A Glimpse at Lands End in San Francisco

It is Lands End!

It’s not Land’s End as I thought it was. Land’s End is a headland in Cornwall, UK. A headland is a narrow piece of land that projects from a coastline into the sea.

I have always been fascinated with Land’s End or that place in San Francisco that brings to mind some brand of butter. I  was telling Nellie how I learned about the iconic place  while she drove. 

“Catherine Lim? That’s the name of my niece!”

“I meant Amy Tan.” 

I corrected myself after a quick Google check. Amy Tan is the American Chinese author who wrote a book titled “Bonesetter’s Daughter. In the book, a character named Luling referred to the “Land’s End” as some kind of an amusement park. Luling also associated Lands End as a wasteland in her village in China called “End of the World” where bones of the dead are scattered.”

Lands End is definitely not anything near Auguste Rodin's depiction of  "The Gates of Hell"  at the Stanford University, Nellie's backyard, literally.  Even if  this headland was once a dangerous strait where scores of sea vessels from tiny fishing boats to ocean faring ships in transit met their end, Lands End  which is the gateway to San Francisco Bay,  is definitely not  the "End of the World" nor a wasteland where bones are scattered.

From Palo Alto and a brief stop at the Foster City for me to look for feral cats Project Bay Cat area, every coastal city that Nelly and I drove through were lands ending into the ocean which is what a coastline is.  We drove through Half Moon Bay, Pacifica and other coastal cities of the Bay Area whose names I remember seeing only at  Google maps. If it was some science fiction movie, the scene would be have been cars being sucked into giant nostrils. The giant nostrils is also known as the Devil's Slide Bypass Tunnel or the Tom Lantos Tunnel. 

The Cliff House, along with the ruins of the Sutro Baths, are among prominent landmarks built after  the European settlers came. Adolph Sutro, A German immigrant arrived in California during the Gold Rush bought real estate and constructed public attractions at Lands End. Sutro built the Sutro Baths, then the world's largest indoor swimming complex in the late 1890's to early 1900's. 

The Yelamu people, part of the Ohlone tribe of Native Americans, were the first inhabitants of the area. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe comprised all of the Native American aboriginal communities of the San Francisco Bay Region.The Yelamus  lived in self-sufficient seasonal villages with everything they needed from fresh water from hillside springs to fish and shellfish from the shore. 

Aptly named, Lands End is the westernmost tip of San Francisco, a place where lands  end and the vast Pacific Ocean begins. Lands End is the  the gateway into the San Francisco if you’re coming from Shanghai, China by ship.  Shipwrecks, however, were common in the wave-gnawed coastline where scores of ships, from tiny fishing boats to huge ocean-going streamers have met their end.

Two miles offshore, the San Andreas Fault runs in a norh to south direction beneath the Pacific Ocean. Lands End was said to be once part of the ocean floor but as a result of North American and Pacific Plate continuously smacking each other, lands and ocean floors shifted at the rate of 2 to 4 inches each year and after like billion years, coastal mountains emerged. 

Across Point Lobos Ave. is Balboa St where the Sutro Heights Trail starts. The scenic wooden step trail features wildflowers such as the yellow bush lupines and a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean.

With warnings not to overlook the danger of falling off the cliff into the wave-gnawed coastline that wrecked scores of ocean faring vessels, the Coastal Trail provides more than a glimpse of the coastal bluffs and forests that make Lands End a haven for wildlife. The native vegetation and what was left of forests after  trees were  cut down for firewood and construction materials provide a refuge for birds and ground dwelling animals. Resident and migratory birds are known to make up a large part of Lands End animal population.

Somewhere along the Coastal Trail is the China Beach, a sandy cove between Lands End overlook and Baker Beach. It was on this trail that Gelena, an ex-girlfriend found a genie. I was thinking of the same genie while I tramped on the dunes at Sutro Heights Trail. As I tramped, I could only say a prayer to help myself from  wandering into thinking about being trumped:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

 According to a National Park Service pdf file titled "Vestiges of Lands End", tramping encouraged  women physical exercise, outdoor recreation and independence from chaperone leisure in the 1800's. Lands Ends' hills, beaches and rocks for climbing and dramatic views was a favorite spot for tramping.  Tramping which  was a health fad for European women in the bay area in the is what we call hiking today.

The response of the Chinese community to the anti-Chinese immigrant sentiment in the Lands End area which is included in the National Park Service vestiges document is still as crisp as it may have been: Eat your heart out.  Nellie and I did not get to China Beach but not far from the Sutro Heights trail head head at Balboa street is the Empero Taste, the best Chinese restaurant I have ever been to. Nellie  and I rewarded ourselves to a cod we said hello to before it was steamed with black beans. Their steamed  fresh oysters, glorious!