Walking at the Golden Gate Park

I have been staying in the house despite the good weather because I've been busy working on my school projects. So on the rare chance that I had no project due and I wanted to walk around, I ended up in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park again. I was surprised to be welcomed by this announcement:

It's a good reminder because people at the park are in close proximity with wildlife. A little nudge towards the safe side is always welcome because I was walking in one of the most forested areas in the City (if not the most).

While walking on the main path, I noticed that white cherry blossoms were starting to emerge. It brought me back to my tour of Tokyo's cherry blossom-filled suburbs. I wonder if the arrival of spring is also widely celebrated here as it is in Japan.

As I walked further down, I noticed more flowers. In other days, I'd rush through the park because I wanted to see museums. But this time, I stopped to inspect the flowers I haven't been paying attention to on previous visits. I have never realised how small California lilacs are until I've seen these blooms. 

These daisies reminded me of Meg Ryan's character, Kathleen Kelly, in You've Got Mail. She said that daisies are the friendliest flowers. And seeing them growing outdoors made me smile instantly.

All these flowers got me thinking: I haven't seen a rose garden in full bloom in California yet! So took a detour and searched for the park's very own rose garden. I was glad that I didn't have to walk too far to find it. Expecting a grand entrance, like in Shakespeare's Garden, I was quite surprised that the rose garden was only indicated by a sign post.

               

But the drama was on the walk leading to the garden. I had to walk past a grove of pine trees, for instance. And given the beautiful afternoon light, I just had to let myself be distracted again to catch this view.

The garden itself, however, was still empty. The roses haven't finished hibernating and only a few leaves have sprouted.

That's okay; I could always visit again later in the year. Back on the main path, I encountered this rock garden which had low-lying plants that were not bothered by the strong winds passing the park.

The path was exclusively for pedestrians. People on bikes had their own lane, which is good because I've seen fast bikers in the park. And after my data visualisation Citi Bike project, I started noticing people who rent those Ford Go Bikes.

Anyway, further down the road, I encountered the only statue of a woman in the whole park. It is entitled "Pioneer Mother" and was on exhibit at the Panama-Pacific International Expo in 1915. Seeing this gave me the idea of going on a statues tour next time I visit the park.

Just as my feet started to feel the distance of my walk (it's not that far but I wasn't wearing ideal walking shoes), I came across a pointer to the "Prayerbook Cross". Curious, I climbed the dirt path to discover what this monument is all about.

It's a forested area quite close to Fulton Street, with many pine trees pointing to the sky. The sun was setting so I decided to just take a close look then double back because it would be dark soon.

It's a really peaceful place despite the proximity to the road. I thought that whoever placed the cross there knew that it would have a calming atmosphere, with all the trees around. The cross itself was a surprise. I had thought that it would be a regular cross. Instead, it's a Celtic cross (often associated with Ireland and Britain) with a lot of inscriptions on it. According to these inscriptions, it was given as a gift to the park in 1894 to commemorate the first service held by the Church of England in 1579. It also commemorates the first version of the Common Book of Prayer that arrived in the USA west coast, if I understood correctly. Aside from being religious, the cross marks an important part of USA history.

The noise of the busy street was masked by the constant flow of water somewhere close to the Prayerbook Cross. I looked around and realised that I was on top of a waterfall! I couldn't take a good photo because it was fenced at the top so I went back onto the main road and saw the full length of Rainbow Falls. It doesn't have a rainbow at the moment and it didn't spill out multi-coloured water so I wasn't sure about where the name came from. Nevertheless, with this accidental visit, I have completed seeing the two waterfalls of Golden Gate Park; the other one is Huntington Falls at Strawberry Hill, of course.

It was finally time to go back home. I had a bus and then a train ride to catch so I tried to find the shortcut. I ended up following this dirt path that ended up in puddles downhill; I didn't want to get my shoes all muddy so I walked back to the asphalt walking path and discovered that the nearest exit was through the rose garden.

And that's when I started seeing roses! Yes, there were only a few flowers welcoming park visitors. I could only imagine how beautiful this place is when the rose bushes are in full bloom!

I thought I have explored all the venues I wanted to visit at the Golden Gate Park. However, this trip has given me more ideas for my next visit. Hopefully when the weather is a bit warmer... if it ever gets warm in this part of the city.