A line of gargoyles on a Pacific Heights home served as the first clue in Eddie Hernandez's scavenger hunt.
Eddie Hernandez/eddie-hernandez.com
The location of the newest clue — a notable statue of howling wolves — will be revealed on Tuesday.
Eddie Hernandez/eddie-hernandez.comThere I was: a millennial woman pounding the pavement in search of a specific arrangement of succulent plants.
The irony of this cliché is not lost on me. I smirk in spite of it all and peer down at my phone to take another look at the photo on my screen – a clue. There are three distinguishable cacti nestled beside the tubelike leaves of hobbit jade and blue chalksticks, while two zebra plants stand guard on either side. The garden is framed by a calming, pale green backdrop.
It’s a sunny Monday afternoon, and I’m wandering through San Francisco’s Ashbury Heights neighborhood as part of a new scavenger hunt that has a growing, dedicated community of Redditors combing through the streets of the city in search of its lesser-known landmarks and often overlooked points of interest.
Every week, local photographer and online dating coach Eddie Hernandez posts a new clue to r/SanFrancisco under his username, u/usctrojan415, which is usually followed by hundreds of upvotes that boost it to the top of the page, encouraging others to join the hunt.
The photos themselves are eye-catching enough, but Hernandez’s posts on the local forum have also motivated San Francisco residents to look at their city with a new perspective, and feel a sense of community during an otherwise isolating time. There’s no prize or competition — he simply thought of it as a fun way for people to discover some of the city's offbeat hidden gems.
“I’ve always been naturally curious,” he told SFGATE. “I usually don’t look at things at eye level... I like to keep my head on a swivel.”
Hernandez came up with the idea for the project after moving to the Inner Richmond a couple of months ago. Morning walks became his way of getting acquainted with his new neighborhood, but they started to feel a little tedious. So he tried taking new routes – walking on the other side of the street, for instance, or moving in a reverse direction – to break up his routine.
That’s when Hernandez found something particularly unusual – an object he had walked by dozens of times before but failed to notice until now. He won’t tell me what it is (he plans to reveal the mystery in a future week of the scavenger hunt) but it was intriguing enough that he felt compelled to continue his search and invite others to join him.
The process led him to discover the very first clue he decided to post: a line of red gargoyles perched atop a Pacific Heights home. He said he walked down the street where they are located at least five times prior to observing them, and realized he wasn’t the only one.
“One of the comments I recently received was from someone who lived maybe four or five blocks away from them,” recounted Hernandez. ”He said he goes around the same block every day and didn’t even know they existed. Now, he’s more eager to explore the neighborhood and find the details instead of looking down at his phone or feeling distracted by something else. I thought that was really touching.”
Hernandez said he also felt inspired by traversing parts of San Francisco’s Crosstown Trail last year. The 17-mile trek similarly persuaded residents to explore the city’s various scenic routes they might not have visited otherwise.
“Pre-COVID, I tried to explore the city and the Bay Area as much as possible – partly for exercise, partly to check out San Francisco, and partly for casual location scouting since my work is outdoors and in public spaces for the most part,” said Hernandez. “I love to travel and explore, but this was a way to view things through that same lens without having to leave the area.”
I found it particularly challenging to find this succulent garden in Ashbury Heights — though Hernandez noted he's adjusting the difficulty of the hunt.
Eddie Hernandez/eddie-hernandez.comIt’s an ideal activity for busy parents trying to find something fun to do with their kids, or a creative way for young couples or roommates to kill an afternoon. However, Hernandez noted the difficulties of taking part in a scavenger hunt for someone who might be living alone.
“Using a platform like Reddit, the one thing I was hoping for was to facilitate some kind of conversation and provide a space for people to connect with others,” he said. “It’s easy to go about your own routine and life, but it’s important to reach out to other people, too.”
Coming up with a new clue each week, he said, helps him to stay busy and avoid becoming too much of a homebody. However, he realized not everyone has that luxury due to compromised health or other reasons, so he’s ensured that all of the clues are visible on Google Street View for people who are unable to go out and want to participate from home. Now a month into the project, he plans to continue doing it as long as there's interest.
“I think, now more than ever, people need something to look forward to,” he said.
:::
I look up again, taking in my surroundings.
I admire the ornate brass squiggles adorning the façade of one home and notice there are still paper snowflakes taped to the front window. A woodpecker skitters up and down the trunk of a nearby tree. Across the street, two children toddle down the sidewalk, hoisting a kite above them.
I also notice something I didn’t expect: that several homes in the neighborhood are painted in various shades of pastel green, most with some type of succulent in the front yard.
I sigh. They’re close, but not the ones I’m looking for. I decide to read the two other hints Hernandez has provided:
1) The garden is located on private property but visible from the street at eye level.
Got it.
2) It’s located on a steep hill or street.
Oh no.
I lumber up another hill, breaking a sweat. Still, something about my competitive side drives me to keep going. I spend the next couple of hours looking, but to no avail. When I encounter the box-step staircase at Corona Heights Park, I’m running out of daylight hours and decide to enjoy the view while I can.
In no time, I’m at the top. To my right, Sutro Tower is silhouetted by the sunset. I hear laughter echo from a tennis court down below. To my left, I can see the marquee of the Castro Theatre and the iconic rainbow flag waving in the breeze. Further still, I can make out the greenery of Dolores Park, and the cargo ships docked in the bay on the horizon.
It’s not quite what I came here looking for, but I find myself lingering there longer than I intended as I identify the tiny landmarks down below. Something Hernandez told me earlier clicks into place.
“Unfortunately, most people view their neighborhoods as a place where they eat and sleep and go home,” he said. “But every community has its subtle quirks, and I thought something as small and mundane as a scavenger hunt could help them appreciate that.”
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