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Walking to Orinda
Mar. 27th, 2016 10:35 amThese last months I've been learning about the connectivity of fire trails, Ridge Trails, and EBMUD watershed lands above Berkeley. This week I decided to take the plunge and hike all the way from Berkeley to Orinda.
It seemed like a pretty big deal. I mean, Berkeley to Orinda, that's something that you BART, not something that you can walk. But, it turns out that the walking is entirely possible.
To get up this side of the hill, I took paths that I've become increasingly familiar with: steps up Panoramic Hill, then fire trails up to the Ridge. I'd walked most of this before, though up at the top of Panoramic Hill I diverged from the Upper Fire Trail to one of the totally unlabeled trails in the area. Call it the Upper, Upper Fire Trail I suppose. It runs along Skyline Ridge and fronts the Claremont Preserve. The new trail was very attractive; where the Upper Fire Trail gives you nice views of Strawberry Canyon, the Upper, Upper Trail looks out onto the Bay (until you get far enough back that you can only see Claremont Canyon).
However, I was surprised by how many really steep areas there were: Arden Path then Panoramic Way on Panoramic Hill; the start of the Upper Fire Trail; the path from the Upper Fire Trail to the Upper, Upper Fire Trail; at least two big hills on the Upper, Upper Trail; then the final scree-filled climb up to Grizzly Peak. It didn't seem like as much on the way down last week (though that scree-filled hill was better on the way up than down by a lot). But, the whole climb is about 1,400 feet, so I suppose you need some steep.
The path back down the hill, on the other side, was totally new. It's through EBMUD lands in the so-called Siesta Valley Recreation Area. I say so-called because there's nothing there but a few paths, and you need EBMUD permits to walk most of it, so it really seems like a case of overselling the area. Fortunately, I got a five-year EBMUD pass in late 2014 or so. This is only the second time I've used it (after the day I got the pass).
Though it has an overly-ambitious name, Siesta Valley is totally beautiful. It's all green rolling hills that are largely empty. I really enjoyed the pleasant, quiet walk. It headed along the hill line toward Orinda for a while (which meant some more down and UP), but eventually set in at a steady decline. Oh, and it was very muddy at times, from the rain over a week ago. I guess that's why you call it watershed. When I got home, I retired a third pair of jeans in a week to the laundry basket due to excessive muddiness.
In Orinda I'd considered retiring to a Starbucks for an hour to do some writing. Though I've figured out how to get exercise with hiking (instead of biking), I've rarely been able to get the ratio right to also have time for writing while out. So this Saturday I'd only written about half of one of the several histories that I had outlined and ready to go.
Unfortunately, Orinda was jam-packed with families. It was apparently free-family-fun day, with climbing walls and face-painting and balloon animals and what not. So the little mall that contained the Starbucks (and is really 90% of downtown Orinda) was way too full. I glanced in at the Starbucks and it was just mobbed full of meandering people all of whom seemed to be wandering back and forth looking for a line.
So after circling around Orinda for a while and deciding there was nothing else of note, I headed to BART instead. Got a bit of writing done there.
And that was how I walked to Orinda. A little less than 10 miles, and just under 200 flights of stairs. About 4 hours, but that included sitting down to eat a 9" sandwich from IB Hoagies and write half a history.
It seemed like a pretty big deal. I mean, Berkeley to Orinda, that's something that you BART, not something that you can walk. But, it turns out that the walking is entirely possible.
To get up this side of the hill, I took paths that I've become increasingly familiar with: steps up Panoramic Hill, then fire trails up to the Ridge. I'd walked most of this before, though up at the top of Panoramic Hill I diverged from the Upper Fire Trail to one of the totally unlabeled trails in the area. Call it the Upper, Upper Fire Trail I suppose. It runs along Skyline Ridge and fronts the Claremont Preserve. The new trail was very attractive; where the Upper Fire Trail gives you nice views of Strawberry Canyon, the Upper, Upper Trail looks out onto the Bay (until you get far enough back that you can only see Claremont Canyon).
However, I was surprised by how many really steep areas there were: Arden Path then Panoramic Way on Panoramic Hill; the start of the Upper Fire Trail; the path from the Upper Fire Trail to the Upper, Upper Fire Trail; at least two big hills on the Upper, Upper Trail; then the final scree-filled climb up to Grizzly Peak. It didn't seem like as much on the way down last week (though that scree-filled hill was better on the way up than down by a lot). But, the whole climb is about 1,400 feet, so I suppose you need some steep.
The path back down the hill, on the other side, was totally new. It's through EBMUD lands in the so-called Siesta Valley Recreation Area. I say so-called because there's nothing there but a few paths, and you need EBMUD permits to walk most of it, so it really seems like a case of overselling the area. Fortunately, I got a five-year EBMUD pass in late 2014 or so. This is only the second time I've used it (after the day I got the pass).
Though it has an overly-ambitious name, Siesta Valley is totally beautiful. It's all green rolling hills that are largely empty. I really enjoyed the pleasant, quiet walk. It headed along the hill line toward Orinda for a while (which meant some more down and UP), but eventually set in at a steady decline. Oh, and it was very muddy at times, from the rain over a week ago. I guess that's why you call it watershed. When I got home, I retired a third pair of jeans in a week to the laundry basket due to excessive muddiness.
In Orinda I'd considered retiring to a Starbucks for an hour to do some writing. Though I've figured out how to get exercise with hiking (instead of biking), I've rarely been able to get the ratio right to also have time for writing while out. So this Saturday I'd only written about half of one of the several histories that I had outlined and ready to go.
Unfortunately, Orinda was jam-packed with families. It was apparently free-family-fun day, with climbing walls and face-painting and balloon animals and what not. So the little mall that contained the Starbucks (and is really 90% of downtown Orinda) was way too full. I glanced in at the Starbucks and it was just mobbed full of meandering people all of whom seemed to be wandering back and forth looking for a line.
So after circling around Orinda for a while and deciding there was nothing else of note, I headed to BART instead. Got a bit of writing done there.
And that was how I walked to Orinda. A little less than 10 miles, and just under 200 flights of stairs. About 4 hours, but that included sitting down to eat a 9" sandwich from IB Hoagies and write half a history.