Secret Stairs

This week our Walking on Wednesdays group added an element to our walks that provided new enjoyment.

Charlene L had provided me with her copy of "Secret Stairs - East Bay" by Charles Fleming. This interesting guide book provides walking tours that include hidden stairways and neighborhoods paths all around the East Bay with four of them including Piedmont streets and stairs. We focused on one of the walks and the area between Dracena Park and Grand Avenue, and found stairways that were previously unknown to most of us. They included passages between Ramona Avenue and Park Way, Artuna and Park Way, and a very hidden one between Lorita and Monticello Avenue that Stuart S discovered.

Additionally, we stopped for the attached photo on the steps between Ricardo and York Avenues.... As you know, we have an informal objective of eventually walking every street in Piedmont and, as we explored, we walked many new streets for the group that included:

Cambridge, Lower Grand, Holly Place, Arroyo, Ricardo, York, Artuna, and El Cerrito Avenues.

As is not uncommon we encountered friends and neighbors along the way. As we passed the home of Gareth F at 80 Arroyo Avenue, Charlene Louie pointed out a partially visible mural of a Yosemite Park scene on a wall in the Fong's backyard. By chance, Gareth was coming out of

his house and stopped to tell us the story behind the mural. See also attached photo.

The mural was painted in the early 2000's by a German artist, Flo Simon. The Fongs had memorable trips to the park and wanted their then young twin sons, who are now in college, to have a visual reminder of the experiences.

The mural is another hidden Piedmont secret.