Gary-Summer: December 17, 2024 - Go to San Francisco

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

December 17, 2024 - Go to San Francisco

Title: December 17, 2024 - Go to San Francisco

Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Fort Funston, Nike Missile Site

Trail: Coastal Trail, Horse Trail

Destination: This was a wander with hope of doing a look

Actual Destination:

Distance: 2.45 miles

Start Time: 2:09

End Time: 3:53

Travel Time: 1.44 (1.42 mph)

Moving Time: 1:15 (1.96 mph)

Elevation Rise: 286'

Descent: 292‘

Maximum Elevation: 177'

GPS Tracks

Description:

I slept well last night dreaming that I had failed to get in a writing assignment for a class-which I do not think I ever took. At least I think I never took it. If I did, there is an assignment which I did not do-too late to worry about it. I still woke up at 6:30 refreshed. I had gotten most of my stuff ready yesterday. This morning it is things like taking out the garbage, loading my thumb drive, and a few things. Then breakfast. About that time Sherri gets up. By the time we are all ready to go, it is 9:30. Sherri starts off driving.

Battery Davis

She drives until Los Banos when she spots a Starbucks and pulls over for a latte. When she comes back, she decides that it is my turn behind the wheel. So I became the commander of the car. I drive over Pacheco Pass and down to Gilroy. There we stop and have lunch at In-An-Out. And then we are on our way. We take 280 into San Francisco, but instead of going on our regular route towards the Presidio and Cow Hollow, we go over to Lake Merced and to the Fort Funston of the Golden Gate Park Recreation area.

We park our car where the Nike Missiles used to be pointed skywards to defend The City. We start our walk along the Coastal Trail. This trail is paved and marked by the presence of crows and dogs. The crows seem to expect handouts. While this must be one of the favorite spots for dog walkers of the area. Most of the dogs are well behaved and off leash. There just is many of them.

View from Battery Davis

After a quarter mile, there is a big mound between us and the ocean. This is Battery Davis, a relic of pre-World War II. We walk through one of the tunnels and see where the cannon would have been mounted. Also enjoy the view of the ocean.

Sherri, the Sandwalker

Up until this point, the trail has been paved. But sand has a way of encroaching even the works of man. We start having to act as sand walkers to continue on the Coastal Trail. It is still good to look out and see the ocean beyond the sand dunes. Afterwhile we come to a junction and I ask Sherri if she wants to continue following the Coastal Trail all the way to Marin County or return via the Horse Trail. Put that way, she chose the Horse Trail.

Stairclimbing Gary

This trail is high on a dune above the Great Highway. We go along with the undulations of going up and down the vegetation covered sand, sometimes ducking under trees. Eventually we hit the pavement again and the walking is easier.

And then we come to the stairs. In San Francisco, we are suckers for stairs and start climbing them. These stairs offer access from John Muir Drive up to Battery Davis. From there it is a short walk back to the car.

Sherri notices on a map that there are some more stairs. We decided that if we have only walked about an hour, about 2 miles, we might as well find these stairs. We went out of the parking lot towards the Ranger’s Station. Google shows a path down to the beach. The idea is to go down and take the stairs up. But when we get to the cliff, there may be a way down, but for a couple of old people, we are using our acquired wisdom not to go down this. We just walked along a trail at the top of the bluff. We did find where the stairs are. But decided that there is not a lot of reason to go down them so we could go back up them again.

Gary wondering where are the Christmas lights

Once we get to the car, we take off for Cow Hollow, rejoining 280 through Golden Gate Park into the Presidio. There we turned onto 101 and found our hotel, Cow Hollow Inn. We check in and the lady gives us the room we requested, 315. This is the same room as before. She also suggested rooms 338 and 339 being comparable with good views. Good to know.

By the time we get settled in, it is just past 5. We must be getting old as we both rest until 6. Sherri is getting hungry and I cannot say I am far behind. We decided to walk down to the Marina and see what Christmas lights there are. If we find a place to eat first, we will.

We do go down to the Marina as there are not any eating establishments which meet our fancy. When I was a child, my parents would take us up to the Marina and the boats were all decked out in lights. Also the houses along the waterfront were amazing to view. Either my childhood memories are vastly inaccurate or the Marina has lost its Christmas thrill. There was only a Christmas tree with lights and one boat. A bit disappointing. At least some of the houses had lights.

We returned to Chestnut ready to eat. We found an interesting Mexican place called Las Mestizas. A hole in the wall place. We each had a burrito. The helpings were ample. The food was satisfying, We waddled out of there and back to our hotel room. By this time, it is 7:30 and we pretty much pack it in for the night. Sherri watching a movie and I did my writing. It is a good day. Let's see if I make it to 10.

Background

Battery Davis

Battery Davis. Major General Richmond P. Davis, a Coast Artillery officer who served in France in World War I. From Wikipedia

TripAdvisor

Las Mestizas. The sign at the entrance says authentic Mexican food. You can hear the meat frying for your order, so you know all is fresh. It is a small place on Chestnut in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow District. My wife ordered a burrito bowl-a burrito without the wrap-and I a wet burrito. The burritos were filling, and tasted good, but not overpowering. The seating was basic as they made the most of the small space they are in. The help was shy, but took care of us.

Extra Photo's