City Walk: Presidio (#88)

If you look up the Golden Gate Bridge on GoogleMaps, directly to the south, there's a big green area - that's the Presidio. It's 1490 acres - much of which is just open space. It used to be a US military post, as recently as 1994. Congress wrote a law stipulating that if it wasn't needed by the Army, it would be maintained by the Park Service and become part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. So, here we are. This walk only covers a tiny part of the Presidio, specifically in an area called Fort Scott, named after a general.

We walked by the parade grounds, and all the old barracks which are being updated to be leased out as housing. We walked by the pits where the artillery used to test dynamite, the Brig and the officers Rec Hall. We peeked through windows of other abandoned, decrepit buildings. We explored the old batteries where cannons used to protect the California coast line. It's a bit creepy - an entire civilization completely abandoned and just allowed to run down. Except that on the parade ground were people out for runs, walking their dogs and a little league baseball game. Strange juxtaposition.

It is one of the only places in the city I've visited where you get pictures from "behind" the bridge, and this is the only spot to get them so close. From here, you can see how the bridge actually has a bit of a rise in it that you don't notice from far away, or when you're on it.

This is the pit where they used to blow things up. We couldn't get inside of it, and Dan was sad.

This is one of the buildings that has recently been renovated, you can tell from the non moldy paint on the exterior. I couldn't get over the fact that they installed the chest high phallic looking artillery shells on either side of the entrance. For serious?

We completely missed this cemetery when we drove in, but had to stop and take pictures once we finally noticed it. Clearly, the similarities to Arlington Cemetery are obvious, but this is much more secluded.

Walk Stats:1.8 miles, 70 minutes

Coming next: My dad as a guest blogger!