Walking Corona Heights With Poppy the Impatient Puppy

Walk #19 - Corona Heights

A view from the Corona Heights walk, near the summit.

Oh Poppy, my Poppy, I must be such a good dog owner, you have been walking like a dream puppy on our regular walks. It must be time to graduate to puppy girlhood and go on a more advanced walk with your "master". (Imagine a puppy snickering.) I finally get to take my advanced little dog on a nice relaxing and picturesque walk that I have been meaning to do for months, one of the Stairway Walks in San Francisco. This is a book by Adah Bakalinsky and includes twenty-nine, you'll never guess it, stairway walks in San Francisco. I bought the book after hearing an interview with her on Forum on KQED. Here is a link to the archived broadcast: Urban Stairs of the Bay Area. For our first stairway walk, I chose Corona Heights because it was close by (See the mapped route of Walk #19 at the bottom of this post). As fate would have it, it was a beautiful and frustrating walk, thanks mostly to Poppy the Impatient Puppy!

Okay, I will take full responsibility that I made many misjudgements:

1. I chose to wear old jeans that I haven't worn in months. I forgot I needed to wear a belt with these jeans and I spent the entire two hours continually pulling my pants up (ask me why I didn't turn around and get a belt!). 
2. I chose to take a shoulder bag instead of my usual, small backpack. This kept rubbing on my t-shirt causing it to hike up and up above my jeans, so I spent the entire two hours continually pulling my shirt down. 
3. I chose to take Poppy the puppy, who kept pulling on her leash ahead, behind, to the right and to the left, to sniff, chew and jump on whatever her nose desired, so I spent the entire two hours pulling and tripping on the leash trying to control her. 
4. I was actually trying to follow the directions of the walk in the book while managing the first three.
5. I was actually trying to take photographs, the kind where you need to be still while the shutter is clicking. Have you tried taking a photograph while a puppy has wrapped its leash around your leg and is trying to run after a leaf?

So, if you can imagine, I spent two hours walking up and down hills and stairways while trying to pull up my pants, pull down my shirt, follow directions, keep control of an rambunctious puppy and take photographs. Well I did get some exercise and I did enjoy the beautiful weather and I even got some photographs of some nice views, to see them, continue on.

On our way to the designated walk.

Sidewalk stairs on our way

Rows on Palm Trees in San Francisco!

A nice San Francisco sidewalk (except the couch...).

Geez, why can't I get this to grow at my house?

On one stairway down, we got drenched by sprinklers.

A nice tree along the stairway down.

Poppy, pulling me up more steps.

Poppy says: "Hurry up! Let's go!"

I make Poppy wait, but she is focused ahead.

A view of downtown from the hills we climbed.

Of course, Poppy wants to run up the stairs.

Some nice rows of San Francisco.

You gotta love the crazy streets and hills.

The summit of our walk, 400 ft.

A wider view of a San Francisco neighborhood.

Sutro Tower and surrounding neighborhood.

Another look, I couldn't help myself.

Some wildflowers growing out of the rocks.

Park Hill condos, which used to be St. Joseph's hospital.

Poppy is enjoying the wind in her ears and the views.

A wider view in the other direction, towards downtown.

A shot of the summit and its view beyond.

Wildflowers growing near the summit.

The steps down from the summit.

My lens cap rolled down this hill.

We arrived back at the house, I, frustrated with Poppy and glad to be back. As I unlock the front door, Poppy decides it would be a good time to pee on our neighbors doormat adjacent to our own. There are no words for my horror (our neighbor doesn't really like that we have a dog). I let her finish (what else can you do at that point?) and went inside and immediately opened a cold beer, glad to be finished the walk with Poppy the Impatient Puppy.

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