So I Walked the Bridge

Okay, catching up ... on Friday May 11th, a coupla days ago, I finally walked the Golden Gate Bridge.  Wow.  I've been talking about this for ages.  First, before I took off, I checked to see if there might be a webcam showing if the bridge was fog enshrouded, because as noted earlier, when I tried to show the bridge to Dian ten yrs ago, and we were on it, driving across it, and we literally could not see it, due to intense fog.  Anyway, in this webcam age, of course there was several, showing it as clear and fog-free, so off I went, taking the 22 bus up the hill to the 28 which goes west to the bridge.  Stupidly, I got off the bus too damn early, and ended up inside the Presidio, miles from the bridge.  But it was okay, as I had the excuse now to walk through those grounds, and they are fantastic on their own.  This place served as I guess a military base during Korean war, I think, and the grounds are stunning and the architecture is for some reason weirdly New England.

Only with palm trees.

There is also a military cemetary here that I didn't know existed, which has incredible views overlooking the bay and the bridge, for god's sake.

As you can see, it was a perfect day - every day here has pretty much been, but was a tad cooler, thankfully, than before - mid 60's.  Anyway, I walked on through the grounds, unsure exactly of where to catch the road to the bridge itself.  Jesus, I could not believe when I'm trying to conserve my energy that I'd gotten off the bus at the totally wrong stop.  An old woman was also on the bus and she got off first, and for some reason I followed her, on impulse, like an idiot.

My little map app on my incredible, god given Iphone was showing me a major road which led to the bridge called Doyle, but it didn't seem to exist.  Turns out this was because Doyle is being entirely torn up at present - huge construction project, and next year or later this year it'll be some incredible greenway, or other.  I learned this from an older retired couple who were out on the grounds walking their two black Scotties.   I stopped to ask them the way, and the whereabouts of a any nearby bathrooms, and then headed off via the shortcut they advised, which was between some of the houses.  A few blocks later I then hit and checked out the cemetary, and then got back out on the road, and amazingly, there they were, the couple, in their SUV, waving to me from the open window and asking if I wanted a ride.  Wow.  Seriously.  So they pulled over, and the woman got out of the front passenger seat, and I thanked them profusely of course, and said, god, you don't need to sit in the back, I'll sit in the back, and she said she would just because the dogs were in the back and she didn't want them 'bothering' me - as if!  So I got up front, and immediately one of the Scotties was at my elbow, licking away and sniffing me from the console area, the sweet little poo.

So these folks were amazingly kind, no?   Taking it upon themselves to bring a total stranger the final mile or two, and dropping me right at the base of the bridge, where there is a turn around spot for buses and such.  Jesus.  I thanked them over and over, and on the way asked them about life in SF and they raved about the place - how can you not?  Imagine being retired, living on that incredibly beautiful, perfectly situated base - just a magnificent part of the city, next to the Marina district and steps to the bridge, and all you have to worry about all day is walking your two frickin Scotties.  I want to be these people. 

So, there I was.  Christ, I've talked about this and thought about this and imagined it so many times.  I'd brought Maryann's pink Red Sox hat to ward off the sun, and her green zip up hoodie thing to ward off the bad wind I'd been expecting, but interestingly, the wind was much worse where I'd been down on the beach a few days prior.  On the bridge it was no problem at all, and the fucking thing was shorter than I'd imagined - would've taken maybe a half hour to get across if I hadn't been compelled most strenuously to stop every few minutes over the eye popping scenery.

That's the thing.  This place is really multiple mind blowers, each on their own would be well enough.  First, there's the bridge itself, of course, then the frickin view of the sparkling water way, way below - it's fucking high up, man, and does make you a teeny bit scared when you look over the railing ...

Then view of the bay itself, including Alcatraz and massive barges and tiny boats that float by ...

Then the stunning views north to the unspoilt Marin Headlands ...

Take a look at that sky!!

And finally the view, way off to the side of you - of the SF skyline. 

Seriously.

 

It was a bit fog shrouded itself that morning, but still.

The bridge itself is absolutely massive, and absolutely crazy-magnificent.  It's just so stunning and graceful and classy and overwhelming in it's beauty, such a totally fantastic tribute/monument/ exquisite example of classic art deco style - this is surely one of the primo examples, and the rust color they chose - such an awesome color - wonder if it was a big deal, choosing the shade - and who was ultimately responsible for choosing it.

