VIP EVENTS. News for VIP Volunteers in the Montane Sector August 2015

Transcription

1 Trails and Tales News for VIP Volunteers in the Montane Sector August 2015 VIP EVENTS For the TMU schedule see the second to last page Please check out the webpage for up- coming events and information! Sept 12 th Hike and Hops with ABF Sept 19 th - Cold Spring Reroute official opening day! Oct 11 th MBAU 25 th Anniversary Benefit Ride Photo by Michele Hernandez 1 All Patrol Units: Please help out the TMU by giving EXACT details of downed tree location, type of tree, and size. If the information is second-hand, please ride out to the site to verify the information accuracy before submitting the report. A photo with something to reference size helps too. We have had a lot of wild goose chases lately Thanks for your cooperation.

2 Patrolling with the Legends by Jason DeMendonca, MBAU It was a nice early summer day with a planned patrol with the legendary Steve Boland and Sean Murphy. Both have been volunteering approximately 20 years each. Both are equally skilled and committed to MBAU and both are affable. We started our Sunday morning patrol out of the volunteer camp and headed north per Steve's advice. He asserted it would be cooler in the northern part of the park. We started up Cold Stream, saw some animals, almost ran over a snake and eventually made it up to Milk Ranch Road. Here we stopped and chatted with some hikers and cyclists and powered our way up Azalea Springs Fire Road. By this point I needed water and we all filled up and theorized why the water seemed to have more of an iron taste compared to previous years. We concluded it was because of the drought and lower water tables. Having solved that query, we made our way to Fern Flat Fire Road and well-earned downhills. During this bumpy ride my hand towel came out of my pocket. That's my guess. It's blue. If you see it, leave it in the ready room! Finally our patrol was finished and we celebrated with strawberries, left over ribs (thanks, Tom) and snacks. Luckily, I wasn't beat up too badly. Welcome back, Sean. 2

3 TMU Article & Photos by Michele Hernandez July is already in the rearview mirror and the dog days of August are upon us. The TMU wasn t as busy this month as it usually is. The ultramarathoners wisely take this time of the year to recover from all the running and trail work they do. Milo s work party worked on Azalea Glen on the second Saturday of July. Janet, again, served a nummy lunch. Then, the following weekend, the hike and hack was cancelled because of rain! There was thunder and lightning to go with the rain. It was wonderful. John Sproule, our trail ninja, has been busy working on the trails. He and several inmate crews have done trail work on the east and west sides of Black Oak; Cold Stream from Paso to Cold Stream parking on down to Hill trail and clearing on Middle Peak. He s also been working hard trying to keep poison oak in check here and at Palomar. John has been one busy trail ninja. The Cold Spring re-route is getting closer to opening. The puncheon is almost complete and odds and ends still need to be finished. It won t be much longer before we can enjoy this wonderful re-route. Thank you to all the workers who have toiled diligently to get this done. Your finish line is in sight. Photo-selfie by Mark Campbell An MBAU patrol removed a downed tree from Westside trail. They also helped a rider whose horse had lost a shoe. Just a quick note, the Milo and Janet work party on the second Saturday of August is cancelled. For other trail work information contact Susan Russo. Thanks to everyone for working on the trails during the heat of summer. Keep safe, stay hydrated and have fun in the park. Photo by Kirk Bennet 3

4 TMU continues by K. Mac A 12-13" Oak was located this morning, 'bout 1/4 mile south on West Side trail below the Visitor Ctr crossing. Tree was bent so that 2 ends of a 14 foot length were across or in the trail about knee & chest high. No Push or Pull budged this rascal.... So, drive up to Paso to consult w/ John. 'Sounds like a job for the Combi ' says he. Once again - spot on! An assembly tutorial, a trial start, the Combi kit, a radio, borrowed gear (only a hike had been planned ) & back to West Side TR.12" bar on the Combi cut all levels, rolling the bar for a farside cut is sorta like handling a harpoon....expected 3-4 cuts, 6 did the job. Completo! Alas, no pics today. Terry, abefore pic? By IAU Terry Gibson Drop the chaps, get into hiking gear, down to Sweetwater Bridge & slap TMU placard on dash. 10AM on the Bridge, pack on back, loppers in hand & up Monument TR to Arroyo Seco JCT, up to West Mesa/Burnt Pine JCT. Hope was Pitchfork was still up on BP near our stopping overgrown Switchback.... actually was closer ( near 2nd set of Big Pine Group ) Also near enough to our "Fat Boy" Pine, so did clear all way 'round that Boy, so's he now has a wee bit more room to expand! PS interestingly, on way to Monument Tr, after waiting for a Quartet o' Turkeys (Turkey Gothics? ) coming up from creek bed to cross Trail, next to come along was a young lady equestrian, who was pleased to learn she now had clear passage. North on WestsideTrail (at least to the Museum / VC Crossing) thanks to "Downed Tree " heads up from Terry & Charlene! Just another amazing kinda day in our Park, thanks too John, Photo by Michele Hernandez 4 Photo by Michele Hernandez

