doglands

Hopper's Hands

2011-03-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

My new favorite spot to go walking is out by Fort Point. It is a nice hike starting all the way at the west end of Crissy Field, taking one past the Warming Hut, along the winding road that seems to perch precariously between the land and and the unruly waters of the bay, until one is standing at the base of one of the oldest structures in the Bay Area -the brick and stone edifice of Fort Point.

It sits at the base of the mighty and beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, creating an inlet that is a favorite spot for surfers who take advantage of the currents intensified by the multiple man made structures. The city, a postcard perfect silhouette in the background serves as a reminder that this unique spot is indeed in our very own back yard.

A giant chain link fence lines the water's edge. Over the years the salt air and the pounding waves have eroded the metal, staining the concrete beneath a sienna hue.

By far the most interesting thing on the walk is a plaque on the fence at the farthest point anyone can walk. It is red with golden hand prints, and lettering that says, "Hopper's Hands". Even more curious is a second plaque that is also red, with silver paw prints about 4 feet lower at the same spot.

Well, who is Hopper and why are there prints of his hands? What on earth is the other plaque about? I was so curious I looked it up. Hopper was a maintenance worker on the Golden Gate bridge. He used to see joggers and people walking with their dogs go up the fence and touch it with both hands before turning back. This happened numerous times throughout the day. Some people even made their dogs touch their paws to the spot in a symbolism of the turning point in their walk. Hopper found it such a phenomenon that he made two plaques and installed them on the fence. Now instead of touching a fence, the countless pilgrims to the turning point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge touch their hands and paws to Hoppers Hands.

El Camino Del Mar Trail

2010-01-01T19:12:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite places to go walking is Lands End. There are several trails lining the cliffs, and one of the best views of the Golden Gate bridge there is. The area has a strange and varied history. I've decided to save some of that history for later posts because there is so much that is remarkable that it would be a shame to reveal it all at once.

When you first stroll down the upper trail between Fort Miley and The Palace of Legion of Honor, you might think you were walking through the forest prime evil. The large trees and overgrown brush give the impression that the area has always looked that way, the reality of it's fairly recent history nearly unbelievable.

The fact is people have tried to tame that corner of San Francisco since it has been a city, but time and again nature has won in the end. As recently as about 50 years ago that upper trail was a highway called the El Camino Del Mar. A series of landslides plagued the area until finally it was easier to let nature take the trail back over than it was to try and rebuild.

The amazing thing about it is the road is still there. The vegetation and huge trees that you can see there today grow with little or no trouble right through the pavement.

You would think they would have known better than to try and put a highway in that spot. El Camino Del Mar was not the first means of transportation to go sliding down that cliff side. From the 1880's through the early 20th century there was a railroad through there that would bring people to the Sutro Bath Houses for 5 cents. In 1925 it suffered the same fate.

Remnants of the old railroad can still be found at the site. Here, Mesa the German Shepard shows off her find of a rotten rail road tie with a spike still in it.

There are other tidbits for the amateur historian to ponder here. Three shipwrecks line the coast. From The El Camino Del Mar Trail you can see the remains of the Frank H. Buck,(wrecked in 1937), and the Lyman A. Stewart,(wrecked in 1922). You are supposedly able to see the wreck of the Ohian,(also wrecked in 1937) close by, but we have yet to come across it. Later that year the ships were dynamited to beautify the coastline. Old photos give a suggestion of what today cannot be seen beneath the waves, rumored to be revealed at low tide.

We are pretty certain that there is more to be revealed along this beautiful stretch of San Francisco park land. With each new discovery comes more research, and with more research comes new discovery. We'll keep you posted when we find things.

Who are the Stick People?

2009-12-06T22:37:00.000-08:00

We first started seeing the stick houses a few years ago. They started simply enough. I thought them cute, even playful, the dedicated musings of someone eccentric with too much time on their hands.

