This was probably inevitable, but Bernalwood’s growing reputation for glamour and luxury is beginning to attract wannabes and hangers-on. They come here to see and be seen in Bernal Heights… and they don’t really seem to care how well they fit in to the local environment.

To cite one recent example: Neighbor Dan captured these photos of a waterbird that decamped near his thoroughly landlocked back yard on Precita Avenue. 

Dan writes:

I believe this a Great Heron. I’ve spotted this guy a few times, mostly peering in to Neighbor Mike’s backyard. I’m told Mike has a pond with fish, so I’m guessing that’s what attracted all the attention.

PHOTOS: Neighbor Dan

At the top of every online page here at Bernalwood, there’s a tagline that says “Broadcasting from glamorous Bernal Heights, San Francisco (Elev. 433 ft.).” I certainly can’t argue with the “glamorous” part, and I didn’t have any reason to doubt the elevation… until I came across this:

This detail comes from an architect’s report on the defunct, NIMBY-killed plan to install new wireless antennas on Sutrito Tower a couple of years ago. The contour lines in the schematic are remarkably close: one foot resolution! But what really surprised me was a detail: The highest contour line at the edge of the fence appears to be 482 feet — almost 50 feet higher than I expected.

Naturally, I put the question to Twitter, where Todd noted that Wikipedia also listed Bernal as 475+ feet. Wikipedia’s footnotes cite this TopoQuest map:

Sure enough, count the contour lines at 25-foot intervals, and you’ll see a small 475-foot ring at the summit. Rebel La Lenguan propagandist Burrito Justice found some much older topographic maps that look very similar. This 1869 U.S. Coastal Survey map measures the peak at 480 feet.

The 1911 “Chevalier” map shows a 475 foot contour:

I obtained this topographic map with five-foot contours, which dates from around 196o. Sutrito Tower Bonus! It also shows the original proposal for our hilltop microwave antennas:

It’s hard to read, but the highest contour line in the 1960 map appears to be 455 feet. (That detail is shown under the footprint of the proposed building, so it’s reasonable to think it was leveled off and graded.)

There turn out to be many other figures given for the height of the Bernal Hill. The highest and lowest can both be attributed to the San Francisco Chronicle: 325 feet from the Chronicle’s book The Hills of San Francisco, 1959 (copied in the San Francisco Almanac, 1980) and  500 feet from a 2004 article. I made a graph of all the dates of the various figures I found:

This wasn’t converging on a solution, so I tried taking my iPhone and using a GPS app to find the altitude. The figure bounced around a bit, but generally stayed in the range of 430 to 450 just outside the Sutrito Tower fence, with an app-estimated accuracy of +/- 16 feet. This is consistent with a USGS report entered January 19, 1981: 443 feet, and American Tower’s 2005 survey height of 446 feet.

If I have to pick a figure, I’ll go with the 1981 USGS survey and say 443 feet.

It’s easy to see how someone could have miscopied 443 as 433, and I see that figure serially copied into a number of lists. Prior to December, 2009, Wikipedia used 433, referenced to mountainzone.com; that was changed to “475+ feet,” referenced to TopoQuest.  Bernalwood’s tagline was created in November, 2009, and the reference came from the pre-December, 2009 Wikipedia page. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Bernalwood’s tagline will soon be revised to say 443 feet)

So where did all the erroneous figures come from? The ones that assert Bernal Hill is even taller?

Erosion wears all hills down eventually, and Bernal Hill has had some assistance from road builders and even gold miners. The phone company’s 1960 plans showed a bit of terrain still over 450, but that may have been flattened out to grade the site for building.

And what about the 2010 survey that shows ground at 480 feet? I wrote to the architect for clarification, but haven’t gotten a reply. My hunch is that the surveyor only measured local contours, came back to the office, found an old topographic map that showed a 475-foot contour at the top, and assigned the new, detailed topography to the old, pre-1960 height.

Whatever. Let’s set the record straight: We believe Bernal Hill today rises to an elevation of 443 feet.

PHOTO: Swedotorp

Here’s a good-clean-fun event for Bernal Heights gearheads… and the children they have spawned.

The Central Committee of the Bernal Dads Racing Team has announced that the  2012 Bernal GT will be held on Saturday, May 19. The Bernal GT is not a race, and while classic cars are celebrated, they are not required. Basically, the GT is an excuse to take that car you love to drive out for a scenic spin along the coast, with your kid(s) along for the ride. Plus, it’s free!

Announcing the Third Annual Bernal GT on Saturday May 19th

Join the Bernal Dads in the third running of the Bernal GT 100. As in past years, this is the kid friendly– but not kid necessary– run beginning and ending in the vicinity of the Bernal Heights neighborhood (See these pics from last year).

Bring an old car, or a newer car with a kid, or hopefully an old car and a kid. If you have something new and interesting that can work too — just no minivans or SUVs. This is a free event and does not cost anything to participate. We will stop taking applications when the GT slots are filled up.

