Palace of Fine Arts - July 6, '12

Walking Distance: 2.2 mi. (estimate)
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 2 mins. (4:18 - 6:20 p.m.)
Start and End Point: 2-hour parking spot, on Baker Street (near intersection with Jefferson St.), San Francisco, CA

Another lovely summer afternoon walk that shaded into evening on the San Francisco Bay Trail.

After a quick stop to see the new Inn at the Presidio (uphill from the Bay Trail and south east of today's walk), I parked just south of the Bay Trail, on Baker Street, adjacent to the Palace of Fine Arts and the Exploratorium. I didn't have any time today to explore the Exploratorium (which will be relocating to the Embarcadero), but I did stroll through the Palace of Fine Arts grounds at the end of this walk.

Heading north from Baker Street, I crossed the crosswalk at Marina Blvd. and followed the Golden Gate Promenade/San Francisco Bay Trail (west) into Crissy Field, stopping at the Beach Hut Cafe (next to the Crissy Field Center), for a chocolate bar and water break first. I then moseyed west along the combination paved and packed dirt path toward the beach/marsh area to do some dog- and people-watching, in one of the best, legal dog frolic areas in San Francisco.

I continued to follow the Bay Trail (west), passing the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, Ocean Climate Center, and related buildings to the north along the Bay. (The grass-covered Crissy Field was on the south side of the trail.) I'm glad they preserved these buildings; I'm a fan of this architectural style, or frankly any building that has a few curves and interesting/elegant architectural style.

I continued (northwest) on to the Crissy Field Warming Hut/Cafe, where I saw a young Brown Pelican hanging out within inches of the Trail -- a somewhat unusual sight. Tourists were stopping to take pictures, posing their young tots next to this bird, who after a while flew off to land at the end of nearby Torpedo Wharf. This pelican was apparently what Judy Irving, Executive Director of Pelican Media, called a "pier bum" -- fishermen were feeding it. I hoped it wouldn't get caught in any fishing line/hooks and then continued on my way.

After walking out on the wharf/pier and talking to a few of the fishermen who recognized this pelican as a recent regular, I walked back toward the Palace of Fine Arts, retracing my steps except for a short amble out to the beach.

On the way back to the car, I cut through the Palace of Fine Arts grounds along a small lake, where I saw pond turtles, ducks and duckings lazing around in the water, and a swan family on the grass -- all a few dozen yards from where I'd parked the car. Seeing the five, fuzzy young swans with two adult swans in the shadows was a nice finish to the walk.

Wildlife Sightings:
3 crows; 56 little brown jobs (LBJs)/songbirds; 26 sea gulls; 10 pigeons; 1 brown pelican; 1 cormorant; 1 swallow; 1 potato bug (jerusalem cricket?); 2 fabric kites; 1 great blue heron; 1 tern; 3 unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs); 2 = plovers?, 1 killdeer; 2 adult swans + 5 baby swans; 3 turtles (1 with long neck); 5 ducks + 5 ducklings

Fort Mason - Crissy Field - July 1, '12

Walking Distance: 2.9 miles
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 11 min. (4:09 - 6:20 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Parking lot, near yacht harbor and Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA

I started this afternoon's walk in the fog at the marina near Fort Mason.  I back-tracked to go up through the park (Fort Mason Green) and over the hill behind Fort Mason, to the International Youth Hostel, at which point I turned around.

I walked back through the Green/park, enjoying dogs romping, people relaxing and having fun, and international visitors riding by on rented bicycles, speaking in at least four different languages.

My guess is that a few of them may have been commenting that they thought it might be less cool and foggy in California in the summer, and that they didn't realize that San Francisco would be this hilly. But, I could have been mistaken. Even on foggy days, I still love it here.

Once I'd returned to the Fort Mason parking lot, I walked into Fort Mason and around the facilities. I stopped at Greens Restaurant, a great place to eat with a view of the boats and marina, but they weren't quite open yet. So I continued walking.

I then followed the sidewalk/path west, along the San Francisco Bay toward Crissy Field. Along the way, I passed a some beautiful succulents and colorful flowers, and boats in the marina; and I watched a black-crowned night heron intently fishing on the pier.

I walked out toward St. Francis Yacht Club and the Golden Gate Yacht Club, on the way to see the wave organ, located out at the end of a point/breakwater. Once there, I stopped to listen to see if the "organ" was producing any special sound effect, but heard nothing. Perhaps it was just meant to be a sculpture after all. I did see several people enjoying this point though. It offered a relatively peaceful point, to gaze back at San Francisco and the Marina area.

I then returned to the main path and on to the edge of Crissy Field, making a short photo stop at Lyon and Marina to snap a pic of Palace of Fine Arts (a remnant of an international faire/exhibit last century) across the street, and walked back to car.

Wildlife Sightings:
22 little brown jobs (LBJs); 4 crows; 167 sea gulls; 2 blackbirds; 80 pigeons; 1 Western/Clarks Grebe; 2 cormorants; 3 brown pelicans; 2 black-crowned night heron; 2 swallows; 1 great blue heron