The Golden Gate Bridge

We enjoyed the luxury of time to just wander about the Golden Gate Bridge and see it from all kinds of angles. These views were from an afternoon walk along the bicycle path to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Behind the bridge are the Marin Headlands which we would explore later.

Note that the windsurfers travel all the way out to the bridge and under it, which is a considerable distance from the beach from which we saw them launching.

This is a portion of another 24mm/polarizer shot with Fort Point showing under the south end of the Golden Gate.

Below is a section of the great cable that suspends the bridge.

From the roadway level for the bridge, we got a great view of downtown San Francisco, gleaming brightly in the afternoon sun.

We continued to walk on the trail westward from the bridge and got views of the coastline. We also got this view of the dense housing that comes as close as possible to the coast.

I liked this view of the bridge from the west side from our walking trail. The boat passing under appears to be a seagoing tug. From that point we could look down at the surf on the west side of the bridge.

Another nice view of the Golden Gate as we crossed the highway to the east side.

On this nice afternoon there were of course a lot of tourists visiting the Golden Gate, and there was a 10K race being run across the bridge.

Well, if I didn't get every angle on the Golden Gate Bridge, it wasn't for lack of trying. We really did enjoy the opportunity to explore the whole area on foot and by boat, and at a leisurely pace.

Here, we had walked down to the water's edge near the bridge and near Fort Point.

This is a Civil War-era brick fort, completed in 1861. It lies directly below the southern end of the span. Interestingly, no military action ever occurred here. Fort Point never saw action during the Civil War, and the advent of rifled artillery soon rendered this type of fortification obsolete. During construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss redesigned the bridge to preserve the fortress as a "fine example of the mason's art."