Just to be confusing, the Golden Gate Park is not near the Golden Gate Bridge – you can’t even see the GG Bridge from the GG Park. The large park near the GG bridge is called the Presidio.
But back to the GG Park: This fabulous park is a large neat rectangle about five kilometres long east to west, and about a kilometre wide north to south, making it about 20% larger than Central Park in New York. It is situated in the north west of San Francisco, with its western end right on the Pacific Ocean.
To stabilize the ocean dunes that covered three-quarters of the park's area, the first stage of the park's development in the 1870s centred on planting trees, mostly Monterey pine, Monterey cypress and guess what, Australian blue gums. Like many of the blue gums we saw in California, these were seriously ENORMOUS.
Even their leaves seemed to be bigger than the leaves of Australian eucalypts.
These may well be Monterey pine and Monterey cypress.
There were interesting obstacles along the way.
Nasturtiums, as well as blue gums, seem to have naturalised here.
Laura walks beside the bison paddock.
Bison were first introduced to Golden Gate Park in 1891 by the Park Commission, as the native American animals were on the brink of extinction. Over 100 bison calves have been born in the park since then. The bison currently in the park are descendents of two bison introduced in 1984 as a gift to then San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein from her husband, Richard Blum. There probably aren’t two many women whose husbands have given them a pair of bison as a present.
Bison typically live anywhere from 20 to 30 years. Sadly, after coming home, I learnt that one of the five bison, Tenny, died the day we were there, after an illness. Tenny was 20 years old. Then, on July 19th, another bison, 28 year old Pretty Old Cow, also died.
There were lots of squirrels in the park.
They were eating seeds that seemed to have been laid out for them.
The park is a peaceful sanctuary in the busy city.
The tree on the right could be a Monterey pine, with some Monterey cypress behind it. In the background can be seen one of San Francisco’s typically hilly streets.
Occasionally we would come across little gardens, with roses…..
…..or nasturtiums…..
….. or foxgloves.
“In 1903, a pair of Dutch-style windmills were built at the extreme western end of the park. These pumped water throughout the park. The north windmill has been restored to its original appearance and is adjacent to a flower garden, a gift of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. These are planted with tulip bulbs for winter display and other flowers in appropriate seasons. Murphy's Windmill in the south of the park is currently being restored.” (Wikipedia)
We must have been having an “appropriate season” as there were no tulips.
At the western end of the park we crossed the road to the beach. Laura has never seen this beach without fog.
Spreckles Lake is named after sugar magnate Adolph B. Spreckles who also served as San Francisco's Park Commissioner. (Now that’s a good way to get a lake named after you.) Spreckels Lake is the home waters of the San Francisco Model Yacht Club, so we were entertained by model yachts (and their owners) as we ate the picnic lunch Laura had made for us (prune salad – family favourite!)
The lake featured a stone tortoise where real tortoises could perform gymnastics.
We didn’t stay long, as it was quite cold and windy – Laura saw fit to photograph me with the hood of my jacket fastened tightly (and unflatteringly), and email the photo to Anna and Paul.
As we drove home, just a few hundred metres down the road, the park was warm and sunny, and people were out sunbathing. That’s San Francisco.
![[IMG_0522%2520-%2520Copy%2520%25282%2529%255B3%255D.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDgJLz3aHCXj0bU0jOrnyw9dl_H0wy-CEPQRul5YjZeJhMtI7E-H-G6yJ87AWBh4MNm71Jo_Ps5p9K21l4ZHC7eXMMU1YcsWM2d3K_tgkOenaiHqqkpntqHnfRpikgFMPPLEP54j3hgk/s1600/IMG_0522%252520-%252520Copy%252520%2525282%252529%25255B3%25255D.jpg)
But back to the GG Park: This fabulous park is a large neat rectangle about five kilometres long east to west, and about a kilometre wide north to south, making it about 20% larger than Central Park in New York. It is situated in the north west of San Francisco, with its western end right on the Pacific Ocean.
To stabilize the ocean dunes that covered three-quarters of the park's area, the first stage of the park's development in the 1870s centred on planting trees, mostly Monterey pine, Monterey cypress and guess what, Australian blue gums. Like many of the blue gums we saw in California, these were seriously ENORMOUS.
Even their leaves seemed to be bigger than the leaves of Australian eucalypts.
These may well be Monterey pine and Monterey cypress.
There were interesting obstacles along the way.
Nasturtiums, as well as blue gums, seem to have naturalised here.
Laura walks beside the bison paddock.
Bison were first introduced to Golden Gate Park in 1891 by the Park Commission, as the native American animals were on the brink of extinction. Over 100 bison calves have been born in the park since then. The bison currently in the park are descendents of two bison introduced in 1984 as a gift to then San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein from her husband, Richard Blum. There probably aren’t two many women whose husbands have given them a pair of bison as a present.
Bison typically live anywhere from 20 to 30 years. Sadly, after coming home, I learnt that one of the five bison, Tenny, died the day we were there, after an illness. Tenny was 20 years old. Then, on July 19th, another bison, 28 year old Pretty Old Cow, also died.
There were lots of squirrels in the park.
They were eating seeds that seemed to have been laid out for them.
The park is a peaceful sanctuary in the busy city.
The tree on the right could be a Monterey pine, with some Monterey cypress behind it. In the background can be seen one of San Francisco’s typically hilly streets.
Occasionally we would come across little gardens, with roses…..
…..or nasturtiums…..
….. or foxgloves.
“In 1903, a pair of Dutch-style windmills were built at the extreme western end of the park. These pumped water throughout the park. The north windmill has been restored to its original appearance and is adjacent to a flower garden, a gift of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. These are planted with tulip bulbs for winter display and other flowers in appropriate seasons. Murphy's Windmill in the south of the park is currently being restored.” (Wikipedia)
We must have been having an “appropriate season” as there were no tulips.
At the western end of the park we crossed the road to the beach. Laura has never seen this beach without fog.
Spreckles Lake is named after sugar magnate Adolph B. Spreckles who also served as San Francisco's Park Commissioner. (Now that’s a good way to get a lake named after you.) Spreckels Lake is the home waters of the San Francisco Model Yacht Club, so we were entertained by model yachts (and their owners) as we ate the picnic lunch Laura had made for us (prune salad – family favourite!)
The lake featured a stone tortoise where real tortoises could perform gymnastics.
We didn’t stay long, as it was quite cold and windy – Laura saw fit to photograph me with the hood of my jacket fastened tightly (and unflatteringly), and email the photo to Anna and Paul.
As we drove home, just a few hundred metres down the road, the park was warm and sunny, and people were out sunbathing. That’s San Francisco.
It’s funny how the same names keep popping up. Adolph B. Spreckles, of Spreckles Lake fame, was the husband of Alma Emma de Bretteville Spreckles, considered by many local historians to be the "great grandmother of San Francisco" and who was the model for the Victory statue in Union Square. Presumably she didn't have to stand on one leg the whole time she was modelling.
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