October 25, 2014

the view from Slacker Ridge


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

I knew something was wrong with this image (above) when I used it as my header yesterday. A little cropping seems to have turned it into a more pleasing image. I finally realized that some of the sky and a bit of the right side of the photo needed to go.

That flat-topped peak is Hill 88, the main radar site for the Nike-Hercules missile station at nearby Point Bonita. This view was taken from Slacker Ridge, which towers above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't come here often because the hike, although less than one mile, is extremely steep--a substantial workout for an old codger like me.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Up until 1977 the Bay Area was defended against Soviet attack with a ring of eight Nike-Hercules surface to air launch stations. The photo (above) is from my August 26, 2009 AphotoAday blog post titled "Nukes in Marin County".



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Sunset from Slacker Hill... Imagine, if you will, the cloud being a contrail of a nuclear tipped missile, and the sun--a mushroom cloud on the horizon after the Nike-Hercules missile had found its target. Perish the thought that the radiation would have crept back towards the Bay Area, irradiating us all.


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