Golden Gate Bridge

We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge!

Initially, we had planned to bike across, because how fun does that sound?!

A lot, actually, if you're like us. We like active adventures!

However, we found that the only places to rent bikes from near the bridge are still quite some ways away from the bridge itself, and by this point we'd been walking about 8 hours and it was getting late so we were worried about getting the bikes back in time. 

We'd hit Haight street, Golden Gate Park and the Conservatory of Flowers, walked up to Immigrant point lookout, then made it to the iconic bridge!

Let's get a walking'! 

Antho had made a cool little gif of me walking, but if that didn't load this is close enough. 

Approaching the bridge. 

Handy map/guide.

I like the gent in his dapper hat walking with the little lady.

Away we go!

Little sailboat heading towards Alcatraz. 

We took our shoes off a short ways in. After walking around all day it felt great to free our feet from the confines of shoes and stretch the tendons and muscles out for a bit on the cold hard concrete. 

How many people can say they've crossed the Golden Gate Bridge barefoot?!

Different currents colliding and creating a whirlpool. Neat!

Did you know the Golden Gate Bridge is often ranked the number one spot for suicide in the world? Some contend that Aokigahara, a forest at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, is the number one contender but it's hard to really measure which site really leads due to the grisly nature of the contest and difficulties tracking fatalities.

Given the bridge's popularity, there are last-minute crisis counseling centers/phones on the bridge for those who would doubt their dedication to death.

A shipping vessel going under the bridge.

Remember those rainier cherries I'd mentioned? They made an excellent snack after we finished crossing the bridge!

Our view during our picnic. :)

The city in the distance. 

Antho peering out across the bay.

 At this point, we'd made it to an observation deck on the Sausalito side of the bridge. We explored the area a bit and found some memorial/honorary plaques…

then we noticed this...

Do you see something?

Wait a second...

Those sailors are holding hands!

Aww. How sweet. :)

After exploring the area, we asked a couple of highway cops how to find the ferry to cross back under the bridge. They told us it would actually be a farther walk to get to the ferry than it would be to simply cross back over the bridge, so in the end we simply walked back. We caught a bus once back on contintental ground, then walked up Fillmore back to our hotel. Back in our hotel, we saw a news segment about the closing of the bridge for construction, so we were both extremely glad we opted to cross the bridge when we did! 

Have you ever crossed the bridge?

If not, do you want to?

It's certainly on a lot of people's San Francisco travel bucket lists!

Feel free to comment below, I'd love to hear your thoughts!