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Lake Merced, San Francisco
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The parking lot where Sunset Boulevard hits Lake Merced Boulevard was large.
Although bordered by trees, the lot had no interior trees for shade.
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A path runs four miles all the way around the lake. That path was littered
with exercise areas such as this one. The path is mostly flat, so it is a good
place to exercise for young children and the less physically able. The path also
passes near the San Francisco Zoo.
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A statue of Capitan Juan Bautista De Anza
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There are statues all over the world of soldiers and explorers mounted
gallantly atop a fine horse. But how often is that horse mentioned
on the plaque below? In the instance of this statue, the horse remained
anonymous.
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The most scenic parking spot of all was reserved for the disabled.
Part of one of the three lakes with one name (Lake Merced) was visible
just beyond.
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Clean, well maintained benches were located in shady spots around the lake.
Each such resting place had a fine view of the lake below.
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A path across the narrow part of the lake led to the
Harding Park Golf Course
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A sign explained why it was important to say on the path. The sign read in part:
The Problem: Polluted Urban Runoff
The Solution: Retrofitting the urban Environment
These planting areas are capturing runoff!
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A Red-shouldered Hawk
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The bridge across the narrow gap where the lake pinched together.
The gate was there to prevent pedestrian access to the Golf Course
when the Golf course was closed.
The plastic covering the fence was put there to inhibit the spread
of invasive species of plants.
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The devil is in the details. Although the overall park, path and lake appeared
well maintained, a closeup view would often reveal trash and litter near the edges.
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The lake was large enough for dragon boats to rehearse. On this day there were
two practice dragon boats circling the lake. Rehearsal was for the the International
Dragon Boat Festival
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Young kids were paddling this dragon boat around Lake Merced.
The dragon boat races take place in September each year on Treasure Island.
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A good time to visit Lake Merced is in the early spring on a day
that is not raining. You will find many flowers in bloom along the paths
and in Harding Park
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Fishing is permitted in the lake with a fishing license. Fishing docks appeared
here and there around the lake. Access to these fishing docks were not indicated
with signs, nor were there paved paths to access them.
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A huge, triangular shaped golf course
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Lake Merced is a good area for bird watching. Here was a black phoebe
caught
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The path to a fishing dock was unmarked and not easily found.
Here a dirt path led off to the left and wound under that tree.
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The path to a fishing dock was partly paved with a small wooden bridge
over a minor creek.
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The view from the fishing dock
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The path continued from the fishing dock along the edge of the lake.
It was paved with wood chips and appeared intentional.
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A fallen tree blocked the path that led from the fishing dock. If you walked that far,
you would have to backtrack to find another trail up and out.
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Most of the path around the lake borders neighborhoods. This section was on Lake Merced Boulevard
between Sunset Boulevard and Skyline Boulevard. This one section of Lake Merced Boulevard was
quiet and residential.
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The neighborhood that bordered the lake had that typical Sunset District look.
Two-story, residence-over-garage style homes.
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The path continued along Skyline Boulevard. A number 18 bus stop was at the
intersection of Skyline Boulevard and Lake Merced Boulevard. The path was wide
and picturesque, but noisy with a busy flow of many cars.
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The trees of Lake Merced along Skyline Boulevard were individually
numbered with small metal tags. There was no indication anywhere
around the lake that described who numbered these trees nor why.
Each tree had a different number and the numbers increased as we neared
Harding Park.
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A hummingbird perched on a branch and appeared to be looking over the
lake beyond.
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For those of you who enjoy bugs and have keen eyesight, many insects and spiders
could be found inhabiting this lake.
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A double-crested cormorant
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Here the lake could be seen in its wide splendor. We were looking east toward the narrows with the
bridge in the distance. The Harding Park Golf Course is on the distant right.
Harding Park is just visible with a dock jutting into the water on the far right.
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Harding Park
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The path around the lake was not only a good place to walk and exercise, it was also
a pleasant place to bicycle.
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The view of the lake as seen from inside the Harding Park Golf Course.
Although it is much more scenic from inside the golf course, the way through
the golf course was not at all pedestrian friendly.
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The path down to the bridge from the Golf Course side. Note that the wide
path in front continued from the electric cart path that pedestrians were
not supposed to walk. The winding narrow path to the left was meant for
pedestrians.
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