Category: Site_visit

25 May 2024, Point Reyes National Seashore (Marin County, SF Bay Area)

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25.5.2024, Point Reyes National Seashore (SF Bay Area)

Visited: McClure‘s [McClures] Beach, www.nps.gov/places/point-reyes-mcclures-beach.htm: A moderately-steep and sandy creek-side trail … descends from the parking lot … In spring and early summer, the trail is dotted with brightly colored wildflowers … McClures Beach is an isolated and beautiful cove that is exposed to the Pacific Ocean surf. Thundering … waves crash on shore …

Point Reyes National Seashore, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Reyes_National_Seashore: … maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricultural uses are allowed to continue within the park … The Point Reyes peninsula is … geologically separated from … almost all of the continental United States by a rift zone of the San Andreas Fault … about half of which is sunk below sea level and forms Tomales Bay … The northernmost part of the peninsula is maintained as a reserve for tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes), an elk subspecies historically native to the region.

24ff May 2024, ♣ Berkeley: Tilden Park

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24.5.2024ff, ♣ Berkeley: Tilden Park

Southern hike in Tilden, with trailhead = Steam Train Parking lot (off Grizzly Peak Boulevard) – Hiking to the North / NW, Vollmer Peak trail, Seaview trail, Quarry trail, Lower Big Springs trail, Arroyo trail, and again Vollmer Peak trail (24.5.2024).

Northern hike in Tilden, with trailhead = Inspiration Point (off Wildcat Canyon Road); Nimitz Way up to entrance of Wildcat Canyon. Coyote sighting (29.5.2024)

Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilden_Regional_Park: … Its steep valleys and dense stands of timber offer a rare wilderness experience so close to the city. Its high ridges and peaks give wide views over the San Francisco Bay and inland … to Mount Diablo.

Both hikes included segments of the emerging SF Bay Area Ridge Trail, https://ridgetrail.org/, currently featuring a length of 400+ miles.

22ff May 2024, ♣ San Francisco inkl. Exhibition „Turning the Page“, Golden Gate Park, Café Trieste

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22.5.2024ff, San Francisco inkl. Exhibition „Turning the Page“, Golden Gate Park, Café Trieste

Golden Gate Park:

Selected SF highlights:

  • Golden Gate Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Park. – The Nature Conservancy’s exhibit: Nature’s future is our future. „You are here. Walk through two possible Californias … Your future depends on clean air, clean water and a healthy planet. So does theirs …
  • Pier 24 Photography (The Embarcadero); Exhibition „Turning the Page“, April 15, 2024 – January 31, 2025, https://pier24.org/exhibitions/: … In its more than ten years, Pier 24 Photography has exhibited many thousands of photographs … Turning the Page … looks at and celebrates the photobook, a medium that has undergone its own renaissance … Each of the galleries presents works from a distinct photobook, whether an iconic volume or a recent monograph. The content, sequence, and design of each selected book guided our approach to that particular installation, aiming for a thoughtful translation of its overall tone and intent … // Selected photobooks represented here (cf. exhibition booklet) – Jim Goldberg (1995): Raised by Wolves; Richard Avedon (1985): In the American West; Masahisa Fukase (1986): Karasu (Ravens); Robert Frank (1958): Les Américains (The Americans); Ed Templeton (2023): Wires crossed; etc.
  • Caffe Trieste (North Beach), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffe_Trieste: … an internationally known coffeehouse, retail store … The original cafe, opened in 1956, was the first espresso-based coffeehouse on the West Coast … considered a San Francisco institution and a local hub for poets, writers, and beat culture …

21ff May 2024, ♣ Berkeley, incl. Pathways & People’s Park

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21.5.2024ff, ♣ Berkeley, incl. Pathways & People’s Park

Selected highlights:

  • Berkeley Pathways (pedestrian paths); Berkeley Rose Garden; Codornices Park
  • People’s Park: undergoing major transition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Park_(Berkeley): … a plot of land … owned by the University of California, Berkeley … a symbol during the radical political activism of the late 1960s … established itself in the early 1970s as a de facto public park before it was closed off in January 2024. The City of Berkeley declared it a historical and cultural landmark in 1984 … UC Berkeley plans to build 1,100 new units of student housing and 125 units of supportive housing for homeless people on the site …
  • Former Dwight-Derby Married Student Housing.

People’s Park undergoing transition:

Food & coffee notes: Berkeley Bowl (2 locations, incl. Berkeley Bowl West, 920 Heinz Ave.), Cheeseboard (1504 Shattuck; Worker owned co-op since 1971); Caffé Strada (2300 College Av. – started in 1989); original Peet’s Coffee (Vine & Walnut Street; www.peets.com: Alfred Peet wasn’t trying to start a coffee revolution when he set up shop in 1966 in Berkeley, CA. He just thought Americans deserved a real cup of coffee …), La Val’s Pizza (Euclid Av.), Gather (2200 Oxford Str.).