5 MOUNTED ASSISTANCE UNIT By Bonnie Slager Busy month for the MAU. We had our Friends of Clyde campout the end of June and then our Benefit campout and ride the last weekend in July as well as patrolling when it was not raining. Photos by Michele Hernandez The Friends of Clyde campout was a chance for the members of the MAU and a few friends to ride and spend time together. We had wine tasting on Friday night and a potluck on Saturday night. John Saxer wins for the best dish at the potluck. He baked a fruit cobbler as we were eating dinner and then served it hot with ice cream. We really know how to rough it! Bill s grandsons seemed to be accident prone that weekend but that is kids for you. Nothing serious, just enough to stress out their mom and Bill. We just had our annual Benefit ride and campout. We had a big crowd and our usual huge raffle and auction. We are still working on the final dollar amount that we earned but I think we did quite well. Results at the end of the year banquet as usual. Thank you to all that helped me with the event, it is really a big effort and takes the whole unit to pull off this event. Bill, John Anderson and Lee helped all weekend starting with parking and ending with clean up. Traci, Bill, Susan and Nancy U. took our guests on the ride on Sunday. Nancy Z, Karen, Kathy and Ellen were a great kitchen crew. John, Peter, Ron, Mark Smith and Jon were our cooks. Best chicken and steak ever. Angie and Tereasa sold almost $1,800 in raffle tickets. Diana, Michelle and Joyce organized the raffle prizes and auction items. Sharon helped with registration and Doreen sold the poker hands. Ernie, our high speed computer, selected the winning hands. Doreen and her sister-in-law provided music on Saturday night. Lee s daughter, Tammy, kept the bathrooms stocked. Ernie and Robin delivered the meat on Sunday morning. I know many more things were done that I did not even know happened. I want to thank Susan Russo for helping keep track of the cash box and Dave Hernandez for calling the raffle numbers and running the auction. I know Dave was really tired and almost lost his voice by the end of the day. There is a rumor that I am going to start a Lucas Oil store in Norco but that is not true. I just put all my raffle tickets in the cup for those items. I am well stocked now in Lucas products. My truck should look very shiny and have shiny tires too. 5

6 Some of our patrols were cancelled due to the rain during July. Good for the park to have so much rain in the summer. Keeps the dust down on the trails. Bill, Deb and John VanAken had a nice experience when they were patrolling. They were by the school camp and there was a group there from the Fallen Warriors Foundation. They asked the patrol to ride over by the mess hall at the camp so that the kids that were there that had lost a family member in service could come and see and pet the horses. Bill, Deb and John felt very honored and rode over to have twenty very happy kids and adults petting the horses and asking questions. It was a great experience for our patrol members and the families. Good job! 6

7 IAU in Action Photos by Michele Hernandez 7

8 Trails Maintenance Unit Work Party Schedule for August 2015 Cuyamaca Rancho State Park We meet at the Paso Picacho Maintenance Yard at 8:00am on most Saturdays & Wednesdays Our volunteer Hosts for each Saturday are as follows: Saturday, August 1 st Cold Spring Reroute (puncheon building) with Steve and Susan Saturday, August 8 th TBD with Susan (Milo and Janet are not available) Saturday, August 15 th Hike and Hack with Susan and Elizabeth Saturday, August 22 nd Enjoy the park Saturday, August 29 th End of the month rut Please contact me at nebulae3sma@hotmail.com to let us know you will be joining us. Don t forget to record your hours and leave them in the tool shed for Janet to track. There is a binder with timesheets. If it is raining or snowing or too hot! it is probably cancelled 8

9 Contacts: Palomar TMU-Jim Zevely- MAU- Bonnie Slager- MBAU- Chad Leptich- IAU- Greg Meckstroth- TMU- Dave Hernandez- Or Susan Russo- Visitor Center Gift Shop Manager- Barbara Visitor Center Museum Scheduling- Greg Meckstroth CRSP Park Headquarters (weekdays only) Paso Picacho Kiosk (for weekends) Green Valley Kiosk Palomar Headquarters Send articles and photos (Please, include photographer s name) for next month BEFORE noon of the last day of the month tosusan Russo - nebulae3sma@hotmail.com 9

10 How to build a puncheon Start with a dream, measure twice, cut once and never give up Well finally it is true The Park is going to open Cold Spring trail. The grand opening is Saturday, September 19 th. Come out for the celebration and ride or hike the trail. Then you are invited to Paso day use area back loop, most of you have been there. We ll barbeque and celebrate with everyone who helped build Cold Spring trail. Folks from SDMBA, REI, and sponsors like North of the Border, CALCOAST, New Belgium, and others by Steve Boland. 10