​Most of our hikes are in nature or at least out of doors. But thanks to a law in the City requiring large downtown commercial developments to include open space that is open to the public, a fine hike can be enjoyed by walking from lobby to lobby and from rooftop terrace to “sun terrace.”

Dave Weinstein led such a “Popos” tour on February 15, in alliance with the Albany senior Center and Friends of Five Creeks.

We didn’t quite get to every rooftop or hidden garden we had aimed for, but it was fun nonetheless. It’s great how some of these mysterious gardens are hidden away. City law requires that office towers display signs announcing that these spaces exist. But you have to look carefully to spot them.

“My life changed when I took classes in bird songs,” hike leader Tara McIntire told a hardy crew of bird watchers during her early morning bird hike at the 6th Annual Hillside Festival, and her affection for birds was infectious.

​It’s amazing how much work three dedicated volunteers can do in just over two hours. On Saturday morning Terrace Cutoff Trail was impassable. By early afternoon it was passable.

Mark Miner, who is Trail Trekkers’ trail building chief, Dave Weinstein, and a new volunteer with us, Mark Carraher, who is active with the Boy Scouts, removed many cubic yards of dead live oak limbs that had been blocking this trail and posing a fire hazard.

This was the first of Trail Trekkers new once-a-month trail work parties, which occur on the third Saturday of the month. Join us for future parties. They are satisfying!

​Tim Aaaronson led a great walk on Sunday to Tepco Beach, with me serving as an assistant. Jenny hammer did much work planning this hike out.

The route, from the heart of El Cerrito’s commercial district, the EC Natural Grocery at San Pablo and Stockton Avenues, took us on bridges over both I-80 and I-580.

That alone was telling, showing how divorced we have become from the Bay, compared to the days when just past San Pablo Avenue one would have walked across grassland and marsh all the way to the beach.

Tepco, the Technical Porcelain Co., was in business from 1918 to 1968, all but the first few years at the site of what is today the DMV, just behind city hall.

​Come to the first of our regular Third Saturday Trail Trekker Work Parties
We will be out working improving the El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area every third Saturday of the month throughout the year starting on February 17.  Make it a recurring monthly event in your calendar and we will be there to greet you and welcome you to a project: Broom Bashes, Trail Construction,  yes, some debris clearing, but if we get the momentum we plan to, we can make a real difference.

Meet:  Terrace Drive at Contra Costa Drive at the top of the of the future Terrace Cut-Off Trail.

Leader:  Mark Miner [email protected]

Tepco Beach Hike
Sunday, February 11 at 3:00 pm Tepco Beach hike with Dave Weinstein and Tim Aaronson. Join us as we explore Tepco beach as well as the East Bay Regional Park’s adjacent Point Isabel Regional Shoreline.  Founded by Italian immigrant John Pagliero, TEPCO (Technical Porcelain  Co.) was the largest manufacturer in El Cerrito for decades and its tableware is collectible today. During its sixty or so years, the company dumped its imperfect pieces into the bay near Point Isabel, creating a strand of shards., creating “TEPCO Beach.”   When the tides are low, you can walk over shards of old El Cerrito pottery and enjoy their tinkling as waves jostle them around. Meet at the El Cerrito Natural Grocery, San Pablo Avenue at Sacramento. 2  hours

A mountain lion cub was found near the Greek Theater in Berkeley the Tuesday after our meeting.
It’s a new year and the Trekkers are looking forward to building on our accomplishments in 2018.  Join us and help shape the future of open space in El Cerrito.

Our Annual Meeting on January 20th at the Community Center was an opportunity to get together to review what has been accomplished and look forward to 2018 goals. Thanks to xxx for covering our meeting  in the East Bay Times.  The meeting will also include elections of officers.  If you would like to join the Board of Directors come join us at 10 am, the second Saturdays of each month.
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Pumas among us. Dr. Courtney Coon, a wildlife biologist with the Bay Area Puma Project will discuss these big cats that share our open spaces and sometimes our urban spaces. Dr. Coon is investigating aspects of puma heath and occupancy in the Bay Area, so she is in the know!  Pumas have been seen in Bay Area towns and were recently seen in the Berkeley hills. It was a fascinating and useful talk.

​Alina Constantinescu led a marvelous Trail Trekkers hike this past Sunday, taking 16 people up and through the Hillside Natural Area to take in views, the sunset, and the Sundar Shadi display along Moeser Lane.

Sundar’s display, a holiday tradition since 1949, can be seen until December 26. Don’t miss it. There is also a smaller display of his holiday figures in the window of Pastime Hardware.

Thanks to the Sundar Shadi Committee for putting this display on!

— Dave Weinstein

​Susan Moffat is not trying to preserve the art that has filled the Albany Bulb for many years. She is trying to preserve something more important – the spirit that put the art there.

On Sunday, October 22, Susan led a Trail Trekker hike through the Bulb, which is owned by the City of Albany but is slated to be incorporated into the McLaughlin Eastshore State Park.

The hike was revelatory, even to those hikers who thought they knew the Bulb well. It was built as a landfill for construction debris, gradually filling up from 1963 to 1983. For years Moffat, who teaches city planning at UC Berkeley, has been studying the  “history of this artificial piece of land.”

The 31-acre Bulb has been a popular spot for dog walkers, nature lovers, beach goers, and many others for years, and for decades was home to a thriving community of squatters until they were removed three years ago.