East Bay Regional Parks District: Embrace Life!

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Adventure:
Lake Del Valle
Hiking On the Water – An Afternoon in a Kayak
Adventure:
Hayward Regional Shoreline
The Birds and Breeze
Adventure:
Healthy Parks, Healthy People
One Hiker’s Take on a Wonderful Theme
Adventure:
Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline
An Old Favorite With a New Twist
Adventure:
Five Parks
Five Favorite Wildflower Shows
Adventure:
Coyote Hills Regional Park 
And the People Who Love Them
Adventure:

Fremont’s Mission Peak
From Ohlone College to The Clouds
Adventure:
The San Francisco Bay Trail at Eastshore State Park
A Historic Transformation
Adventure:
Diablo Foothills Regional Park
Exploring Pine Canyon
Adventure:
Redwood Regional Park
Need A Cool Summer Loop?
Adventure:
Marsh Creek Trail
A “Let’s Get Fit!” Trail Filled With Surprises
Adventure:
Point Pinole Regional Shoreline
A Bayside Day of Discovery
Adventure:
Tilden Regional Park
One of the First, Still One of the Best
Adventure:
Morgan Territory Regional Preserve
Simply the start of a great day
Adventure:
Ardenwood Historic Farm
Any Time of Year, it’s Superb
Adventure:
The Iron Horse Regional Trail
A Day On The Iron Horse Regional Trail
Adventure:
Martin Luther King Jr.
Shorline Park
A Winter Afternoon at Martin Luther King Regional Shoreline
Adventure:
Sunol Regional Wilderness
OK, Mother Nature – Let’s Color These Hills!
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 LINKS

Wheelchair Foundation 
Leading an international effort to create awareness of the needs and abilities of people with physical disabilities
Save Mount Diablo
Preserving Mount Diablo's peaks, surrounding foothills, and watersheds through land acquisition and preservation strategies
East Bay Regional Park District’s
Hiking Adventures with Bob '4WheelBob' Coomber 

4 Wheel Bob Logo

About the Adventures


Each month, wheelchair hiker and motivational speaker, Bob Coomber, aka 4WheelBob, will offer several lively write-ups on his favorite East Bay Regional Park District hiking trails. Half of his hikes will be geared toward relatively flat options with easy access, perfect for those with mobility devices, strollers, young kids on bikes, anyone really, who would simply like to explore the outdoors on a flat trail. The other half of his hikes are more challenging – he is, after all, the only person to climb 14,000’ White Mountain in a wheelchair. These challenge hikes include longer distances and higher elevations. No matter what you’re looking for, Bob is sure to have an option, and story, for you.

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All About Bob Coomber

Bob Coomber is a lifelong Bay Area resident, having been raised in Piedmont and currently calling Livermore home.

Bob CoomberAfter acquiring juvenile diabetes in his early 20’s, Bob struggled with the illness and its complications. Bob became disabled after his long struggles with diabetes caused severe and irreversible osteoporosis. After multiple leg, ankle and knee fractures, Bob finally took his doctor’s advice and began life in a wheelchair.

Wheelchairs can seem confining, but to Bob the chair was simply another challenge. A lifelong hiker, Bob soon began experimenting with easy outdoors excursions. Several broken chairs later, one thing led to another and Bob became a staple of local newspaper and television shows – that guy in a wheelchair who won’t believe in limits.

On August 24, 2007 Bob became the first person in a wheelchair to summit California’s 3rd highest peak, 14,246’ White Mountain. Bob is also the first in a chair to summit two local favorites, Mt. Diablo and its companion, North Peak, as well as Mission Peak in Fremont.

Bob was inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame in January, 2007. He was one of only 27 Americans to receive the President’s Council on Physical Fitness Community Leadership Award in 2008.  He’s also been featured in every Bay Area newspaper, as well as the CBS “Early Show”, ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” and the Hallmark Channel.

Bob Coomber - Diablo Foot HillsIn October of 2010, Bob plans to summit Africa’s highest peak, Kilimanjaro, and be the first unassisted wheelchair to make the journey. The trip will also serve to distribute 200 wheelchairs in Arusha, Tanzania, in partnership with The Wheelchair Foundation of Danville. A potential spring warm up summit attempt of Mexico’s Orizaba (18,490’) is being pondered.

An inspiring motivational speaker, Bob is popular with everyone from schoolchildren to senior hikers. He loves to inspire others to reach for their goals, no matter what the “perceived” obstacles. Bob has been married to wife Gina for 14 years. They spend way too much time finding new trails to explore all over California and the West.

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As Seen on TV … and Other Media

Bob Coomber has appeared in the local and national media. Take a look.

Television:

Magazines and Newspapers:

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Contact Bob

Bob is also a wonderful motivational speaker and enjoys speaking about the East Bay Regional Park District, trails, flora and fauna, outdoor adventures in California, and especially how to set goals and accomplish them.

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