Over fifty hikers attended this El Cerrito centennial hike and benefited from the expertise of Dr. David P. Schwartz, a Seismic Geologist from the U.S. Geological Survey, who has done much research on the fault and on earthquake and seismic issues. The hike was also useful in providing information about what we can do to prepare for the inevitable quake as the CERT Area 2 Coordinator Marlene Keller, was on hand to answer questions and distribute information about disaster/earthquake safety.

What was great about the hike was how it made the experience of  the Hayward Fault seem very real. You could actually see the fault, on the Berkeley Country Club (formerly Mira Vista) golf course, and crossing actual streets in East Richmond Heights.

You could see where sections of curb have been cracked and shifted (or offset) over the years by the gradual slippage of land along the fault. You could even straddle these sections, which many hikers did.

After a long gap, we return to the north of the city for the third and last of Tassajara Park’s associated trails, the aptly named Tassajara Park Trail. We’ve previously showcased the Tassajara to Barrett path, which descend from Barrett to Tassajara Avenue, across from the park, and the Barrett to Alva path, which runs along the western edge of the park. But the Tassajara Park Trail is unique in that it begins in, and passes through, the park itself.

When building in the hills, the rigid grid lines that characterize street layout in the flat lands are abandoned for the gentle curve of the topographic contour. This often makes for a more interesting walk, since you are forever rounding a corner to a new vista. But finding a minimal route between two points can become an exercise in complex geographic calculus. Take for instance the problem for a resident of Francisco Street on the northern edge of El Cerrito. In order to visit a neighbor on Mira Vista, little more than 150 ft west, you might have to walk twice that distance east, than south to Barrett before walking almost 500 feet west to Mira Vista. And there is still the walk north on Mira Vista to your destination. That 150 feet west has become 1400 feet and you’ve walked in every cardinal direction. Good for your heart, it not for your schedule. But wait, what is that between those two houses? That narrow gap? Why it is the minimizing function of our problem, known to us as this week’s trail, the Francisco to Tulare Path.

Snowdon Way is the last block of Snowdon Avenue as you head east towards the hills. Coming to Ganges, you could be forgiven for mistaking the way ahead of you for a private driveway. But, in fact, it is the northern most entrance to the Hillside Natural Area (HNA) and the beginning of a network of trails that can take you all the way across the HNA and eventually to Moeser Lane.

On March 1 the Trail Trekkers, along with Citizens for East Shore Parks, led a walk around Point Isabel, El Cerrito’s little bit of coastline that isn’t actually in El Cerrito. About 20 people attended the event which was led by Patricia Jones of CESP and Tom Gehling of the Trekkers. Things got off to an informative start when Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia