Saturday scenes and scenery: Mt. Davidson park

Much of the year, the west side of San Francisco is fogged in. A cloud blows in off the ocean and blankets the area we call West of Twin Peaks. But occasionally, especially in the fall, we have clear days on which we can take in the view from our hills. Yes, that brown stuff out there is smog over the East Bay, but nowhere is perfect and this sure isn't bad.

This view is from the flank of the public park that surrounds the 103 foot tall Mt. Davidson cross.

The 40 acre park combines wooded paths with windswept ridges. Most visitors seem to live nearby; it is not exactly a destination to which many people drive.

Many of its entrances seem almost hidden.

The enormous cross was dedicated in 1934 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. I can't help wondering whether the huge concrete structure was a Depression era stimulus project?

In any case, public ownership of this gargantuan religious symbol became controversial in the 1990s. After a legal battle, the city auctioned off .38 acres of land including the cross to the highest bidder. The winner was the Council of Armenian American Organizations of Northern California which installed the plaque commemorating the 1915 genocide shown in my previous post.