Trails and Tales. News for VIP Volunteers in the Montane Sector. September 2014 VIP EVENTS

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1 Trails and Tales News for VIP Volunteers in the Montane Sector September 2014 VIP EVENTS Oct 5 th - MBAU Benefit Ride Please check out the webpage for up- coming events information! All photos by Michele Hernandez unless otherwise noted. 1

2 IAU Photos by Bob Nuttmann Taken Along Azalea Glen Trail during and after the Nature Walk The park was so colorful today. This time of year there are lots of contrasts. 2

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4 Extra News from Anza-Borrego Desert CA State Park by Ranger Heidi Here are some pictures of my new patrol so far! Miss everyone, ride-alongs can be scheduled, if anyone is interested in seeing the desert. The picture with the tow truck was me pulling out the tow truck. We had a family stuck at Yaqui Well, in the wash. Ended-up driving around several miles to the east access to get the family out. 9-hour extraction. Heidi K. Addison-Bier CA State Park Peace Officer 4

5 MBAU News By Chad Leptich MBAU lost a Visitor, Well Almost So James Never Lost Gerber calls from Yuma. He says that he will be spending some time in the mountains training for the upcoming racing season. James has spent some time in our mountains but only on the highways. He asked if I can show him some of the trails. But of course was my reply. In fact a few of us MBAU members were going to patrol so he was more than welcome to ride with us. I need to tell everyone that James is a very quick rider, but to his own admission, not very good at directions. Since James was following us around the park I thought we might give him a chance to stretch his legs, much like a race [James is in the Pink Sunglasses] Photo by Chad stallion prepares for a race. At the bottom of Milk Ranch Road we decided to let Steve The Rabbit Boland get a head start up Middle Peak and then we would unleash James to catch Steve before the top of the climb. Tom Voight, Jason DeMendonca and I took the short cut up to the saddle at the top of Milk Ranch were we all agreed to meet up. The three of us waited for Steve and James to come off Middle Peak but only Steve made it. So now we are wondering what happened to James? I remember when we unleashed the Stallion. The directions were to go 100 yards then turn right. He will know he is at the top of the climb when he gets to the water tank. I thought those were simple instructions Well as you imagine our imaginations are getting to us. Did James wimp out and turn around and go home? I doubt it. Did he have a perilous accident? I doubt it. Did he have a serious mechanical? Probably. Well we decided to go and look for him so Steve and Tom backtracked up Middle Peak and Jason and I were to head down Milk Ranch where all of us would meet at the bottom of Milk Ranch. Right after Steve and Tom headed up to the top of Middle Peak. Jason and I were leaving to head down Milk Ranch. Well, guess Photo by Michele who shows up right when Jason and I were mounting up. James Never Lost Gerber rolls up with a serious salt ring around his neck. Now Understand James rolled up from the south on Azalea. I asked, how did you get there? Come to find out James missed the right hand turn after the first 100 yards. He just kept pedaling as hard as he can to catch Steve. James finally figured out that he missed a turn after he reached the top of Cuyamaca Peak. 5

6 All in all, life is good and everyone was home safe and sound. Of course, James I got a Great Workout In Gerber was able to learn some of the trails in the Park. If you see James out training please say hello and make sure he is pointed in the right direction. Don t forget the MBAU Benefit Ride sign up at Active.com (shameless plug). 6 Which way did he go?

7 TMU News by Michele Hernandez August saw many changes in the TMU. Dave McClure, after many years of hard work and wonderful service is no longer volunteering at Cuyamaca. Thanks Dave for all the good things you did for the park. Skip Davis, our tool sharpener and all around good egg has also decided to hang up his arm gaiters and move on. Thanks Skip. If it wasn't for your hard work we wouldn't have had loppers that actually lopped. Mike and Cathy Hamm have also opted to put the saws and loppers away and are leaving our unit. Mike and Cathy hiked extensively with trail tools in hand quietly working on some of our more distant trails. Mike also coordinated our Facebook page and our online trails reports. Thank you both for your hard work. I wish all of you the best in the coming years. Milo and Janet took a break from trail work in August but are back this September. They are inviting all TMU members to their Saturday lunch social where we can talk about recent changes and what's next for the TMU. The hike and hack did little hiking or hacking this month. We opted for wood delivery, sorting recycling and moving a good sized rock off Merrigan FR that was right in the middle of the road. This month the usual suspects were joined by Dave Hernandez who made the Dave sized rock moving much easier. Once again I'd like to thank everyone I missed mentioning this month. I know many volunteers are out doing trail work that I don't know about. Thank you for your hard work. Until next month, keep safe and have fun. Photographer unknown 7

8 MOUNTED ASSISTANCE UNIT BY BONNIE SLAGER The MAU Benefit Ride is now over and we had a great turnout and good weather. I don t have the final numbers yet but we did well. At the risk of forgetting someone I want to thank you all for your help. Bill, Traci, John Anderson and Lee helped all weekend in the campground. Kandhy for getting the change fund. Nancy U for getting the ice. Charlene, Karen and crew for the food it was the best ever!! Angie and Teresa for manning the raffle ticket sales all day. Diana and Michelle and crew for setting up the raffle tables. Jeni for setting up and running the silent auction. John Anderson, Ron, Peter, Mark and Jon for cooking. Bill, Traci, Andrea and Ed for being out riders. Kandhy for using the credit card devise it helped increase income. Tom for parking lot duty. Erin and Ron for the emergency trailer which we did not have to use. Lee s daughter Tammy for keeping the bathrooms supplied all weekend. And everyone for pitching in and doing whatever had to be done. Good job!! The Park is incredibly dry right now. There is no water in Sweetwater River just below Mickey James Camp. There was a little water under the bridge and there are tubs of water at Arroyo Seco and Granite Springs. The water is running at Dyer Springs. Other than that there is no water on the trail. Plan your rides so you can either get to these water sources or take water for your horse. Last Sunday when I was on patrol my patrol partner s horse got dehydrated. We were on Harvey Moore trail about a mile from the bridge. We gave the horse some water and an apple and walked it to the bridge to get more water. After about a half hour there the horse was much better and we were able to ride back to Mickey James Camp. So, plan your patrol routes to include the few water stops that are available and pack carrots, apples and water for your horse to keep him/her hydrated. Also, loading your horse up with carrots each night helps too. I give my horse 5 pounds of carrots each night after riding so he has more moisture in his intestinal track. When it is cool at night horses do not always drink as much water as they should. The temperature range is very wide now. It was mid to high 80 s during the day and 50 or lower at night. Bring blankets for both you and your horse so both of you are comfortable. Enjoy the Park. 8

9 MAU Benefit Ride 9

10 News from Ranger Adam I was going out on patrol the other day and found the Women s US Olympic Rugby team loading up into the team vans in the Paso Picacho Day use lot after hiking Stonewall. I had a brief conversation with one of the women who said that they were on a team-building excursion while they are training at their facility in South County (Chula Vista). They have several exhibition games between now and November and then leave to Dubai in November for competition. As soon as I was driving away I realized I may have missed a good opportunity to do some PR with the team (and State Parks) so I contacted the US Rugby Assoc. headquarters in Colorado and was hoping that a gentleman there was going to send me an blurb on the team that I could utilize for an article. At least he told me he would, but I haven t received it yet. He was helpful in that while I was relaying the story to him he was checking on the team s twitter site. He then told me he was looking at the picture from their hike which he directed me to. 10

11 Contacts: Palomar TMU-Jim Zevely- MAU- Bonnie Slager- MBAU- Chad Leptich- IAU-Shannon Svensen- 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 to- Susan Russo - nebulae3sma@hotmail.com 11