• * Birding the San Francisco Bay Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge
• Date: Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, April 8.
• Leader: Rich Cimino
• Contact: Rich Camino 925-353-0266; Yellowbilledtours@gmail.com
• Featuring: Planning to arrive to WWC2010 early? If so- then plan to bird the San Francisco Bay Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge.  We offer two separate outings, scheduled for Wednesday April 7 and again on Thursday April 8.  We’ll start at 9 AM each day, leaving from UC Berkeley campus and driving to the refuge--visiting both the salt flats and bay marshes in Fremont and Alviso. Both day trips will be just in time view the northern migration of shorebirds and the early arrival of a few species of Neo-tropic migrants to the San Francisco Bay area--sandpipers, ducks, gulls, terns, wading birds, possible early warblers and raptors. Returning to Berkeley by 2 PM on Thursday to prepare for WWC 2010 registration.
• The leader will have a scope; you’ll need binoculars and your favorite bird guide. Your leader Rich Cimino has been birding the Bay Area for forty years and teaches beginning birding in adult educational school districts in Northern California.
• Cost is $25.00 (pricing based on four attendees signing-up).
• If you wish to bird other areas before or after WWC2010 contact Rich to discuss your needs @ 925-353-0266.
• *Pre-conference outing

Albany Hill Hike - History Reclaimed

• Date:  Sunday A fternoon, April 11

Leader: Susan Schwartz, President of Friends of Five Creeks
Contact: Susan Schwartz, f5creeks@aol.com, 510-848-9358.

Meet: Sather Gate on UC Berkeley campus at 12:30 p.m. to walk to downtown

• Berkeley BART together. (You will need to buy a $3.50 ticket)

Transit: Downtown Berkeley BART to El Cerrito Plaza.

• Featuring: Rails-to-trails, urban creek restoration, and views and wildflowers on an ecological island in the city. Explore an inter-city rails-to-trails project just north of Berkeley, restorations along a half mile of historic Cerrito Creek, and Albany Hill, with Native American mortar rocks, plants not found for hundreds of miles, and far-ranging views. The route includes fording a small creek on stepping stones and gaining 300' elevation on moderately steep trails. Bring water; wear comfortable walking shoes with good traction; long pants and sleeves recommended (poison oak near trail). Total time about 3.5 hours.
•  

Urban Trail/Regional Wilderness Interface Walk

• Date:                        Sunday Afternoon, April 11

Leader: Charlie Bowen, Berkeley Path Wanderers Path Building Leader
Contact: Keith Skinner, keithskinner.public@gmail.com, 510-520-3876

• Meet: Start time will be 2 pm. Meeting place will be at the large wooden Tilden Park sign at the corner of Shasta Rd & Grizzly Peak Blvd., Berkeley.
• Transit: AC 65 bus at 1:30pm from downtown Berkeley (on Shattuck Ave between Center St & Addison St, near the Bank of America). Ask the driver to let you know when you get to the stop for Shasta & Grizzly Peak. After you get off the bus, you must cross Grizzly Peak Blvd--CAREFULLY.

Featuring: Travel some of the urban paths that Berkeley Path Wanderers have built or improved over the past few years and travel into Tilden Regional Park to explore some of the more interesting footpaths in that vast regional park.  Total time, approx. 2.5 hours.

Redwood Regional Park Hike

• Date: Sunday 2:00, April 11

Leader: Julia Kernitz, California Wilderness Coalition  
Contact: Julia Kernitz, jkernitz@calwild.org;  267-337-4986

• Meet: We will meet at the Skyline Gate Staging Area trail head at 2:00 Sunday. Directions to the trail head from your exact location can be found here.   Or check http://www.ebparks.org/parks/redwood  for their directions to the park. Contact the hike leader for more information. 
• Featuring: We will head to Redwood Regional Park in the East Bay Hills for a moderate 3.7 mile loop hike with about 700 feet in elevation gain. For this two hour hike we will explore one of the most protected redwood forests in the Bay Area. In addition to a great forest of Sequoia sempervirens, commonly known as coast redwood, the park's 1,829 acres also contain other evergreens, chaparral, and grasslands. Wildlife in the park includes rare species such as golden eagle and Alameda striped racer snake. For more info on Redwood Regional Park visit their website: http://www.ebparks.org/parks/redwood.  

Claremont and Grandview Hills Open Spaces Hike

• Date: Sunday Afternoon, April 11

Leader: Sandy Friedman, Berkeley Path Wanderers
Contact: Keith Skinner, keithskinner.public@gmail.com, 510-520-3876

• Meet: Meet at 1 pm Sunday in front of Peet's Coffee directly across from the Claremont Hotel on Domingo near Ashby.  Transit:  AC #7 and 9.  RSVP required and the walk will be limited to 35 people.

