I did warn everyone in one of my other assignments that I will probably have a lot about Balboa Park in these location assignments. It’s far too close to my house and convenient to explore. One of my favorite things about this assignment was that I got to explore places of the Park that I have never been before. I thought in all probability I would end up over in the main area closer to my house and that I have done some other assignments about. However, one of the first things that happened was a trip down into the valley and over to the other side of the Park. I don’t spend as much time over there and because of that, it brought me to all sorts of interesting spots that I hadn’t visited often, if at all.
Most of the noise came from traffic. Human noise really only came into play when I went through the disc golf course which was hopping on a Friday afternoon. The terrain ranged from shady tree-filled valleys to very open dirt trails along the ridges of the major hills. I started to worry about getting sunburned once I reached the point of no shade at all.
One of the things I noted was that there was not as much tourism on this side of the Park. There really aren’t any large attractions like the Zoo or Museums to visit. The areas were mostly locals and therefore much more quiet and serene. People were out for a picnic, a jog or just reading a book. A few times I found myself on larger roads but for the most part, I was on trails that wound behind and around the public recreation areas. I went past the municipal pool, a second archery range, baseball fields, tennis courts, picnic areas, the golf course, disc golf and finally ended in the vicinity of the velodrome. Yes… there is one of those and they do amateur races!
At the end of the trip, the Park had once again amazed me how it managed to fit so many diverse activities into an area while still managing to maintain quiet and nature filled spots in which to lose yourself. I did have a bit of an adventure getting myself back home as well and stumbled upon more unique areas in the process.
Some photos from my travels:
