adventures in San Francisco

[angledge]

effrontery asked me for some LJ entries documenting my "adventures in San Francisco". I haven't had too many adventures so far, but I suppose yesterday's outing qualified. I went for a hike on Angel Island with my friends Carrie & Jil to look at the spring crop of wildflowers.


That's the green island in the Northwest corner of the map.

The trip started with a ferry ride. I met my co-worker Jil at Pier 41 & we took a Blue & Gold ferry out to the Island. Carrie met us there, having caught a ferry from Tiburon in Marin County. The ride over was an auspicious start to the day, since the weather was absolutely perfect & the views astonishing. Arriving at Angel Island, I was struck by how strange it was to be on a fairly undeveloped island, located in the middle of one of America's largest urban centers.


At 10:30 AM, we started on a hike led by a Park volunteer, who was well-versed in the local botany & pointed out numerous species of flower, all just starting to burst into bloom. This photo shows the group walking underneath enormous ceanothus shrubs, which were covered in both blue flowers & bees.


Not quite all the plants on the Island had gotten spring fever. We passed through one section that had been subjected to a controlled burn.


But for the most part, we spent the day wandering through groves & fields filled with flowers. It's a great time of year to be outside - nearly everything was blooming.




The hike took us to the top of Mt. Livermore, which at 788 feet isn't exactly a Munroe, but it did provide us with some incredible views. Looking Northwest into Marin County:


Looking South into the City:


Looking Southwest out into the Pacific:


Six hours later, full of sun & ice cream, Jil & I finally made our way back to the City. I met up with my housemates on Haight Street, where we went music shopping at Amoeba & ate baby-leg burritos at El Balazo. The next morning, I discovered that spring has arrived even in my backyard.


So there you have it. As adventures go, it was pretty tame, but as weekends go, it was pretty enjoyable.

Comments

[ketaki.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm just popping in here uninvited to ask a question. I hope you don't mind, and that I haven't hit any nerves...

For the record - I didn't know Long Island was that beautiful at any time of the year! I feel educated.

But to the point, I wanted to join the community ljdq, but I don't feel I can contribute to the quizzes at the moment as I have rare internet access. On the other hand, I enjoy reading the quizz answers daily and would like to watch if that is allowed.

Is this allowed, or would I need to participate to be a member?

Participation preferred, but certainly not required.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

You may lurk in the LJDQ community as long as you like. Become a watcher, & the LJDQ Answers will amuse you every Monday. Just pop out of the woodwork every once in a while to say hello, oooookay?

And I hope you were joking when you said Long Island.

Re: Participation preferred, but certainly not required.

[ketaki.livejournal.com]

Yes - I was joking - sorry... am not American and therefore I feel the need to occasionally take the mickey.

Ooh - great, I can lurk - I will join in with insane randomness on the occasions I am online. Thank you!