15 miles in Inner Sunset


Well, I did it:  I walked 15 miles.  And, to be perfectly honest, I thought I was going to die.  By the end, I felt hideous.  The realization that I have to walk 39 miles in exactly two months is starting to freak me out.  I need a lot more endurance training!


To be fair, the Inner Sunset is only partially flat terrain.  The first four streets south of Golden Gate Park are flat.


Inside the neighborhood, there are three hills on which streets twist and turn.  Hills suck.


Some streets just cease to be streets and turn into stairways where the cliff sheers off.


This is my favorite set of stairs.  These happen to be the mosaic steps that were tiled by Colette Crutcher, the artist I met on my Bernal Heights walk back in December.  They really are a beautiful piece of art.  Here's the link for more info on the stairs: http://www.tiledsteps.org/




The housing ranges from very charming...


...to used-to-be-charming-during-the-cold-war-era.  That said, take a closer look at the view this little fixer-upper has!  Can we say flip-per?!


The houses on the top of the hill around 14th and Moraga have a sensation view of the bay,


downtown San Francisco,


and the Pacific Ocean.  I don't know about you, but this exemplifies the "California Dream" to me.  Ooh, ahh!


The camera doesn't capture how amazing this view is.  Then again, maybe it's only amazing to me because I can take in from above just how much ground I have walked.  This is a view of most of the Sunset District.  At this point, I've walked about 80% of it.


The focal point of this neighborhood is St. Anne's Catholic Church.


It is big and gorgeous.


And it was kind of fun spotting it at various points in my walk, as I twisted and turned up the hills in front of it.  Kind of like 'Where's Waldo.'


As for businesses in this neighborhood - there were the usual restaurants and stores.  A few stood out.  This vacuum store was one of them.


This shoe repair place was another.


At the 14-mile mark, I was really starting to lose it.  When I saw the rainbow on the ground, I thought I was having a stroke.


I was relieved to see the rainbow was actually being made by the stained glass across the street.

In all, the walk took almost six hours.  This was only 15 miles and it pushed me to the max, which means I'm gonna have to really work on endurance training in the next sixty days if I'm going to be able to handle 39 miles.  Ack!  As I panic about this prospect, you can discuss the appropriate time to take down Christmas decorations. 


Easter weekend? You be the judge.

Comments

  1. What a wonderful walk around my neighborhood! I've done similar ones but not one this extensive (usually I just walk to the beach from 9th and Irving down Judah or Kirkham or Irving). Your photos are wonderful.

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