Stairway to Heaven

Wow, it's already Thursday. That's awesome and frightening all at the same time. I meant to write this post like two days ago! Here it goes...

Pumped up from Sundays trek, I went out Monday to the Inner Sunset and West Portal. First, I started with the Hidden Garden Steps at 16th. Honestly, this photo was not altered. It was just the result of the sun and my iPhone 5s.

After being blinded by the sun, I made my way to my first hill, Larsen Peak at Grand View Park. This place was quite popular. Lots of local runners getting their steps in and even some youths having a city day.

Grand View Park is a good name for this spot. You can seriously see everything. Ocean, Golden Gate Park and Bridge, Downtown, and the back of Twin Peaks. Quite grand, quite grand indeed. 

From here I made my way towards Golden Gate Heights and I passed this really neat rocky outcrop, which I think is aptly named "Rocky Outcrop" and a friendly polar bear. 

Alright, not a real polar bear. But look at that thing. Pretty much to scale. When I got up close to it it looked like the same material you use to make a piñata. I bet this polar bear can carry a lot of candy.

To get to the top of Golden Gate Heights, also known as Forest Hill, I took this sandy path.

I'm a big fan of sand and San Francisco is built on a lot of sand. And on top of this hill's sandy surface is an enchanting canopy of trees.

I had never been to this park before but I will definitely go back. I felt really calm under the trees looking out at the Pacific. And pretty sure this couple pointing at the ocean agreed with me.

After this hill I thought I might be done for the day but then I took a look at my map and noticed another hill that wasn't on my list...Hawk Hill. I was so close to it that I had to check it out. I turned on Google Maps and put my volume on high so I could hear the voice directions. I ended up on a dead end street. Seemed a bit weird but I went with it. 

I climbed over a guard railing and walked up another sandy path to a broken down fence. 

Then at some point along the broken fence Google Maps said "Take a right." As you can see from the picture, there was no where to go on the right. It was just me and an old dirty street cone. 

It was quite the adventure. A little creepy and at some point I did have a slight fear I wasn't getting off that hill and I might be eaten by hawks...but I made it home alive. I even got to take this lovely little alley way behind rich people's houses to West Portal. 

By the time I went to sleep Monday night I honestly had forgotten I had a job and that I had to go to work the next day.  So Tuesday morning I was completely puzzled by the alarm clock on my phone. Can't wait to get out for my next hills. And here is to finding more weird ones like Hawk!