San Francisco – Chinatown, Nob Hill, and the Financial District: 10 January 2016

The weather forecast for Sunday 10 January looked promising. I took BART to the Embarcadero on Sunday morning, did a 5.6-mile ramble through different San Francisco neighborhoods, and finished the ramble at Fisherman's Wharf.

Click on an image to see the full-size photograph.

A view of Chinatown, as seen from Sacramento Street, looks southwest. 

The approximate distance traveled was 5.6 miles. The approximate elevation gain was 570 feet. The track has mile markers and was generated by a GPS device. 

This graph shows the elevation changes encountered during the ramble. 

The former headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Construction was completed in 1924; the building is located at 400 Sansome Street. 

L'Occitane is located in the Financial District at 2 Embarcadero Center. 

This picture was taken at the intersection of Kearney Street and Sacramento Street. 

A view of Chinatown, as seen from Sacramento Street. The view is looking southwest.

The intersection of Sacramento Street and Stockton Street. All overhead wires are part of the San Francisco Public Transit System. The cables are electrified, and they provide power for the fleet of electric buses that traverse this area. 

The Fairmont Hotel; is located on California Street. 

This mansion is located at the top of Nob Hill, and construction was completed in 1886. It is one of two structures on Nob Hill that survived the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906. The mansion was the former home of James C. Flood, a silver baron of the 19th Century. He made his fortune from silver mines located in Virginia City, Nevada. The mansion is now the home of the Pacific-Union Club. It is San Francisco Designated Landmark #64 and is located at 1000 California Street. 

The Nob Hill Masonic Center is located at 1111 California Street. 

A partial view of Grace Cathedral, located on Taylor Street at California Street. A San Francisco Municipal Railway cable car travels down California Street to the Financial District, its final destination. 

This intersection is at Polk Street and Pine Street. This locale is part of the Polk Gulch neighborhood. 

San Bruno Mountain is visible in the distance. The picture was taken from the intersection of Pine Street and Larkin Street. The view is looking south. 

The Nichiren Hokke Buddhist Church of America; is located at 2016 Pine Street. 

This picture was taken from the top of Fillmore Street. The view is looking north. 

A view of Mason Street as seen from Sacramento Street. The view is looking north. 

Rambling down Fillmore Street and heading towards San Francisco Bay. 

A view of the San Francisco National Maritime Historical Park. The three-masted, steel-hulled, square-rigged cargo ship in this photo was launched from a shipyard near Glasgow, Scotland, in 1886. The ship is known as the Balclutha. It had 26 men and carried cargo around Cape Horn South America, 17 times. 

A view from Aquatic Park Cove. Mount Tamalpais is in the distance. The upper portion of the mountain is shrouded by clouds and is inundated with rain. The view is looking north. 

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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com  

A walk from San Rafael to San Francisco: 29 December 2015

A new experimental Golden Gate Transit bus route 580 recently went into service from the East Bay communities of Emeryville, Berkeley, and Albany to San Rafael. UPDATE: After six months of operation, Golden Gate Transit has decided to cease service on Route 580 due to insufficient passengers to make the route financially viable. Too bad.

This Marin ramble will start at the San Rafael Bus Terminal and conclude in San Francisco.

Click on an image to view the full-size photograph.

A view of Sausalito.

The approximate distance traveled was 18.4 miles. The approximate cumulative elevation gain was 1,064 feet. Mile markers are shown on the route. 

It is 7:47 am, and I am waiting at the Berkeley bus stop on San Pablo Avenue. Here comes the bus going to San Rafael. 

The bus is crossing the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. 

The San Rafael Transit Center. It is 8:19 am, and I am ready to ramble! 

Walking south on an old railroad right of way when the trail enters this old railway tunnel. The original tunnel was constructed in 1884 and was owned by Northwestern Pacific Railroad. The current version of the tunnel was built in 1924; trains ceased using the tunnel in the 1960s. In 2010 a portion of the 1,106-foot long tunnel was converted to a pedestrian/bike path and named the Cal Park Tunnel. It is a direct connection between San Rafael and Larkspur.

Crossing Corte Madera Creek, the pathway is adjacent to US Route101. Mount Tamalpais overlooks the action. 

We are crossing the Mill Valley-Sausalito Path over Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio Creek. This pathway is also on a portion of the old Northwestern Pacific Railroad line. 

On the Mill Valley-Sausalito Path, looking back at the route just traveled. 

Tamalpais High School's track. The school is in the background, and the picture was taken from the Mill Valley-Sausalito Pathway. 

Houseboats permanently docked in Sausalito. 

Downtown Sausalito. 

Sausalito's tourist/shopping area. 

A view from the Sausalito shoreline. 

Beautiful Angel Island as is seen from East Road, which is located on the site of Fort Baker. In 1863, during the Civil War, Angel Island became the site of US Army Base Camp Reynolds. You can see Camp Reynolds in this photograph. It is straight ahead at sea level. The green Parade Ground is visible. A white building is located at the upper portion of the Parade Ground. This view is looking east. 

Fort Baker. 

The parade ground at Fort Baker. Officers' Quarters buildings are in the background. 

This view of the Golden Gate Bridge's northern terminus looks southeast. The steel latticework supporting the roadway is currently undergoing structural upgrades, as is the steel latticework supporting the southern terminus of the bridge. 

A view of San Francisco is seen from the northern portion of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

On the bridge looking back at Marin County. 

We are now in the Presidio looking at the former location of Crissy Field. Crissy Field became a US Army airfield in 1921. The National Park Service took control of the area in 1994. By 2001 the former concrete aircraft landing pad was demolished, and the land was returned to a more natural state. Thank you, National Park Service. 

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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.