Thursday, February 16, 2017

A Little Walk Through Golden Gate Park


So I wanted to go see the Bison Paddock inside the Golden Gate, so I followed my directions and promptly got off at the wrong Muni stop. I got off at the last stop which was Ocean Beach, so I decided to take a couple of pics of the surf while I was there:




Somebody told me that Bison Paddock wasn't too far away (about a 15 minute or 20 minute) walk through that part of Golden Gate Park, so I decided to take some pics on my walk:

A monument to Polar explorer Roald Amundsen

One of the first things I hit was the North Dutch Windmill. There are two in the park, the north Dutch  one was completed in 1903 and south Murphy one was completed in 1908. They were built to pump groundwater for the park. Within 15 years, electric pumps had replaced them and by 1950's the windmills were in a state of ruin. The city restored the Dutch one in 1981 and the Murphy one was finally fully restored in 2012. These first couple of pics are from the Dutch Windmill:



And from the distance, the southern Murphy Windmill:


Then I continued to walk:








Then I finally made it to the Bison Paddock. Back in the day, small herds of bison called Golden Gate Park. In 1890, a distinct bison cow and one bison bull were transported from the rolling Great Plains to the urban paradise of the Golden Gate Park and have been there ever since. The bison paddock at Golden Gate Park has played a small part in the species recovery. Through a successful captive breeding program, more than 100 calves have been produced from the group residing at Golden Gate Park:






All kidding aside. I am glad I got lost. I got to see some really cool things in Golden Gate Park. 

11 comments:

  1. I visited the Bison on my first trip to Golden Gate Park. It's a bit of a shock to see them there, you don't really expect it, but they're awesome.

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  2. Cool area! I love the windmills. Thank you for sharing at Link It Up Wednesday!

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  3. Some of the best adventures happen when you get lost. I didn't know about the bison, but would love to see them. I usually get waylaid at the Japanese Tea Garden and don't go anywhere else.

    Thanks for partying with us every week on #FridayFrivolity. I always love to see what you bring to the party.

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  4. You got some good exercise and some nice pics along the way. Bison, that would have been great to see them.
    Kathleen
    Blogger's Pit Stop

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  5. Sometimes getting lost can throw up some real gems. #LovinLifeLinky

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  6. As always, I enjoyed seeing your photos and learning more about the area you are exploring. So cool to read about the Bison and see photos. It sounds like being lost certainly added to your trip overall. Thanks so much for linking up with Fabulous Friday!

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  7. We've got a state park close to my little Texas town that has Bison. I admit that the Bison are much too big for me to want to get very close to them - I know that there's no way I could outrun them! Your photos are beautiful and I especially like the Dutch windmills. Thanks for sharing at Over the Moon. Hope to see you again next week.

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  8. Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing on Sunday's Best.

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  9. a stroll down memory lane for me. i used to live across from the park and would bike or jog there after work every day. it was amazing!

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