Alex Bovee

I hiked up to Twin Peaks yesterday with Lilly on my back.  We started from the East side in Noe Valley around 29th and Church.  Since we got going around lunch, we stopped at St. Paul’s Market to grab a bite to eat before heading up the hill.  I’ve never been to St Paul’s before, but holy crap, what a sandwich ($5 bucks for a 2” stack of meat).  Lilly ate half the sandwich and then we hit the road.. half a block later, she was asleep!  So much for keeping me company.

The first part of the hike is straight up the hill into the Diamond Heights neighborhood.  If you’ve never walked up that hill, it’s a serious sweat buster - especially if you’re lugging a 30 lb child and 15 lbs of stuff.  Noe is about at sea level (I believe Everytrail logged me at 88ft), but you end up around 900ft at the top of Twin Peaks.  Roundtrip I logged a little over 4 miles, so it’s about 2 miles to the top depending on which roads you take.  The hike up is absolutely beautiful, with lots of great views of the Mission and downtown San Francisco.  Once you get to the top, you can then see the ocean and a nice view of the Sutro Reserve. You can also see the top of the Golden Gate bridge a bit off in the distance.  I’d definitely recommend making this trip on a warm, clear day, as I’ve been up in the Twin Peaks area when the weather sucks, and it can get really cold and windy.

Highlight of the trip: There were a couple of students at the top of the hill discussing the challenges of transitioning from normal to sub-orbit flight.  Seriously.  #OnlyInSF

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