Tag Archives: conzelman

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Rusted Gate and Concrete Wall, Battery 129

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Rusted Gate and Concrete Wall, Battery 129
Rusted Gate and Concrete Wall, Battery 129

Rusted Gate and Concrete Wall, Battery 129. Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California. July 14, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rusted gate against a weathered concrete wall at the entrance to a tunnel at Battery 129, Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

At the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, Conzelman Road leads up into the Marin Headlands along the San Francisco Bay side of the ridge. This road is a favorite place for overlooking the Golden Gate and its famous bridge along with a large expanse of San Francisco and its Bay and points east. In mid-July the road was not accessible from the usual spot near the end of the bridge, so I detoured around towards the “back entrance” via the road to Rodeo Beach. From this road I turned up into the hills and joined Conzelman near its summit. I made a few foggy photographs of the Bay, but my main interest was in trying to find photographs in the old batteries and other abandoned military facilities along the ridge running out toward Point Bonita.

At the summit of the hill, before the road becomes very narrow and many people turn back, is “Battery 129.” There are several tunnels into this facility from alongside the road and a separate route leads up the hill to the old structures on the summit. I took one of the two tunnels under the hill and as I entered the second section I saw this old metal gate against a weathered concrete wall, illuminated by light leaking in from the end of the tunnel.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Offshore Fog Bank, Marin Headlands

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Offshore Fog Bank, Marin Headlands
Offshore Fog Bank, Marin Headlands

Offshore Fog Bank, Marin Headlands. Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California. July 14, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Offshore fog lies beyond Point Bonita and Rodeo Beach and the Marin Headlands of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

I was surprised to find a clear view like this during my mid-July visit to the Marin Headlands of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) across the Bay from San Francisco. I had almost decided to stay home or go elsewhere based on weather reports that had the coast completely socked in my dense fog for most of the day. Indeed, it was foggy as I passed through San Francisco and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. The fog was high, and I could see some distance beneath it, but it was still a rather gray day.

Since the lower section of Conzelman Road, the normal quick and scenic route up into the headlands, was closed for construction, I took that alternate route that passes through a tunnel to come out near Rodeo Beach. I turned left up the hill to reach the upper section of the road. After photographing near Battery 129 for a while, the sun began to break through the fog, and I was surprised to find a fairly clear patch just outside the Golden Gate.

The photograph shows the last section of the headlands as the hills drop towards the historic fort and batteries near the Point Bonito light house, which is barely visible at the end of the peninsula on the left. The line of surf at the upper right is Rodeo Beach, a popular spot with Bay Area folks.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)