Forest Hill to Golden Gate Park

Forest Hill Station to Golden Gate Park

Sunday, 12 December 2010

We (the two regulars and two friends) took an M car from Market Street out to where we left off last time, at Forest Hill Station, across from Laguna Honda.

It was supposed to be 66 degrees and sunny today, but was more like 55 and foggy. 

Here is a shot of Mt Sutro, which has the giant television tower on it.

It wasn’t a great start, as the street speed limit is fast and the sidewalk is only on one side of the road. 

Eventually we made up to Clancy’s Christmas Trees, and then the walk became more interesting. We came across the Garden for the Environment at Lawton Street. The lot is linear and contained raised beds with lettuce, kale, strawberries and flowers. There was also a demonstration on gathering rain water for use in the garden. Very well done.

Continuing past Lawton, we reached Judah Street and turned right and headed uphill to UCSF. 

There are statues of bears along the sidewalk.

The picture immediately above shows a sign on the side of the building, the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute. Who knew? Click the link to find out what the FAMRI is all about. The campus is an amazing institution.

Near this spot, we went out onto an observation deck that looks to the north. You can see right away the weather today is different from our walk last month!

Here are few other photographs from the same spot. The Golden Gate Bridge, not far off, was not easy to spot, even in this telephoto view. The trees in the foreground are in Golden Gate Park.

This is a look out west, along Irving Street. You can almost see the ocean.

Continuing on, we came across this old Seth Thomas clock, which still is in use. It came from England around Cape Horn in 1897.

Here’s a view down Willard Street, which is made of brick.

Coming to Stanyan Street, we turned left and approached the park. This photo shows Kezar Pavilion, built in 1924. There is also one of the seagull signs in the picture, reminding everyone we’re walking the wrong direction.

Here is our route for today.

There is an entrance to the park up at Haight Street. We stopped at Haight and walked up to Masonic to lunch at the Magnolia Pub.

The photo back up Haight shows a different world from the park, with tattoo parlors, used musical recording shops and the like.

We’ve covered 36 miles so far. 

We took a streetcar out to Forest Hill Station and started walking north towards Golden Gate Park. Along the way, the University of California San Francisco campus.

Next—Golden Gate Park.