Dimond Is Destined to Be Starting Point of Hikers Harold French Contra Costa Hills Club - Oakland Tribune - 08 Mar 1922, Wed - Page 13

Dimond Is Destined to Be Starting Point of Hikers Harold French Contra Costa Hills Club Wed, Mar 8, 1922 – Page 13 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

Dimond Is Destined to Be Starting Point of Hikers 

Dimond is destined to become a popular starting point for hikers on their way to the woods and the hills. Like Mill Valley, it is the jumping-off place for picnic parties. Its two car lines make their intersection the natural objective for those who leave the trolley for the trails.

That Dimond is enjoying such popularity in an ever-increasing measure was manifested last Sunday, when more than 100 members of the Contra Costa Hills Club and the Sierra Club assembled there and hit the trail for the high places beyond. Many came from San Francisco instead of going to Marin county on this weekend. The advantage of living in this section so near natural beauty spots was apparent to all comers.

AN HOURS WALK. 

Harold French, past president and publicity director of the Contra Costa Hills Club, gives this glimpse of an hour's walk from Dimond in cinematographic portrayal:

"A hundred strong, our hikers, attired for the trail in picturesque colors and fitting costumes, enter the canyon's mouth. A road, bordered with bungalow gardens, passes beyond through an ancient orchard soon to be a showy sight with bursting blossoms. In ten minutes' walk the road branches in either direction to upland ridges, with broad and nearly level tops, where many new homes are looming above the oaks.



"Here the trail begins At first wide enough for two to walk abreast, in ten minutes more it dwindles. Through neglect it has been washed out in places. Up and down banks and over the stream on stepping stones our ramblers scramble. Once one could drive a motorcycle over most of this woodland path. Now we have to watch our step. This 'old wilderness trail' of Dimond canyon should be kept up. It would pay the neighborhood to employ a few of the men who need work at this time to put this trail in proper shape to invite visitors to this district.

"A broad stream sings like a Sierran torrent over the pebbles and boulders. Cliffs rise on right and left, their ledges festooned with rock ferns. Giant alders over-arch the gorge. Broad-branching bay trees lend glossy green leaves and perfumed blossoms to delight, at least two senses. Two miles up a dike of volcanic rock and the waste-slide from the Park Boulevard quarry almost dam the creek.

SITE FOR SWIMMING POOL. 

"What a wonderful swimming pool could be built here at but small cost! A few day's work with a scraper would erect a retaining barrier that would back up the water for 200 yards. This alluring Lagunitas (Little Lake) would prove a great attraction to the Dimond district. Can it be done? It can if the people of this section of the city back the project of the Oakland Park Board to acquire Dimond canyon at its present valuation as undeveloped wild land.

Dimond Park Swimming Pool Sun, Jul 21, 1929 – Page 66 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

"The Contra Costa Hills Club has been campaigning for two years to 'Save the Redwoods' on the skyline as public recreation grounds. It is strongly in favor of including Dimond canyon, proposal No. 3 of the Park Board in the areas to be acquired. It urges the people of Dimond for their own interest to urge the City Council to set apart the 172 acres in this tract as a public park. A little improvement will make it an ideal retreat at every season.

"Without strong support of this measure from the Dimond Progressive Club, Dimond Improvement Club, and individual residents of this district, the Council cannot be counted upon to take such action. To delay long will mean the loss of this natural park land. Home builders are now crowding the crest of its lateral ridges. Soon they will be running their iences down to the creek as they extend their back gardens. Once a single strip of the stream course is sold to private purchasers, the freedom of this canyon becomes a thing of the past. One fence will bar the way to the public. [There is a gate across an offshoot of the Bridgeview trail, which prevents those who want to avoid the concrete steps from crossing the head of the canyon, near Monterey. - MF] Do the people of Dimond wish to hasten such a sacrifice of this natural playground? If they value this community asset, we ask them to appeal to the City Council for direct action."

PURPOSES OF HILLS CLUB.

For those who are yet unfamiliar with the purposes and personnel of the Contra Costa Hills Club, its charter, adopted two years ago, explicitly states its objects in popularizing the hills hack of Oakland thus: "To make this natural recreation ground more enjoyable to residents of this region and more attractive to visitors.

Its membership now includes thirty-five members of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce and a goodly representation of the leading civic and improvement chubs of the East-bay cities.

The official personnel for 1922 of itself insures earnest and successful effort to preserve natural beauties of the canyons and heights of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Much of this effort will be directly related to Dimond and other east side localities. J. Carl Seulberger, president, belongs to the Sierra Club and many other influential organizations. G. H. Gihon, vice-president, is well known in Berkeley. Meta C. Mohr, secretary, is widely known among mountaineers of this entire region. In addition to these officers, the following are directors: Harold French, Marston Campbell, G. S. Dysinger, Jackson K. Fairchild, Annie Hayward, Frank Meraglia, A. Schander, Urban N. Tucker, Baldwin Ward, S. H. Kitto, James H. l'Hommediu and Charles E. Warner of The TRIBUNE.