Featuring: This hilly route will wind through the Berkeley-Oakland neighborhoods that were devastated by a fire in 1991.  In addition to noting how house and landscape design changed after the fire, we will visit three examples of open-space preservation: 13-acre Garber Park, an Oakland Park that is maintained by the Claremont Canyon Conservancy, a coalition comprised of neighbors, UC, and the cities of Berkeley and Oakland; Gwin Canyon, a 64-acre recent addition to the East Bay Regional Park District; and the Vicente Canyon Hillside Foundation Preserve, a 2.5 acre "fire safety demonstration zone" built on land the adjacent neighbors owned. This walk will include  steep streets and stairs, some with uneven surfaces; a few sections of unpaved trails; and total elevation gain of about 1,400 feet (though not all at once!). Total time 2.5 to 3 hours.

Poles for Hiking: Seminar & Hike in Tilden Park*

• Date: Sunday Afternoon, April 11
• Leader: Jayah Faye Paley, 415-699-3333.
• Contact: Email your request to participate to:  Seminar@AdventureBuddies.NET
  Your request will be confirmed and gear will be set aside for you.  In your email, include your name, your phone number and your height.
  Meet: Location which will be in Tilden Park in the Berkeley hills.   The confirmation email will include specific directions & transportation options.
• 1:30 to approximately 4:30pm
  Featuring: Optimal use of poles enables you use your upper body muscles to help preserve your joints. This free seminar, scheduled exclusively for participants of the Western Wilderness Conference 2010, will focus on helping you to develop and perfect a skill that can keep you hiking and help you stay healthy.
  Sierra Club leader: Jayah Faye Paley is the creator of the only comprehensive training on how to use poles:  2 award-winning DVD’s – “POLES for Hiking, Trekking & Walking” and “POLES for Balance & Mobility.”   You can find more information at www.PolesForMobility.com & www.AdventureBuddies.NET. Join us and learn how to use poles optimally so you can:
  

• reduce knee stress on downhill
• achieve more power & endurance on uphill
  improve performance & stability on all terrain
  improve upper body strength which promotes bone density
  avoid hand/wrist/elbow/shoulder strain
  recruit more muscles while walking, which facilitates fat-burning & weight loss
  improve posture
  help prevent injury
  l earn how to avoid common mistakes that can cause injury or strain
• Feel the power as you efficiently transition between techniques as you change terrain and expand your hiking horizons. Learning good form can help you to more completely enjoy your outdoor experiences!  Top quality poles and gloves provided.  

• Limit 18 participants.

 

Sunset Hike at Indian Rock Park, Berkeley Hills

• Date:  Sunday A fternoon, April 11

Leader: Steve Glaeser, Berkeley Path Wanderers Path Building Co-Leader
Contact: Keith Skinner, keithskinner.public@gmail.com, 510 520 3876

• Meet: On campus at North Gate, near Hearst and Euclid, 6 p.m.  Total time, about 1.5 hours.

Featuring: This will be an easy 3.5 mile round trip past the historic Berkeley Rose Garden to Indian Rock Park for the favorite local ritual of watching sunset at Indian Rock Park, a rock climbers’ mecca. We will return to campus via North Berkeley's gourmet ghetto and
downtown. Rain cancels 

Point Reyes National Seashore Hike *

• Date: Sunday All Day, April 11

Leader: Tom Post

• Contact : Tom Post 415-391-2409 or tpost123@hotmail.com
• Transit: For those attending the Western Wilderness Conference and interested in the all day hike, please contact leader Tom.  The leader will attempt to arrange carpools from the north Berkeley BART station but needs an advance idea on how many will be participating on the hike. 

Meet: North Berkeley BART station at 8 am sharp to carpool to the trailhead.  Bring proper clothing, (cool, windy, maybe rainy) lunch and water and be prepared to return to Berkeley between 5 pm and 6 pm.           

• Featuring: We will begin at the Bear Valley Visitor Center and head up towards Mt. Wittenberg to savor the beautiful views of the ocean.  We will then travel down to the coast to visit Sculptured Beach, Kelham Beach and Arch Rock.  Head back to the trailhead via the Bear Valley trail.  Enjoy a spectacular spring hike with flowers and gorgeous views all around.  Miles are around 13 and elevation gain is around 1700 feet. 

Pt. Reyes National Seashore is a special place that all should visit in their lifetime.  It has thundering ocean breakers crashing into the rocky coast, expansive sand beaches, open grasslands, brushy hillsides, forested ridges and over 1000 species of plants and animals.  Pt. Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco is truly a magical place.  It offers numerous short and long hikes along with backpacking options within the Philip Burton Wilderness. 

*This is an all-day Sunday outing which may be of interest to those signed up for only one day of the conference, on Friday or Saturday: