Part 1: Golden Gate National Park

20180330

The Experience

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

En route to the restaurant we spotted this VW Vanagon owned, not surprisingly, by a hippy-type fellow.  He had plenty of stickers on the van.

On the coast road I spotted a tsunami warning siren on a pole.  Basically put, this is a sound you never want to hear as it implies that a tsunami is inbound and you should head for higher ground; a very unpleasant thought.

Our objective for lunch was the "Cliff House", an old building perched on the cliff.

The Cliff House is a famous restaurant in the Bay Area and it had good food as well as an awesome view.

There was a bunch of ruckus on the entry ramps to the restaurant which turned out to be a advertising production company doing an on-site fashion shoot.  Note the fellow holding the sun reflector.  We watched them for several hours.

Looking to the south from the Cliff House gave a great view of the beach area.

The ocean water is cold all year around, but the air temperature this afternoon was almost 80 degrees F.  So, there were more folks than usual in the surf.

The lower level at the Cliff House was nice and it had its own bar area.  We ate and the food was good and the view was outstanding.

After we finished eating we headed out to see the nearby sights in Golden Gate Park.  Above are the Sutro Baths.  They were built in the late 1880s and continued in operation until a fire burned it down in 1964.  Now, all that is left is ruins and memories.

The large tunnel in the far ridge was built for a small commuter train that ran from San Francisco.

We started walking up the hill to a view point and I spotted a clutch of cala lilly plants in bloom.

The hiking path to the viewpoint took us to the high trees.

It was an exceptionally clear day for the Bay Area, so the bugs were out and about.  The flowers were in full bloom attracting various flying insects including bumble bees.

The bee was quick and efficient.  He flitted from flower to flower grabbing pollen where he could get it.

Rounding the point on the trail we got our first clear view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The higher ridges in the park had nice flower specimens.
 


These blooms were drooping down and I had to shoot them from underneath the flower
 


There were a number of white flowers in the park; this was one.  The bloom showed nice, detailed structure.

This bloom  was one of the nicest ones we saw sporting bright reds and subtle yellow colors.

Further down the trail, there was a patch of ice plant in bloom.  The ice plant produces bright purple colored flowers.  These blooms have very intricate internal structure.
 


The trail winds around the cliffs providing great views of the harbor next to San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate bridge.  Note the ship entering the harbor.  He signaled his horn three times as he passed underneath the bridge.  While it was a bit overcast, it was clear enough to see the hills in the distance.
 


Further down the trail we entered trees and brush which provided obscured views of the bridge.
 


On the cliffs below us were some very expensive homes right on the beach.
 


There were plenty of flowers in bloom.  These were on some creeping vine low to the ground.



The center structure of some of the flowers was very complex with intricate structure.
 


Anywhere there are flowers in bloom there are insects at work.
 


We hit the end of the trail and started our return via an alternate route and passed this nice monument on the cliff.



On the return we passed this fellow on a motorized skateboard. The battery can be seen on the underside.
 


Back on the cliffs above the Sutro Baths we spotted two more ships in transit; one leaving the bay and one entering.
 

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2018, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.