Up, up (and don't stop)Twin Peaks the two hills are not my favorite places for views of the city for several reasons: it's usually excessively breezy at the top, and despite the hills' modest altitude -- a little over 900 feet -- they are so far above it all that it's hard to make out the depth of the surrounding landscape, that is, the hills below the Peaks, as the three mountains are known. These are Mount Sutro, Mount Davidson and the Twin Peaks. Or four mountains if you count the Twins as two mountains.
Nevertheless, here is a modest wide-angle shot, reduced to a 1024 x 768 pixel array for your consideration, complete with labels for the direction I was facing. I was actually standing outside a parking lot just below the northern peak. And the sky really was that blue that day, which was July 4, 2002.
Twin Peaks the neighborhood on the side of the hills does have some delectable views. You can actually see the slant of streets below you. Market Street-Portola Drive traverses the area. A turnout at the summit is a good place for photography. One narrow-angle sampling is at the right. Notice the rooftops of adjacent houses in the right-center part of the picture ascending and descending on hills. View shots are not much of a challenge around San Francisco. The challenge is deciding what to keep.
And oh yes. I would be remiss
if I omitted a shot of the Mt. Sutro Tower, which one hardly ever sees
anywhere else around the City. When you're on the next hill over,
the danged thing is right there in all its magnificence, one of the few
mountaintop towers anywhere that are actually taller than their mountains.
Smile, San Francisco. This is your Eiffel Tower, and in Paris, they're
saying that they only wish they could have the Mt. Sutro Tower
there. I have heard several San Franciscans wish that, too.
The view from Twin Peaks
(click for 1024 x 768 image)
Only a fifth as high as Reno
on the ground.
View from Market Street
turnout
(click for 1024 x 768 image)
"Oh! So that's the Mount Sutro Tower they keep talking about."