Okay, I just checked.  From the FAQ on the official site:

The Golden Gate Bridge has always been painted orange vermilion, deemed "International Orange." Rejecting carbon black and steel gray, Consulting Architect Irving Morrow selected the distinctive orange color because it blends well with the span's natural setting, as it is a warm color consistent with the warm colors of the land masses in the setting, as distinct from the cool colors of the sky and sea.  It also provides enhanced visibility for passing ships.  If the U.S. Navy had its way, the Bridge might have been painted black and yellow stripes to assure even greater visibility for passing ships.

The paint used at present btw is from Sherwin Williams.  The FAQ even gives you the formula, in case you wanna use it on your house, I guess.

Another interesting fact:  the steel used to build it was from good ol' Bethlehem Steel - today it would have undoubtedly come from overseas. 

Oh, also, the bridge opened May 28, 1937 - so in two weeks it's the 75th anniversary.  Oddly, I have seen little to no fanfare about this around town or near the bridge, other than tastefully done flag things on the light poles leading up to, but not on, the bridge.  It seems to me they should be making a big deal out of this, and I guess there will be a ceremony, but come on, people.  Dang.


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Like the Grand Canyon, pictures don't do it justice, but I of course, could not help myself, and took tons.  Please take a gander - and definitely check out my little 360 degree video, down below, which came out awesome, if I do say so myself.

The shot directly above is my favorite.  I love the little porches.  Oh, and here's the video.  It's a bit  skinny for some reason, but I think it came out pretty damned well.:

One very interesting and sickening thing is that the bridge is unfortunately an extremely popular spot for suicide jumps.  

Below this sign - there were I think three of four of them spread out on the bridge - was a button you could press which I guess leads to a suicide counseling service.

According to an article in the SF Gate from last month, the unofficial suicide count for 2011 was 37 people, for 2010 - 32, for 2010 - 31, and so on.  The article quotes a guy saying the bridge is "the top destination for suicide in the world. More people die off this facility than any other on the planet", which is ... wow.  Pretty incredible, when you're there, because ... for fuck's sake.  This is easily, perhaps debatably, one of the most beautiful spots in the entire world.  It's impossible not to get caught up in the magic and the majesty, so it's so fucking hard for me to believe that people aren't, when they come here, disuasded from their plans, just by the sheer magnificence of what surrounds them.  It's so fucked up.  And maybe some people are disuaded - maybe loads of them are.  If it were me, I like to think I'd look around and go, no matter how shitty my life is right now - no matter how black things seems - shit, this place is proof - it has to be - that there are stunning, mindblowingly amazing things in the world, too. 

Just a thought.

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After my walk across, I was now in Marin County, and attempted to make my way to the mountain town of Mill Valley, thinking I'd have lunch at the Whole Foods in town, and revisit the library - you know, that place with the redwood growing inside the whole in the middle of the back deck that I mentioned in a much earlier post - the place Maryann and I found positively bewitching when we were here in '92, and that I have a framed photograph of hanging in my living room.  But the bus system was not with me.  I had to use Golden Gate Transit, which are actually much nicer, comfier buses than the local Muni, but they run fucking once an hour, and I wasted a lot of time waiting for bus, then missing the connection in surprisingly shitty Marin City - wow - there is actually a low rent town in the middle of billionaire's county?  (Fifth highest per capita in the U.S. at $91,483.)  The fucking Marin County Civic Center - so often a city's ugly 70's cement slab mistake/nightmare, was designed in this case by fucking Frank Lloyd Wright. 

This is like, George Lucas territory.  Anyway, I gave up and headed back into the city and was thankful to do so.  Being out in what felt like the sticks, waiting at bus stops which were nonetheless pretty and scenic

But otherwise pretty damned nonexistent, ie I sat at the base of a tree, both to avoid the sun, and because there was absolutely nothing in the way of any sort of seating or bench.  Anyway, I was tickled to return to city, and take my lovely F train streetcar home.  The retired couple had told me about a thing that happens on Friday nights at 5pm by the Marina Safeway - some outdoor event with a bunch of local restaurants offering samples of their wares and such - which sounded tantalyzing, but I was too friggin beat to hang out that long.  Perhaps next time.