Details
When: Saturday, May 19, 2012
Time: 9:30am to mid-afternoon
Where: A to-be-announced starting point in San Francisco, and later returning to Bernal Heights.
Length: Somewhere between 80 and 120 Miles
Cost: Nothing. Nada. Zip

We are looking for the following:
– Car of 1980 model year or older

Exemptions
– If you want to bring kids 17 years or younger and/or kids in car seats, newer cars can be driven, but no minivans or SUVs
– Rare and/or exotic cars 1981 model year and newer can qualify for Exotic Status.

Registration
To register, send  an email to BernalGT100@gmail.com with the following information:
1) Driver’s Name, Co-driver & other passengers
2) Phone Number
3) Kids Along: Yes or No
4) Your Vehicle’s Name:
5) Vehicle Info: Year, Make, & Model
6) Applying for Exotic Status? Tell us what makes it rare/rarer than any of the cars we normally see on the Bernal slopes.

Reminder
This is not a race or a timed event, rather a drive through the some nearby, bucolic roads. There are no awards for arriving first or in the shortest time.

The Bernalwood News Team had a great time participating in the 2011 Bernal GT, last year. This year, we’ll be taking advantage of the Kid Exemption to participate in a faded 1995 Miata, with Bernalwood’s Cub Reporter riding shotgun. Sign up, and I look forward to meeting you (and ogling your car, and goofing with your kids) at the 2012 Bernal GT.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Someday, Cesar Chavez Boulevard will be a glamorous, tree-lined thoroughfare equipped with clever design touches that allow cars, bikes, and pedestrians to share the street safely and efficiently. But today is not that day. Today, Cesar Chavez is a gnarled maze of traffic pylons, heavy equipment, and congested traffic. Yet amid all the construction chaos, one new feature is rather conspicuous: a large white tent that was recently erected at the intersection with Florida Street.

For residents of Bernalwood’s north side, the purpose of the tent has become the object of much conjecture and speculation. Some say the the tent will serve as the venue for a Teatro ZinZanni-style pop-up dinner theater, with the menu selected and prepared by chefs from the Hillside Supper Club. Others cite rumors which say the tent will play host to the bar mitzvah reception of young Herbert Schwartzmann of Peralta Avenue, who requested a “Bob the Builder” theme.

Fellow citizens, your Bernalwood investigative team is here today to tell you that those theories are incorrect. The truth of the matter is that the tent shelters the access point for a high-tech effort to stabilize the subterranean 19th century sewer pipe, which was recently supplanted by the brand-new pipe installed on the north side of the street.

The stabilization effort uses a technology called Cured-In-Place-Pipe (CIPP) that involves stuffing giant, resin-impregnated felt tubes into the old old sewer pipe. You can see a pile of the felt tubes stacked up here:

The felt tubes are become solid when they are cured with hot water, which stabilizes the old sewer pipe — eliminating the need to dig up the street to remove it.

Here’s an explanation of the process from the website of Sak Construction, which is performing the work on Cesar Chavez

During the wet-out process, the felt tube, coated on the outside with a continuous impermeable layer of polyurethane, is resin-impregnated, fully saturating the felt so that no voids or pockets of air remain in the tube. The wet-out liner is inverted into the existing pipe using a hydrostatic head or pressurized air. As a result, the resin-saturated side of the liner interfaces with the wall of the existing pipe. The reverse side of the liner—which is coated with polyurethane—thus becomes a smooth interior surface to effectively carry the rehabilitated pipeline’s flow.

Once the liner is in place throughout the entire length of the pipeline that is being repaired, we inject hot water or steam to cure the liner resin. When properly cured, this provides a continuous, jointless “pipe-within-a-pipe” and restores structural integrity to the damaged pipe.

This video shows how all the pieces come together:

PHOTOS: Courtesy of @SomaFMRusty

I was enjoying a delicious dinner at a glamorous French bistro in Potrero Hill on Friday night when suddenly my phone began buzzing maniacally. It was Neighbor Scott, a new Bernal resident who lives in the upper elevations of Folsom Street:

Ah yes. I smiled knowingly…

As a Bernalwood newbie, our Neighbor Scott was unfamiliar with the crucifixion ritual re-enacted each year up on the Hill. The photo shown above was taken in 2011, but this year Neighbor Nina captured some video footage of the re-enactment procession as it climbed up Folsom Street:

She writes:

[St. Anthony’s church] celebrates Good Friday with a reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ along Folsom St in Bernal Heights. Poor quality, but you get the gist of it. You can hear them chanting and whipping Jesus. You might be able to see the person playing Jesus carrying a cross, but my vantage point was not ideal and the truck stopped right in front of me. Sorry about that!

PHOTO:  Top, Good Friday 2011 on Bernal Hill, by Brian Wong