The John Shinnick 84 Street, 10 Path Pledge
August 15, 2018
The sun continues to shine on this venture. I wore a long sleeve shirt more for sun protection than anything else. I drove up to the corner of Grizzly Peak and Beloit Ave. to walk the most easterly roads in Kensington. I immediately crossed Grizzly Peak, the most eastern of the north-south main arteries of Kensington, to walk the easternmost segment to Beloit which my map told me had a short dead end just after meeting Los Altos Dr. The dead end wasn’t there.
What was there was a marvelous view of Wildcat Canyon and a pair of bicyclists admiring it. One thing that’s fun about these walks is the occasional conversations with strangers. The two (Mike and Mark) were appreciative of my quest and wanted to see my website. I wrote the URL on my card and gave it to them before parting company.
Los Altos is itself fairly short and I soon encountered another, bigger problem with the map. By the way, unlike the handmade map I’d used two days earlier, this was a real one. The far end of Los Altos meets the end of Grizzly Peak and becomes Kenyon. The map clearly shows a spur of Kenyon heading off to the right, but it isn’t there. The real Kenyon was itself odd in that very shortly it runs into Lake Dr. and stops, only to start again a block later at Purdue. It must be confusing for visitors!
I took Kenyon and made a right on Lake, walking it to its northern end, past my old accountant’s house, then returned, continuing to its other end at Beloit. I turned left, meeting up with my car at the intersection of Grizzly Peak where I turned left, to reach its terminus at Kenyon / Los Altos. I retraced and proceeded to Plateau Dr., a short dead end, where I turned left. On Plateau, I noted one of the houses kept bees! I walked to the street’s end then came back turning left on Grizzly Peak, where the Summit Reservoir is located.
Kensington ends at Wildcat Canyon Rd., which is Berkeley, but it must be taken for all of literally ten feet before one turns left again to take in two streets that are again in Kensington. I turned left on Canon (not Canyon) Dr. quickly turning right on the short Parkside Ct., then returning to Canon. I turned right to finish Canon, expecting to see a sign marking where it left Kensington, but didn’t see one. I DID see one announcing the entrance to Tilden Park, and it seemed to line up with the bends in the road as shown on the map. I walked about 50 yards past it looking for a marker before deciding that was probably it!
The view of Wildcat Canyon where Beloit meets Los Altos. I had the pleasure of sharing the view with a pair of bicyclers I met there.
The return walk up Canon was steep but nothing as daunting as two days before. I’d soon retraced my way back to the corner of Beloit and Lake, and went on a block down Beloit to Purdue Ave. Mapping out my next walk, it made sense to take Purdue to Willamette Ave., then turn back and make a right on Kenyon where it has the one-block break with its easternmost leg. I followed Kenyon to the point to which I’d walked it two days earlier from the other side, then came back to Trinity Ave. where I turned left.
I followed Trinity to its end at Beloit. At this point the upper portion of Beloit Path is supposed to have its western terminus, but like Princeton Path, it is closed and I saw no trace. Having tired of taking pictures of where paths were supposed to be, I passed it by, turning right on Beloit which, a block later, ran into Cambridge. I turned around, walking uphill to Colgate Ave. where I turned left.
I walked the fairly short length of Colgate, turning left on Kenyon, which I walked for a short block to Columbia where I turned left to probably finish my last street for the day. I say “probably” because it has a sharp bend where the other end of east Beloit Path might be found (and dare I say, walked?) I poked around and found this likely spot, but it was overgrown and quickly became unwalkable. As with Princeton Path, I gave myself a pass, electing instead to turn the bend and finish Columbia where it intersected Colgate. I turned right taking Colgate to Beloit, then left where I past the house where my writing class meets, finishing Beloit, and meeting up with my car at 4:00, a productive two-hour walk.
I’ve now completed five walks encompassing the southern streets of Kensington. At this point, I’m guessing four more walks, perhaps five, will complete the project.
Completed:
Los Altos Dr.
Lake Dr.
Plateau Dr.
Grizzly Peak Blvd.
Parkside Ct.
Canon Dr.
Trinity Ave.
Colgate Ave.
Columbia Ave.
Beloit Ave.
Started:
Purdue Ave.
Added to:
Kenyon Ave.
The YIMBY Project
The bees on Plateau Dr. I used to have a greater than normal fear of bees, but have gotten over it in recent years. I wouldn't go this far. I wouldn't even want to live next door!
This sure doesn't LOOK like 3.1 million gallons of water! This is the Summit Reservoir. The water is in an underground tank, part of a recent project to renovate the facility, completed a couple of years ago. I don't know what if anything will be done with the above ground portion. I suspect the mound at the upper left is for access.
This is the sign I took to indicate where Canon Dr. leaves Kensington. After my walk, I actually drove the remainder of Canon and found no explicit marking, but have to believe the East Bay Regional Park District is wholly outside of Kensington's borders. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
