390 walking about


So there's more running around in my head about metaphysical stuff and birthdays and big life movements, but maybe it's going to wait a bit to get out.


In the meantime, Deb and I went on a walk around Twin Peaks yesterday. For a few years, I've been hearing about the paths behind Laguna Honda Hospital. Yesterday was the day to finally explore them.

After a bit of searching, and finding a park with bathrooms I've never seen (come on, got to build that mental map of bathrooms!), we found an entrance off Clarendon Ave.

It would appear that the hospital used the gulch behind them as a garbage dump. Or maybe they used garbage in burlap to help sure up the trail. The bottles look old, but most had screw caps, so they're probably not more than fifty years old.

There were a lot of them, above the surface. It seemed like we were walking over a bit of landfill, so there are probably a lot more underground.

Did I mention the hospital probably used this as a dump? That light fixture on top looked pretty salvageable.

And then we found an above ground stream. This drains into Laguna Honda. As far as I knew, there are only a couple above ground streams in the city, most have been buried. The others are in Glen Canyon and the Presidio. But clearly there must be more, at least seasonally.

Don't bother planning a rafting trip.

Then we emerged to see the hospital itself. We're looking at their therapeutic garden and petting zoo.

Then we turned back, and found the missing ingredient to a route I've been seeking, my own southwest passage. A couple years ago I was working up in Laguna Honda and looking for a way to walk home directly over Twin Peaks. Yesterday, we found it.

You go through the hospital grounds, past these tanks, and boom, you're in Twin Peaks.

From there it was an easy climb to the top of the mountain, then downhill back home. Pretty sure we were closer to 800 feet, my phone's altimeter is not airplane grade.

Any idea what this tree is? The leaves look like live oak, but have berries. The bark is really unique, but I didn't get a picture. Google says it's a lemon berry, but they don't grow around here.


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