As time passed the structures became more and more elaborate. The complexity of the work was truly beautiful. It became obvious that whoever was making them was investing hours upon hours into their creation. I began to wonder who was doing this. No one was ever there when I was, no matter what time of the day I got there. I began to feel the odd combination of curiosity and being creeped out.

I mean, did people sleep here? Although this was supposed to be public land I felt like I was intruding. All the same time I wanted to investigate more. These structures are not limited to one area. We find them everywhere in the deepest area's of San Francisco's park land. Is it a group? Do they know each other? Is it all one person who just gets around? What is really going on here?

Until recently, even though the structures were getting more elaborate, they never were much larger than 3 or 4 feet tall. Recently, the structures have been getting larger, the workmanship grander. We have been finding more and more of them. Look at the size of this one. Mesa is a really large german shepard. Here, she is dwarfed by it.
This one is about 8 feet deep on the inside.

Here is another large one in an early stage of construction.

Finally, here is one that has been there long enough for a layer of green ivy to grow over it, nearly concealing it completely to the naked eye. The only thing that gives it away is whoever is usig it chose fresh sticks to cover the door. How many bugs live in the roof of this structure? Knowing that much, who would go inside it?

I find these structures so interesting that I have chosen to not reveal their location for fear that if I did, the park police would destroy them in an effort to stop vagrants from living here. I think this phenomenon is one of the most interesting things I have found in all the doglands.

Found in Nature

2009-12-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

Whenever my human and I come across something in nature that seems a little odd she usually takes a photo of it. Here are a few examples of some of the things that I mean. This isn't the extent of it. I am saving some of the better ones to be the subject for future posts.

For instance, we found this in Golden Gate Park almost all the way out by the beach. What kind of mushroom is this? There are three distinctly brilliant colors, and it is striped. We looked on the web for other examples like this and did not find any. It it edible? We don't know. Neither of us were willing to test it.

Then there is this...

We found this in the Presidio by an abandoned army bunker. Is it just me, or does it look like wooden human toes sprouting up from the ground?

Now check this out...

She took this shot with her camera phone, so it is a little hard to see. Just so you know what you are looking at here, that retaining wall is larger than most people are. See the white part capping the pile of mulch? That ain't snow. That is a giant spider web.

We took a long shot so you could understand the scale of it. The actual web is probably over 20 square feet large, but to get a photograph of all of it we would have had to walk out onto the wood chip pile. Was kind of spider or spiders made such a large web? We weren't going to get close enough to find out.

Tombstone Rain Gutters at Buena Vista Park

2009-11-30T20:14:00.000-08:00

Buena Vista Park is one of the most beautiful parks in San Francisco. It rises steeply upward 589ft from the middle of Haight street, offering breathtaking views of the city. Established in 1867, it is a true Victorian era park. It's spiraling paths ascend through towering century old trees. This stark contrast against the city scape evokes a sense of other worldliness and days gone by.

For a centrally located park, it is surprisingly uncrowded. Local dog walkers have taken advantage of the lack of people, making the parks population more dog than human.

Walking the paths of Buena Vista, one can so easily be taken away by the surrounding beauty that they can miss something quite odd almost directly beneath their feet. The path is black top, and the retaining walls are of stone. Then why are most of the rain gutters made of marble? Follow the paths far enough and before long the reason becomes obvious...it is written right in the stone.

The rain gutters of Buena Vista Park are made from old tombstones. During the great depression the Works Progress Administration constructed gutters using slabs of broken marble recycled from Lone Mountain cemeteries. In some places, inscriptions from the headstones can still be read.

Evidence of this can be found in other places. A piece of an old monument serves as an end post where two paths meet. The reality of the material used probably overlooked daily.

The city's oldest park created from used cemetary materials can't be too creepy of a concept. After all, the headstones may now live in Buena Vista Park, but the graves used to be where the residential houses of the Richmond district now stand.

The next time you go for a stroll in Buena Vista Park, remember to look down and ponder the rain gutters. Take time to remember the people all but forgotten by the progress of a city, for who's memory would seem no more important than paving stones.