I was on a reluctant dog walk during the peak of the storms early yesterday morning when I heard a loud machine noise coming from nearby. Curious as to its source, I pushed through bushes and down a muddy path and found myself on the south side of the Casting Pools. If you’ve never seen the Casting Pools, they’re one of the more arcane wonders of Golden Gate Park: three long shallow concrete pools decked out with floating rings where devotees of fly fishing can practice casting.
The pools and the adjacent Anglers Lodge are home to the Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club which has some 1,300 members worldwide. I want to write about the Club at some point, but now just want to share what I saw yesterday: a small army of volunteers (and probably a few Park gardeners) hard at work scraping and spraying the algae and scum from the bottom of the pools. The cleaning-of-the-pools happens once a year; the date is fixed and loyal club members show up for the job, whatever the weather. It’s that kind of dedication that has probably kept the Lodge and the pools going since they were built in 1938. Such acts of love are an ongoing theme in the life of the park.
And here’s what the pools look like normally:
Love walking with you in GGP! You had me from, "I was on a reluctant dog walk..." I love the intersection of nature and concrete that's necessary in a human-built park and one inhabitated by all manner of curious people and creatures.