Here is a short optional detour: at Shrader Street, if you’re willing to take a 5 minute trip to a quirky piece of Cole Valley history, head uphill on Shrader until you get to number 1591. The wooden sculpture at this address was the work of journalist and philanthropist Pat Montandon when she lived here in the 1990s. A huge Monterey cypress tree to the left of the driveway had to be cut down for safety reasons after a big 1997 windstorm, but in an inspired move, Montandon hired sculptor Jack Mealy to carve a sculpture of an angel out of the bottom 20 feet of the tree. Montandon at the time was writing a book about angels, so she dubbed the sculpture the "Angel of Hope".
If you’ve never been on Tank Hill, then consider extending the detour even further to the top of Shrader Street, then left to the end of Belgrave, then up the stairs to the top of the hill for what I think is the best view in San Francisco.
If you’ve taken this detour, then retreat back downhill on Shrader to 17th Street, and turn left.