Thanks to your generous donations, BPWA has been paying for handrails to be installed on some of the 35 or so new, wood-timber stairways that our volunteers have built since our organization began in 1998.
Indian Rock is one of many volcanic rhyolite rock outcroppings found across the Bay Area that are estimated to have occurred between nine and eleven million years ago. Anyone who has climbed the steep steps in its face has also seen the depressions of mortar holes still evident here, especially in the aptly named Mortar Rock, where the Ohlone people used the bedrock as a grinding surface for food and medicine.
BPWA welcomes two new board members: Nancy Graham, treasurer, and Jen English, walks co-coordinator. Three days a week Nancy, her husband, and dog, Dinky, get their aerobic exercise by walking uphill and hitting as many paths as possible. Jen joined the board in 2008 for her first term. Jen’s also been learning the ropes of emergency response, taking community emergency management (CERT) courses and other preparedness training and is excited to be involved with BPWA again because Berkeley's public paths and stairways are a key component of the city's emergency response network.
Saturday, September 21, 2024 offered a beautiful “Second Summer” day as about 40 people gathered to attend the annual meeting of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association at Live Oak Park. The event followed a well-attended morning Path-a-thon.
Just south of Latham Lane in North Berkeley you’ll find Ina Coolbrith Path, which connects Miller Avenue and Grizzly Peak Blvd. If you’ve ever wondered about its namesake, the path commemorates a remarkable woman who figured prominently in the state’s literary history.
Steve Price is the El Cerrito-based author/artist of the digital book Imagining a Walkable America: Visualizing Low-Carbon Cities, Towns, and Neighborhoods, Step by Step. First published in 2020, it’s just been updated with a new introduction and fresh images to reflect the country’s changing transportation landscape.
