Places I'm Visiting: Corona Heights, San Francisco

Last week, on a fairly lazy day in San Francisco, I visited The Lost Art Salon, about which I recently posted. On the same day, I found myself on a hilltop and near the Randall Museum, which I had passed before when driving around the city but knew nothing about. Curious, I stopped and tried to find the place (which turned out to be a museum mostly catering to school groups, a mixture of natural history exhibits and exhibits about the history of San Francisco, including a large model train display).

Trying to find the museum entrance, I quickly got lost. The museum is in a little park and perched atop a rocky crag that I later learned was once known as "Rocky Heights" (today the area surrounding is called "Corona Heights.") The rocks were interesting, showing bands of the brownish-red Franciscan chert that is all over the city and along the coast in Northern California but interspersed with bands of pale yellow and greenish rock that my geologist friends surmise is simply the same Franciscan chert but weathered. 

The views from the summit, reached by a walking trail were excellent (the bottom photo here is the view to the south along the streets parallel to Castro St.). Atop a railing, I encountered a pair of ravens. Apparently used to people, they allowed me to walk by within a few feet without much fuss. I descended from the rocky summit after taking in the views and eventually I found the museum. After a short visit, I proceeded to SF MOMA to see what there was to see.