Lower Columbia path has over 180 steps. Be careful looking down!
If you’ve been following our path building news, you know that our volunteers have been building one of our most challenging projects to date. We are thrilled to announce that Lower Columbia Path, between Campus Drive and Queens Road in the Terrace View neighborhood, is now complete. We would love to have a handrail, a sign, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony to go with this announcement. But given the circumstances, those finishing touches are on hold. Nevertheless, we thought you might appreciate knowing the path is walkable, and perhaps enjoy the challenge of finding and exploring it without mounted signs and handrails.
Part of the site was extremely narrow, so volunteers built a retaining wall to add width.
Building the path was not without challenges. The site was extremely steep and only 18 inches wide in a particularly hazardous section atop a cliff. Our volunteers built a retaining wall to add width to this section. The wall is held up by posts that are cemented into 11 holes dug 2 feet deep into the side of the cliff. To dig the post holes, the team borrowed a special tool, a rotohammer, from the Berkeley Tool Library and, after using it a couple of times decided it was worth purchasing their own. Aside from digging the posts, the rotohammer was used to remove a big rock from the top of the path, and it will no doubt be used in future path-building projects.
At over 180 steps and rising 100 feet, this is one of steepest paths BPWA has built. The planning for laying out all the steps and switchbacks was made easier by another newly purchased tool, a 4-foot-long digital level. The level helped the build team lay down steps in an even manner resulting in a nice, walkable path.
Joshua McCready uses our new rotohammer, purchased for this project after we tried one out from the Berkeley tool-lending library.
Even with these specialized tools, Lower Columbia Path was a tough project that took almost a year to complete. BPWA is extremely grateful to our volunteer team for their persistence in seeing this through and gifting a new path to our community. Special thanks go to our building team regulars: Steve Glaeser, Bob Gomez, Francesca Verdier, Diane Resek, Joshua McCready, Shawn Drost, Melissa Weaver, and Matthew Bond. And many thanks to the BPWA donors, especially those contributing to our Terrace View campaign — your support funds the materials and tools for our work. Last but not least, a very special shout-out to Bob Gomez, who generously funded the survey for this path.