Grand RV Tour: Half Moon Bay & Golden Gate Park

This morning we headed across the Santa Cruz Mountains to the coast to visit Half Moon Bay and then drive up the coast to Golden Gate Park just west of San Francisco. Our first stop was Pillar Point on the north edge of Half Moon Bay. Pillar Point is the peninsula that forms the northern border of the bay. Here is a photo from Wikipedia that shows the bay with the peninsula at the north end.

On top of the bluffs at the end of the peninsula is Pillar Point Air Force Station that has radars and large dish antennas for receiving telemetry from satellites, missiles and boosters that are launched out of Vandenberg AFB 250 miles to the south. This site was originally built as a fire control site for the harbor defenses of San Francisco and provided azimuth data to coastal batteries that protected San Francisco during World War II. Here is a photo I downloaded from the web that shows the current configuration of the station.

On the south side of the peninsula is Pillar Point harbor. Here is an aerial view of the harbor that I down loaded from Wikipedia..

We walked out along the south edge of the peninsula so we could get a better look at the breakwater and the end of the peninsula. Here is a photo of the breakwater on the north side of the harbor.

And some fishermen trying their luck out on the breakwater.

And here is the marker and fog horn at the entrance to the harbor.

Here is a photo of the commercial fishing pier inside the harbor.

Off the end of the peninsula are a group of rocks and here you can see the surf breaking on them.

And a fishing boat working its way past the point.

What Pillar Point is famous for is the world class surfing that happens offshore in the winter. Apparently, the configuration of the seafloor forces the waves to build to enormous size about two miles offshore. This site is know as Mavericks and waves routinely top 25 ft. and can reach 60 ft. during winter storms. Conditions permitting there is an invitation only big wave surfing contest every winter. There is even a movie that was made about Mavericks. Here is a link to the trailer.

Or if you want to see the whole movie, here is the link:

And here is a photo I was able to download showing the size of the waves. If you look closely you can see a surfer

Unfortunately, a couple of big name surfers have lost their lives trying to surf Mavericks

Continuing up the coast we came to an overlook where I took this photo of the beach and the coastal bluffs in this area.

After this we headed up the coast on California 1. Our next stop was the Devil's Slide Trail. This is a section of the coast where CA 1 had been cut into the bluffs along the coast. However, frequent slides forced the state to move the highway back from the coast and route it thru tunnels. They then took the old road and converted it to a walking trail. Here is a photo of the start of the trail.

You can see why they had trouble with slides as the bluffs in this area are very sheer and the rock very crumbly. Here is a photo of our son David on the trail. This area was very windy and cold and we had to button up our jackets to stay warm.

Here is a photo looking north up the coast.

And some of the offshore rocks.

The rocks had lots of birds on them and their dropping stain the rocks white.

There were two guys flying one of the quad rotor drones over the shoreline. They really knew what they were doing as they flew the drone out to sea until it was just a speck and then brought it back and did it again and again. The trail we were standing on was the only place that they could land as everything else was either ocean or cliff. At one point they climbed up into the clouds and you could not see the drone at all but eventually brought it in for a safe landing.

A little further up the trail we had this spectacular view of the coastline to the north.

More bird infested rocks.

And the coastline to the south.

We then stopped in the town of Pacifica for lunch. and then continued up the coast to Golden Gate Park with our first stop at Fort Funston.

The land for this fort was purchased in 1900 and was used for coastal defense during World War I and II and in the 1950s and early 60s it had a Nike anti aircraft missile battery. What it is famous for now is as a world class hang gliding spot on top of the 200 ft. tall bluffs along the shore. The prevailing winds are on shore and when they hit the bluffs they create tremendous updrafts that the hang gliders use to fly. The secret of hang gliding is that the vertical velocity of the updraft along the face of the bluffs is higher than the rate of descent that the glider is capable of, i.e., the glider is always falling but the updraft that it is flying in is rising faster than it is falling. Here you see several hang gliders awaiting their turn to fly. They set up behind the row of trees to keep out of the breeze.

When it is your turn to fly, you strap yourself into the glider and then take a running start for the cliff edge as you can see this pilot doing.

The updraft then catches you and off you go soaring up and down the beach. You have to fly along the edge of the bluffs as that is where the updraft is. If you get too far out or get behind the bluffs you loose the updraft and have to land. However, once you are in the updraft you can cruise for as long as you want.

They also have two man versions and here you see two guys getting ready to jump off he cliff.

And here they are cruising effortlessly along.

During World War I and II they had gun batteries installed on these bluffs to protect San Francisco Harbor. Here is David standing in front of the land side of Battery Davis which was built in 1938 and housed a 16" gun with a range of 26 miles. It fired a shell weighing 2,400 lbs. There was a second gun emplacement 600 yards up the beach.

Here is the interior of the battery.

And here is a view of the ocean side of the battery.

And here is what it looked like in 1948.

We then continued our drive up the coast all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. And here you see a photo I took of the bridge.

This photo shows what is left of Battery Marcus Miller. This gun battery was completed in 1897 and had three 10" guns for protection of the entrance to San Francisco Bay. The guns were removed in 1920.

This is Battery Boutelle which was completed in 1900 and had three 5" rapid fire guns that were designed to defend against mine sweepers and fast torpedo boats. It lost its guns in 1917 as they were needed in the field during World War I.

We then drove into the Presidio. This Army fort was originally built by the Spanish in 1776, passed to the Mexicans and then to the US in 1848. In 1994, the Army left and the Presidio became part of the Golden Gate National Park. This photo is of one of the old officer's houses that line the Lincoln Avenue right along the coast and overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. The Presidio had a lot of living quarters for the officers and enlisted and their families. Today, those quarters have been refurbished and can be rented. Prices range from $3,200/month for a one bedroom 600 sq. ft. apartment to $11,500/month for a four bedroom 2-1/2 bath, 3,700 sq. ft. house.

This photo is of Torpedo Wharf. There has been a pier at this location since 1854. It was originally built to aid in the construction of Fort Point. It got its name when the Army built a submarine mine depot next to it around 1908 and used it to load mines on ships which would then plant them around the harbor as a defensive measure. The current pier was built in 1941. Today it is used as a great place to take a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge or to go crabbing or fishing..

Here is one of the ferries that you see running all over the bay taking passengers across the bay. If you look closely you can see a brave wind surfer skimming along just in front of the ferry and out in the middle of the bay.