Hiking in the Mountains. Downtown.

I had no idea that San Francisco was built, literally, in the mountains. They didn't bother leveling anything, they just built the city up and down the edges of the mountains. The picture above is taken from Russian Hill, with Telegraph Hill in the background. That's Coit Tower on the top of Telegraph Hill. Google "Coit Tower" and "Telegraph Hill" for some interesting reading. The cable car costs $5 per ride, but you can buy a 7-day pass for only $26, which I did. But the pass is misleading. The queue's to ride the cable cars contain hundreds of people, and only 1 cable car comes by every 10-15 minutes. I had to wait until almost midnight to get a ride with a decent wait. Fortunately, the pass also gives me bus privileges and tram and streetcar privileges, so I get to ride up the hill from the conference hotel. The conference hotel is at the Bottom of Nob Hill, but my hotel is at the TOP of Nob Hill. The cable car system was put in primarily because it is a lot of work trudging up and down mountains every day.

They call them hills, but in reality, they are very steep small mountains. And they are all over. All of these pictures were taken from the ground somewhere. Click on the pics for the bigger version and look how high the hill is compared to the valleys.

The view above is from Telegraph hill looking south towards downtown. The view below is also from Telegraph Hill, looking east towards the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The picture below gives you some idea of how steep the side of some of the hills can be.

Looking west towards more hills. You can see the edge of the bay peeking out at the far right.

I don't have a picture of my hotel, but my hotel is the Stanford Court at the TOP of Nob Hill. The conference is at the Union Square Hilton at the BOTTOM of Nob Hill.

Stanford Court Hotel is built on the site of the former mansion built and occupied by Leland Stanford, Sr. back in the 1800s. Mr. Stanford was the president of the Union Pacific Railroad and is the bewhiskered executive who drove in the golden spike at Promontory, Utah. He bequeathed the endowment that founded Stanford University. His palace, sitting on the spot where I'm sitting as I write this, was destroyed in the fire after the 1906 earthquake. This hotel was been here since the 1960's. I'm staying in one of the six "club floor" rooms normally reserved for VIP's. Being a platinum member, I upgraded and got one of these nice six rooms. The hotel guest list (historically) contains dozens of notables including Truman Capote, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Bing Crosby, Bill Cosby, Ronald Reagan, and dozens more. I could be sleeping in the bed used by any of them, who knows. It's comfortable, especially after a long day's hike in the mountains, up and down the sidewalks of San Francisco.

This is taken from the bay, looking south. Downtown is obscured by the hill in the way.

It's darn cold here. The high temperature each day has been near 60, maybe 65 downtown and only 50 on the bayfront. The low has been in the low 40's. Brrrr. Glad I brought my flannel shirts.

Golden Gate Bridge

I saw a sign in Fisherman's Wharf that said, "Golden Gate Bridge, 2.9 miles". I figured I could easily walk six miles round-trip the bridge and back. What I didn't realize was, the sign was intended for cars, and it was not the distance to the bridge, but to the entrance ramp for the expressway that ultimately leads to the bridge. The bridge is more like 5 or 6 miles from Fisherman's Wharf. It took me over 2 hours of very brisk walking to get to the bridge, walking along the chilly, windy, waterfront. Below is the view looking back east, from the bridge. Click on the picture for the big version, and look way, way, off into the background, and you will see just how far it is from the bridge back to Downtown San Francisco. It's even longer when the wind is blowing and it's 50 degrees outside, and you're wearing only a flannel shirt. Yes, I walked the entire way, down and back. Took me about four hours total. Nice hike for an old, arthritic gray-haired geezer. But the bridge is definitely impressive.

These pictures are actually in reverse order.

The picture below is taken from about halfway between the Wharf and the Bridge.

Crookedest Street in America

Lombard Street is billed as the crookedest street in the U.S., perhaps the world. The surprising thing is, it wasn't the steepest street I saw. But it definitely was steeper than anything I've seen in any other city. This shows Lombard Street from Telegraph Hill (the next hill over). You can see the crooked part at the far end of the street in the exact center of the photograph. The crooked part of Lombard is on "Russian Hill". The cable car line runs across the top of Lombard Street. Downtown is to the left (south) in this picture, while Fisherman's Wharf is to the right (north). This is looking due west.

Fisherman's Wharf. And lots of people...

Everyone who knows me, knows how much I just LOVE crowds. I lasted about ten minutes here before I decided to take off and hike the five miles to the bridge.

Scenes from Fisherman's Wharf...

Below: The world-famous "Cannery" on Fisherman's Wharf. It has been gentrified into a food court and shopping emporium. Every time one of these duck boats would start off after stopping at a traffic light, everybody on board would say, "quack, quack, quack". Some of the people on the street would reply, but I can't post the reply here without causing censorship problems...

Fisherman's Wharf is due north of my hotel about two miles. It is about a 20 minute ride on the cable car. The wharf runs for about a mile east and west along the edge of the bay. There are several old ships -- ferries, schooners, tugs, houseboats, etc., in a National Park museum along the waterfront. My National Park pass got me in for free. The ferry dates from the early 1900s, and is a side-wheeler, although you can't see the paddlewheels since they are covered by the siding. The old Ghirardelli chocolate company's headquarters as at the west end of the wharf. This is looking due west. If you click on the picture and look closely between the lampposts, you can just make out the towers of the Golden Gate Bridget way in the background, about five miles distant. You'll notice that the clear blue sky can turn to total overcast fog in about five minutes. It can also clear up just as fast. Amazing. The sailing ship dates from the mid 1800's. It sailed between 'Frisco and England during the Gold Rush of 1849. Notice the fog is clearing somewhat.

Again, notice the blue sky, and compare with the fog above... these two pictures were taken just a few minutes apart, from locations about 400 feet apart.

Alcatraz ... and Birds...

The island is way out in the bay, perhaps a mile or two. This is a telephoto view. I didn't pay the exorbitant price for a ferry trip out there. It was too cold... probably 40 degrees and windy and raw. The water is so cold it will turn your skin red if you stay in it for more than a minute or two. I can see why this island would make a great place for a prison.

Sea Lions at Fisherman's Wharf

They have their own floating platform in the marina harbor.