Sunday I arose at the crack of mid-afternoon and glared disdainfully at the large unfinished section of map covering Potrero and Brandon’s favorite neighborhood, Dogpatch. I’ve nearly spanked Mission Bay, but the area south is completely untouched except for a stroll after stuffing myself at Hard Knox Cafe. So still a bit hung-over from last night’s whiskey bar visit, I loaded up on water and struck out over the hill.
Near the Potrero projects, 22nd turns into a dead end for cars and a sloping dirt path for walkers. The path itself was neatly kept, and surrounded by carefully managed flowers and shrubbery. There are even a few bright blue wooden benches strategically tucked into shady parts of the trail. Google has a decent picture of the lower outlet.
At the end of 23rd, the wreckage around an old PG&E building reminded me of a scene from downtown Grozny. Bits of debris and graffiti were everywhere, and the surrounding fence enough barbed wire to make a supermax prison blush. Strangely enough, the facility seemed to still be operating, because the parking lot had several shiny new company trucks parked neatly in a row. The randy monkey above is a paste-up from the end of 23rd, right before the fence, roughly hyah.
A block over on Humboldt, the power company had claimed a large portion of what once was a public road. I was met by a gate and a elderly security guard, to which I played dumb, saying I was just trying to find an access road to the bay. “This place isn’t for casual walkin’,” he said, wrinkling his push broom. Having obviously had no visitors in days, he tried to be helpful, but I assured him I’d figure things out myself. “Have a good one,” I shouted back. “Likewise!”
After winding through the neighborhood for hours, I returned home for dinner. It proved to be a record day, 19.9 km (12.4 miles), nearly a half marathon. At this point I feel pretty good about taking on all 15 miles worth of streets on Treasure Island with Coop.