With temperatures in the mid-60s, last week's walk was almost perfect. There might have been something in the air because the turnout for the walk was the third largest in the group's 14-month history. The 28 walkers and two K-9 best friends included first time walker Holly Gardner, who was joining her husband, Michael. Also new to the group was Christina Schneck, who had hosted the walkers two weeks before in her garden on Estates Drive.
This year the walkers have been searching out the city's pedestrian paths, and last week was a two-fer: they walked the path between MacKinnon Place and Arbor Drive, and also the path between Magnolia Avenue and Palm Drive.
Starting out in Piedmont Park they checked the water in the park's Bushy Dell Creek and compared its reduced flow to what the group had witnessed on walks during the winter. They stopped at the spot in the park where Mark Twain was photographed 150 years ago, and were also impressed by two huge eucalyptus trees at the foot of the park.
They emerged from the park and walked down Palm Drive, where the history of its palm trees as an entrance to Pied mont's early attractions was retold. Halfway down the street the group found the 110-foot path up to Magnolia Avenue, and walked up to MacKinnon Place, which dead-ends at the 246-foot path and stairs de- sending to Arbor Drive.
After going down Arbor Drive to the Nova Circle and then back to Arbor and Fairview Avenue, the group could not resist walking the short, and seldom visited Dale Avenue that took them back to Nova Drive, and then on to Jerome Avenue. They also wanted to see Keefer Court and the beautiful desert plant gardens there. Christina Schneck offered to describe many of the unusual plants in her friend Walker Young "work of art' front yard Leaving Keefer Count the group couldn't resist walking on one of Piedmont's few alleys, Hill Lane. The half-block street serves as access to garages for homes on both Nova and Arbor Drive. The group climbed up Magnolia, past the high school construction, and back 10 their starting point at the Exedra The two-mile walk was done in an hour and a half with a large group of new and old friends who saw some seldom visited Piedmont paths, streets, gardens and even an alley.