A Breezy Day on the Ridge

Your Boulevardier left the well-traveled streets of our fair town yesterday and walked, with his friend K.C., on Fairmont Ridge. The day was breezy and temperate, perfect for this outing.

Not all Castro Valleyans know of this walk, but those who do love it. It begins at the Fairmont Ridge Staging Area, a quarter mile or so past the entrance to Lake Chabot on Fairmont Drive. The walk, on a paved road, begins very steeply until the ridge is reached, and then rolls along northward with views of Lake Chabot and the East Bay hills on the right and a line of imposing eucalyptus on the left. Eventually the road intersects with the line of trees, and the bayside flatlands of Southern Alameda County open up to the west. On a clear day such as yesterday, it is a breathtaking sight. One can spend hours picking out landmarks, from Mount Tamalpais to the north to Mission Peak to the south.

At the far end of the road -- perhaps a mile out from the parking area -- can be found two places of interest. One is the former Nike Missile Site, familiar to those who grew up in the East Bay in the 1960s (as did Your Boulevardier) as the Giant Golf Ball. The imposing white sphere is long gone, and the former base is now home to an array of antennae. Its derelict guard booth, some ramshackle buildings, and a crumbled wooden water tank are all that remain, behind a chain-link fence, to remind us of Cold War days when nuclear missiles guarded San Francisco Bay. The link above provides photos.

The second site is equally somber, but for more topical reasons. The Children's Memorial Grove, nestled on the west side of the ridge, is a cluster of dozens of Coast Live Oak trees, each of which was planted in memory of an Alameda County child whose life was lost to violence. The grove is a moving reminder of the fragility of life.

Walking back, Your Boulevardier and his friend detoured to watch some gentlemen flying their radio-controlled gliders. The breeze was up, and the pilots were busy, but not too busy to to discuss their passion -- how their aircraft were constructed, how they are controlled, and stories of gliders that got away. It was interesting to see a hawk take a few dives at one glider as it lolled about in the hawk's airspace. The place where the gliders played also provided an impressive view of the roof of Alameda County's new juvenile justice center and its array of photovoltaic panels.

The return walk provided an opportunity to meet some of the dogs who were up enjoying the ridge with their humans, including a pair of truly magnificent
German Shepherds. And as the road dropped down to the parking area, an unusual and beautiful view of Castro Valley opened at our feet -- one that showed that our town actually is nestled safely in a valley.