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Upcoming Trail Closure

10/31/2013

Eagles' Point overlook at the east trailhead of the main Lands End Trail will be getting a remake from November 4 through late December; there are already some Trail Closed signs up. The few steps have been demolished and a wood barrier's across the entrance to the old wood structure.

Just outside the Lands End Lookout store/coffee shop was something new since my last visit: a Lands End scale model (first pic).

This hike's first stairway was down the "Merrie Way" steps (126, pix 2, 3, 4, 5) from the lower parking lot overlook, then up the short trail above the Sutro Baths ruins to the cavetop viewspot (pics 6, 7).

Starting up from here is the west trailhead for the Coastal Trail (pics 8, 9). Several years ago there were just 20-something steps; now the "Sutro Baths Upper Trail" has around 141 (pic 10).

Stayed on the main Lands End Trail (Coastal Trail) this time (pic 11: foot of connector steps up to the El Camino del Mar Trail), past the top of the long up'n back Mile Rock Beach stairway (272 or so), and up the "Painted Rock" steps (139, pix 12 through 17). This is an up one side and down the other stairway but I've always counted them as two separate stairways since each has its own special "personality."

At the top of the curvy wood "Painted Rock" with its two stairside stone benches, the eastside steps (120-ish) start down (pics 18, 19, 20, 21): wood, logs, and concrete. This one also got extended several years ago.

Main Coastal/Lands End Trail moving to the east trailhead: last two pix.

My last was the 52 steps down from the Lincoln Park golf course's east edge.

1. Scale Model of Lands End outside Lands End Lookout

2. Steps down from Lower Parking Lot Overlook

3. Sutro Baths ruins below

4. Continuing down

5. Near foot of the stairs

6. Trail to the Cavetop viewspot

7. Trail to cavetop overlook

8. West Trailhead for the Coastal Trail

9. Coastal Trail's west trailhead

10. Continuing on the Sutro Baths Upper Trail

11. To El Camino del Mar Trail from main Lands End Trail

12. Foot of the "Painted Rock" stairway

13. Painted Rock steps

14. This stairway is part of the main Lands End Trail/Coastal Trail

15. One of two stairside benches

16. Top of the stairs

17. Top of the Painted Rock stairs. About to descend the eastside steps.

18. Starting down the eastside stairway

19. Eastside steps curve around

20. Down the stairs on the east side

21. Continuing down the eastside steps

22. Lands End Trail continuing east

23. Out to the east trailhead for the Lands End Trail

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Sausalito Longs and a Deer

10/24/2013

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Started up the Excelsior Lane steps (first two pics) for this trek but only to Bulkley this time, the next street up from Bridgeway. Turned left on Bulkley (third pic), using the just-below-street pedestrian walkways (pic 4).

Continued up Atwood to Central, just past the top of the West Ct. stairway, to start up from the foot of Cable Roadway this time: 193 steps up to Crescent (pics 5, 6). Then around the corner to the right for the rest of it: 93 more steps up (pics 7, 8) from Sausalito Blvd. to the vehicle street part of Cable Roadway, short and steepish, up to Prospect. So 288 steps in all for Cable Roadway.

Turned left on Prospect at the Not a Through Street Sign; to my right a short distance ahead another stairway was waiting for me (pics 9, 10). This one, unnamed, has 204 steps to a short dirt trail, the Redwood Highway/William T. Bagley Freeway to my left.

The top dead-end of Cloud View Road was the next exit from the trail. Moved past this to the top of another stairway down to Spencer: 45 steps (pic 11).

After a short distance downhilling on Spencer (pics 12, 13) noticed another stairway down. Didn't see it on Google Maps later; GM isn't always a reliable method of looking for stairways. It has no sign at either end, but has 184 steps and runs through down to Santa Rosa (pics 14, 15, 16, 17). On the way down it, was deer-lighted to see this cute critter in someone's fenced yard (pic 18).

Down Santa Rosa to San Carlos, to divided Glen with its short double stairway (19 steps, pics 19, 20), onto Johnson, down to Bridgeway. Last two pix: Fog descending into Sausalito as seen from the ferry returning to SF.

1. Near foot of Excelsior Lane at Bridgeway

2. Excelsior Ln. continues up from Bulkley

3. Bulkley Ave.

4. Pedestrian walkway just below Bulkley Ave.

5. Starting up Cable Roadway from Central Ave.

6. Continuing up lower Cable Roadway steps

7. Upper Cable Roadway steps, up from Sausalito Blvd.

8. Cable Roadway continues up

9. A long stairway starting up from Prospect

10. 204 steps up from Prospect Ave.

11. 45 steps down to Spencer

12. A view from Spencer

13. Another view from Spencer

14. Starting down from Spencer

15. 184 steps from Spencer to Santa Rosa

16. Spencer to Santa Rosa

17. Up from Santa Rosa

18. A view into someone's yard from the stairway

19. Divided Glen's double stairway

20. A view from Glen

21. Fog coming in over Sausalito

22. Fog coming in over Sausalito

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Stanyan Trailhead to Summit

10/12/2013

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Started off this very pleasant Mount Sutro hike first uphilling from Parnassus on Stanyan to 17th & Stanyan for the trailhead for the lower Historic Trail (first three pics).

From the lower Historic (pix 4, 5, 6, 7) up to Medical Center Way (pic 8), crossing over to the East Ridge Trail and up to the summit (pic 9: a summit flower).

This time from the summit down the North Ridge Trail (pix 10, 11).

I've used this convenient short stairway (pics 12, 13) many times from Medical Center Way to the parking lot so as to descend the wood-railed stairway to its foot, then out to Parnassus. But you can easily just walk downhill to the lot too.

There are around 136 steps from the parking lot down to Medical Center Way behind the hospital buildings. You'll probably see medical personnel ascending and descending this stairway, but it's okay for hikers to use also. I've been doing so for years. Pix 14 through 21.

1. Trailhead for the lower Historic Trail at Stanyan & 17th

2. Trailhead for the lower Historic Trail up from Stanyan

3. Lower Historic Trail

4. Interior Greenbelt's lower Historic Trail

5. Continuing on the lower Historic Trail

6. Lower Historic Trail

7. Lower Historic Trail

8. Heading towards East Ridge trailhead on Medical Center Way's pedestrian walkway

9. A summit flower

10. Starting down from the summit on the North Ridge Trail

11. North Ridge Trail nearly down to Medical Center Way

12. Shortcut stairway down to parking lot

13. Turn right, downhill, to the parking lot and top of the long stairway

14. Top of stairs down from parking lot

15. Looking up at top of stairway

16. Stairway down from the parking lot

17. Behind the hospital buildings

18. Top of offshoot short stairway to trail behind Edgewood Ave.

19. Continuing down

20. Near the foot of the stairway

21. Looking up from the foot

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Strawberry Stairways

10/11/2013

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San Francisco's Fort Funston has two long stairways and Lands End and the Presidio boast multiple long beauties, but these parks are all closed because of the shutdown since they're all part of the Golden Gate National Parks. Have been hiking other parks in the meantime.

It'd been several months since I'd visited Golden Gate Park's Strawberry Hill (the park's highest point) and Stow Lake. The last post I did for this, my favorite part of this huge park (second largest in SF after the Presidio), was in February of this year. The stairways here don't seem to be as well known as some others in SF.

Disembarked from the N-Judah Metro at 19th Avenue and strolled downhill to Lincoln and into the park (first pic: on the trail to Stow Lake), soon to cross the 1893 stone Roman bridge (second pic) to the trail starting up Strawberry Hill (third pic).

After the first few steps, 20 or so widely spaced logs served as a stairway of sorts (pic 4) on the way up to the summit, as did another short flight of rough logs to the trail below next to the lake.

I'll just repeat my earlier staircounts for the three stairways this time. My count for the concrete-and-wood green-railed main (north) twisty one that starts down from near the hilltop reservoir is 110 steps (pics 5 through 14) to its foot near the Chinese Pavilion and steppingstones.

Thirty-eight steps (pic 15) up on the south side of Huntington Falls (16, 17) don't go all the way up. They merge with the northside stairs where you cross the falls on one of the wood footbridges (pic 18). If you go up the south side this way, you'll get around 125 steps to the top. Didn't do it this time because there was a group of people hanging up there for a while.

So from the foot of the main steps, curved around to the foot of the widely spaced, mostly wood stairs on the north side (61 steps, pics 19, 20, 21), then circled back around to my beginning.

Critter sightings: last pic

1. On the short trail to Stow Lake

2. Roman Bridge over Stow Lake to Strawberry Hill

3. Trail starting up Strawberry Hill

4. Logs as widely spaced steps

5. Starting down from the summit near the reservoir

6. Down the main stairway

7. Continuing down the main stairway

8. Steeply continuing down

9. Main steps alongside Huntington Falls

10. Main stairway

11. Wood steps now

12. Main stairway

13. Foot of the main stairway

14. Foot of the main stairway

15. Foot of the south stairway

16. Huntington Falls

17. Huntington Falls

18. Short footbridges cross the falls

19. Foot of the north steps

20. Up the north stairway

21. North steps turn at the bench ahead

22. Stow Lake beauties

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Sausalito Stairways Circle

10/3/2013

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The foot of this hike's first (unnamed) stairway is at approximately 425 Bridgeway. It climbs to Josephine & North, 121 steps, pix 1 through 7. Don't forget to stop and enjoy the view from up here!

Next, continuing up from around 68 Atwood, is another unnamed concrete stairway that ascends to Sunshine & San Carlos: 98 steps, pix 8, 9, 10.

Passed the sign for the Cooper Lane steps on the way to check out Cable Roadway, the latter noticed but not explored last time. I'd seen the upper part then, however, and was thinking it started here, at the 13 rustic wood steps up to a dirt trail: 11th pic.

The trail leads to a short wood walk (pic 12), then a long concrete stairway: pic 13. Upon reaching the top (pic 14), a vehicle street continues steeply uphill. Returned down the 93 steps for this part of Cable Roadway and turned downhill on Crescent a few yards away at the Crescent/Sausalito Blvd. street sign.

On Crescent is another sign for Cable Roadway with another short flight of wood steps to start downhill. After the wood section the stairs are mostly concrete-slabs-on-dirt without railings: 15th pic.

There are about 196 steps for this shady lower part of it. Near the foot at Central Ave. are some wider stone steps: pic 16 (the stairs to the right lead to someone's home).

The total for all of Cable Roadway's various kinds of steps: 289.

This one's also mentioned in a book I got at the recent SF Library Big Book Sale at Fort Mason called "Hidden Walks in the Bay Area" by Stephen Altschuler (1990). But he starts up from the foot of the wider stone stairs at Central in his walk and doesn't continue on to the upper part, but moves on to the Oak Lane steps (mentioned in a previous post).

Passed the top of the West Ct. stairway (a previous hike). Pic 17: a view from this area. Continued past Southview Park to do the Second Street double stairway that descends from North. These two are concrete with a garden between them. The west stairway has 81 steps and the east 79. Pix 18, 19, 20, 21.

After the stairway twins, I'd now circled back to Josephine & North, at the top of the first of this trek's stairs.

Continued alongside Bulkley and down the first short stairway (14 steps, pic 22) to the pathway just below the street: an excellent idea for pedestrians up here with these winding sidewalkless streets. After the first walkway ended, 11 steps took me back down to the attractive walled Pedestrian Ln. (last pic) enjoyed last time: 25 steps total onto Princess St. and down to the shops.