If you’ve recently hiked along San Francisco's Lands End Trail, you might have noticed something different.
As first reported by SFGATE, a new piece of public artwork has popped up in the former home of an unofficial local landmark. For nearly two decades, the trail's stone labyrinth has been a favorite spot for local hikers and visitors alike.
Now, it has been lovingly replaced.
Eduardo Aguilera constructed a 35-foot stone labyrinth on the water’s edge, with a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Colleen Yerge was its unofficial caretaker as it overlooked the Bay for years.
"I loved it," Yerge told KCBS Radio in an interview. "It was my meditation place."
Yerge loved it so much, she took on the Sisyphean task of maintaining it.
"Yeah, it was like hours upon hours of carrying rocks up that hill," Yerge recalled. "It’s a lot of work!"
But someone kept throwing all of those rocks over the cliff, so she gave it up last fall. The space sat empty for months.
Local hiker Christian Tabing-Dalit and his friend, Thomas Lew, decided earlier this month they were going to lug rocks up from the beach to fill the void.
But reality quickly set in, as Tabing-Dalit and Lew struggled to lift even their first rock-filled backpack off the ground.
"We first realized that we could not get close to rebuilding the labyrinth as it existed," Tabing-Dalit recalled to KCBS Radio, "and so we decided to pivot to something that was more manageable and doable."
That something was a heart.
The new fixture earned approval from the labyrinth's longtime caretaker.
"It made me giggle," Yerge said. "I was so happy. I mean, who doesn’t like a heart?"
The new artists have been monitoring their work on social media, finding selfies, dog photos and even a few proposals.
"It was nice," Lew told KCBS Radio. "It felt good to do something I hope was positive."
The pair would like to rebuild the labyrinth one day, and Tabing-Dalit said they hoped "to rally a bigger force of people" from the community in order to help out.
But Yerge said the experience taught her to let go, and she thinks the piece might continue to change.
"When Eduardo Aguilera built that, that was to share peace, love and enlightenment," the former caretaker said. "So that's what those guys were doing, you know? Sharing the love."
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