Funston Fort and Beach

Where the hiking trails merge into the sand...

Some time ago I wrote about The Ocean where I walked south along ocean beach upto the start of Funston Beach. I had never been to Funston Fort, so after that day, I had decided to make a trip to hike there and walk along the beach. Well, after having done that, I want to go back to go for a long walk along the beach, from San Francisco to Pacifica; it is simply gorgeous every time there no matter if it is freezing or foggy or sunny.

There is plenty of parking at Fort Funston with trails in both directions. I hiked a couple of miles around there with no definite direction. The start of the trail greeted me with this view.

A different view of the Golden Gate bridge and views of Ocean Beach.

There is the ghost plant and wildflowers everywhere you look.

I had no set agenda on the hike. Just took off to explore one of the trails that was completely sandy. That is because most of these trails are on sand dunes which are the size of large cliffs. The sand trails make it challenging and beautiful at the same time.

The customary bench shot on the paved trail.

The first of the World War II batteries was installed here - Battery Davis. This section of the coast is full of batteries installed during the time of the second World War, painted over with beautiful graffiti.

After a couple of miles, I wanted to walk another couple of miles along the beach. The trail to the beach is steep and sandy and has steps. I missed the descent though and landed up going down one of the dunes on a sandy stretch. Even if they look steep, they aren’t steep in the true sense along the dunes. After all, who can complain with these views all along the stretch of the trail? There is a vista point from the parking lot which explains the history and the fact that San Andreas fault passes through right there and thereafter, goes past the rock (see photo below this) into the water. This is also a popular hang-gliding spot, and you can see one of the gliders in the first photo. I saw one person strapping up and getting ready to take off - really cool! I wonder if I would ever have the guts to do that.

On the way back, I did not miss the stepped trail which is really steep.

The beach stretch is lovely of course. And if time weren’t a constraint, I could go on. Also, during these COVID-19 times, I am reluctant to use any public restrooms. So I plan all trips, as mentioned before such that I don’t need to use them.

There are many hawks visible from closeby. This particular one was as though it was hanging for a very long time.

The fort itself is marked with an orange flag. As you can tell from many of the photos, the ghost plant seems to have taken over the entire area, which, even though looks good, isn’t necessarily a good thing for the other plants.

It was hard to bid adieu to the beautiful surrounding but had to get back to work.

The lone cypress on the dune was fascinating to me. I will be back soon.

Everyone was well masked and distanced. It felt very safe. If you haven’t been there yet, I would urge you to visit at least once.

All photos unfiltered and taken on my phone camera.