49 Foot of the main stairway

51 Foot of the falls

53 Huntington Falls

56 This stairway goes up to a walkway

57 Chinese Pavilion

0 Comments

Vulcan Visit

9/23/2018

0 Comments

Starting off at 16th & Castro up to Flint, a dead-end that runs along the east side of Corona Heights Park: 1, 2

Passing thru the lower part of the park, at the foot of the ramp: 3, 4

Upper States to Levant: 5 thru 18

Levant: 19 thru 24

Vulcan down from the top (219 steps), my favorite non-park San Francisco stairway: 25 thru 52

From the foot of Eureka Valley’s Vulcan, if you’re on foot you can cross over thru Ord Court to the north end of Douglass (10 steps): 53 thru 56

Douglass: 57. 58

Here a stairway climbs to States St. in the Corona Heights neighborhood: 59, 60

Lower part of States back down to Castro: 61 thru 66

Castro near 16th: 67

1 Flint, off 16th

2 Corona Heights Park to left. DeForest steps to right down to Beaver

3 Corona Heights Park ramp from States/playground to upper part of park

4 Randall Museum at top of ramp

5 A favorite house on States, center

6 Steps from States down to Douglass north dead-end for vehicles

7 States Street, Corona Heights neighborhood

10 The Caste on States

18 West end of States. Stairs up to Roosevelt. Left on Levant

19 Levant St.

25 Top of Vulcan Stairway at Levant

26 80 Vulcan Stairway

27 74 Vulcan

28 66-68 Vulcan

31 The north stairway runs thru

32 219 steps for the north stairway down to Ord

35 One of two walkways to the south stairway for 1, 3, 5 Vulcan

37 Second walkway from the north to south stairway

38 1 and 3 above

39 1 and 3 Vulcan

40 Back on the main stairs

42 22 Vulcan at the landing

43 Turn right for main access to the south stairway and stairs continuing down

44 One Vulcan above

45 Main stairway continuing down. Corona Heights Park above, center

46 Another view of One Vulcan

51 Vulcan's foot at Ord

53 Ord Court is dead-end to left. Dead-end for vehicles to right

54 Ord Ct.

55 Ord Ct.

56 10 steps down to north dead-end for vehicles of Douglass

57 Douglass St.

58 Douglass St.

59 Rising from Douglass is a stairway up to States in the Corona Heights neighborhood

61 Back again to this favorite States house

62 Corona Heights Park above

63 Downhill on States

67 Castro near 16th

0 Comments

China Baker

9/22/2018

0 Comments

Off the bus at California and 28th Ave. and north into the upscale Sea Cliff neighborhood. Several blocks before reaching this: 1 thru 4

Top of the main stairway down to China Beach: 5, 6, 7

104 steps for the main stairway: 8 thru 19

20 and 22 steps for the shorter stairways in this GGNRA park: 20 thru 59

Up again: 60 thru 63

Winding west for the 49 wood, partly sand-covered steps nearly down to the Presidio’s Baker Bech: 64 thru 72

This stairtrail descends from the northernmost dead-end of 25th Ave. and emerges at the west side of the fenced-in buildings I see when hiking from El Camino Real/Lincoln to BB. What is this?: 73

West Baker Beach: 74

Up again: 75, 76

South on 26th Avenue: 77, 78

8 104 steps

65 49 steps

66 Down from 25th Ave. dead-end for vehicles

67 Down to Baker Beach

75 Back up

77 Sea Cliff neighborhood

78 Lake & 26th Avenue

0 Comments

Battery East Detours

9/5/2018

0 Comments

The lower part of the Battery east Trail, to the west of the stairs, is still getting its makeover so like last visit there were detours. But the stairway, also as last time, is still walkable down to Crissy Field.

Starting off at the main bridgeview area: 1

Heading east: 2 thru 5

Andrews Road: 6 thru 10

153 wood steps: 11 thru 23

West Crissy Field: 24

Up again to Battery East Overlook: 25 thru 28

Onto the part of the trail that leads to the low overhead tunnel and out to the picnic area: 29 thru 35

Back up: 36, 37

5 Down to a picnic area and the low overhead tunnel. Short but steep here.

6 Andrews Rd. right, a trail

7 The stairway, center, from Andrews Road

8 Andrews Road to the top of the stairs

11 Still under construction to the left

12 153 steps to Crissy Field

15 Andrews Road center

23 Looking back

24 West Crissy Field

25 Battery East Overlook

29 This part is still open

31 Low overhead tunnel, east side

33 Out the other side

35 Picnic area

0 Comments

Garden and Walkway

9/3/2018

0 Comments

Entering Fort Mason from the east side, passing the old tunnel: 1, 2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Mason_Tunnel

Starting out up the hill above the water (Black Point): 3 thru 6

Around the east side at the hostel: 7,8

Over to the east side and down some old stairways: 9

20 down: 10, 11

23 sown: 12, 13

Down to the walkway, along the two concrete benches, continuing my descent to the east side of the park (64 total steps for this section). Despite the construction going on in the area there was a space from the foot of the stairs out to the sidewalk: 14 thru 27

A few buildings in this GGNRA park: 28 thru 32

Into the community garden. 23 steps for the main garden stairway: 33 thru 96

South park entrance: 97

1 The old tunnel

3 Black Point

7 The hostel

9 East side, top

10 20 steps

21 Tank tops

23 Back up again

33 Fo Mason Community Garden main steps

0 Comments

Shady Harry

9/2/2018

1 Comment

Down into Noe Valley from Diamond Heights, top of Valley stairway, a minipark: 1

Beacon Street: 2, 3

Top of Billy Goat Hill Park: 4

Glen Park's Harry (239 steps) down from Beacon: 5 thru 18

My favorite Harry house, 30 Harry: 19 thru 28

This house (29) was having work done this visit. Here's how it looked in 1972: 30, 31

Continuing down Harry to Laidley: 32 thru 46

From Harry’s foot, started down from the south end of Noe at Laidley, east side. THENs (2004) and NOWs of a brown house I happened to have old pix of and its replacement. Something else was going up on this side: 47 thru 58

Further down Noe, now on the west side of the street, comparing old (2004) and new: 59, 60

Corner of Noe & 30th Street: 61

1 Top of Valley stairway

2 Beacon Street

4 Top of Billy Goat Hill Park

5 Top of Harry at Beacon

29 NOW

30 THEN - 1972

31 THEN - 1972

46 Near foot at Laidley

47 NOW - Top of Noe at Laidley

48 THEN - 2004

49 THEN - 2004

50 NOW (Noe, east side)

51 NOW

52 NOW

53 NOW

54 NOW

59 NOW (Noe, west side of street)

60 THEN - 2004

61 Noe at 30th St.

1 Comment

Top Down

9/1/2018

0 Comments

The Forest Hill Metro Station looks the same as it did before the recent Twin Peaks tunnel work: 1

77 steps for the route taken from the main west entrance to Laguna Honda Hospital that's across from the Forest Hill Station.

Hospital grounds: 2 thru 13

Around to the back nearly to Portola Dr.: 14, 15

Back again for the top of the new trail recently climbed from the foot. 16 thru 58

One can step out onto the expanse of green lawn and the walk around the edge of the forest up here.

Since my first visit new planting flags are in evidence higher up and multiple bags of trash alongside the fence as further cleanup efforts.

Clarendon out to Laguna Honda Blvd.: 59, 60, 61

Laguna Honda Reservoir with Mount Sutro above: 62 thru 65

#43 bus stop near Seventh Ave. & Wartren with Forest Knolls neighborhood above: 66