Exploring San Francisco through the lens of city blocks, Blocker is a weekly series by Charles Hodgkins. Look for it on SFist each Wednesday, around the lunching hour.

Blocker, No. 3: 8th Ave. in the Inner Sunset

A flier on a telephone pole at the corner of Ortega and 8th Ave. screams for vengeance: “$2500.00 reward to the person who can positively identify the shooter of a red-tail hawk in the canyon behind the houses on the east side.” The phrase “dastardly deeds” even emerges from the fist-shaking archives. It’s surprisingly strong conviction for this southeasternmost block of the Sunset, where the catch of the day is otherwise tranquility, with a side of handsome sidewalk lampposts and a few plum tree chasers.

South of Ortega, 8th follows a few bends before petering out altogether once it enters leafy Forest Hill, and hopefully nobody’s been illegally gunning down predatory wildlife over that way lately. On this block between Noriega and Ortega, the street parallels Laguna Honda Canyon, which 7th Ave. slices through downhill to the east. The eastward elevation drop isolates this corner of the Sunset more than you’d think. Trying to get up here from down there? Trek through Forest Hill, where the Sunset’s street grid dies a sweet death, or head up to Lawton before doubling back around the north slope of the crest. Allow an extra few minutes, either way.