Trails and Tales. News for VIP Volunteers in the Montane Sector January 2013

Transcription

1 Trails and Tales News for VIP Volunteers in the Montane Sector January 2013 Aloha `oe (Farewell) to Ranger Bob By Heidi Addison VIP EVENTS January 1 st Hike up Stonewall Peak with the IAU weather permitting. Please send up- coming events information! This December, CA Supervising State Park Peace Officer, Ranger Bob Hillis retires from state park service. Bob Hillis is a native of San Diego, CA, born on January 3 rd, He grew-up with a diversity of wild places to explore. The beach, the mountains and the desert throughout San Diego County became inspiration for young Bob Hillis dreams. Bob related that 1

2 when he was a boy, he knew he wanted to become either a marine biologist, or a forest Ranger. Ranger Bob Hillis started on the path to park service in the city of San Diego, 1986, where he earned his peace officer certification and training with San Diego Police Department. During his career with the police department, he worked at the San Diego Harbor Police Department. This is the law enforcement authority for the San Diego Unified Port District. The patrol area covers the San Diego Bay, the San Diego International Airport (also known as Lindbergh Field), and all Tidelands around the bay. In 1988, Bob Hillis joined the San Diego City Parks, to work as a Ranger for the first time. This position afforded Bob the opportunity to employ his lifelong skill as a diver. His official classification was, Ranger/Diver. The career with SDC Parks required patrol by foot and in emergency-equipped vehicles and vessels to assist visitors in distress and to ensure the safety of the public engaged in all recreational activities at San Diego City lakes; perform shoreline and water-related rescues; enforce Municipal, County and State laws; administer emergency care in the capacity of an Emergency Medical Technician; assist in maintaining water quality and safeguard sensitive biological and archeological resources; assist in conducting aquatic events and water safety programs. The San Diego city lakes are reservoirs, which are part of the City of San Diego's municipal water supply system. The public is provided recreational access to all of the City's reservoirs for a variety of traditional outdoor activities, including fishing, boating, hiking, picnicking, and waterfowl hunting. While Ranger Bob Hillis was enjoying his city parks service, he continued to look for career options further away from the urban lifestyle. It was on a hike in Anza-Borrego Desert CA State Park, exploring Palm Canyon, that Bob discovered just such an opportunity. A woman State Park Ranger passed him as she completed a foot patrol of the trail. That one encounter decided Bob. He completed the parks training academy and went inservice for CA State Parks in Ranger Bob Hillis has completed his park service with a varied resume that includes arrest and control (defensive tactics) staff 2

3 instructor for San Elijo and South Carslbad CA State Beaches, and for the Montane Sector, Resource Officer for the Colorado Desert District, Volunteer Coordinator for the Montane Sector, Sector Superintendent (Acting/ OCA) for the Montane Sector, and was active as a park unit Supervisor for Cuyamaca Rancho CA State Park. Ranger Bob enjoyed his patrol as a Resource Officer the most. Resource Officer was a special detail where Ranger Bob focused on illegal hunting (poaching) of park wildlife, and illegal reptile/ amphibian collection. He patrolled in all the district s park units, from the mountains of Cuyamaca Rancho out to the Colorado River and surrounding desert of Picacho. Bob is a born outdoorsman, being skilled at birding, spearfishing, surfing, scuba diving, and Kayaking. He is highly self-educated in marine life, quickly divulging details on ecology and biology of oceanic animals in conversation. In his retirement, he will continue to enjoy watching birds and interacting with underwater marine life, emphasizing that he has a particular respect for the giant octopus. Bob Hillis and his wife, Kim, are moving to their real home, in tropical Kona, Hawaii. Bob Hillis also wants to share, in his own words; I want to spend as much time in the ocean as I can, enjoy time with my beautiful wife, and grow old and crotchety so I can yell at all the kids to STAY OFF MY LAWN! All the staff, volunteers and park friends of Cuyamaca Rancho and Palomar Mountain say, Aloha `oe (Farewell ) to Ranger Bob, Hau`oli la Ho omaha loa (Happy Retirement). A hui hou kakou (Until we meet again). 3

4 Meet the Park Staff Article and photo by Bob Hillis This month s featured employee is Enrique (Richard) Mendibles. Richard is a Park Maintenance Assistant at Cuyamaca. Richard s tenure at Cuyamaca goes back to when he was only 3 years old. Richard s Father, Henry, was a Ranger at Cuyamaca. The family lived in the big Stone House at Green Valley until Richard returned to Cuyamaca in 2000 to work as a Maintenance Park Aid. In 2008, he was promoted to his current position. Richard Likes working at Cuyamaca because of his co-workers, the outdoors, the variety of tasks he performs, and because he likes working in a nature driven environment. Richard s favorite location in the park is a secret ledge on Cuyamaca Peak. He likes that location because he enjoys the view to the west and because it is secluded. When Richard is not at work, he enjoys downhill mountain bike riding and spending time with friends and family. One of his favorite activities is taking his basset hound to dog beach- because it makes him a chick magnet. Richard is a friendly guy who knows a lot about the park. The next time you see him working in the park, say Hi, and tell him, Get a haircut, you look like a hippie. 4

5 IAU Article and Photos by Bob Nuttmann December Brings Some Snow And Some Sunny Days. All year s weather has some similarities and some differences of course. Last New Year s Day I hiked up Stonewall in brilliant sun and warm seasonal temps. I am keeping an eye on the weather, but I am not sure this year we will get the same amount of sunshine. I will let you know. My recent trip up Stonewall Peak was greeted with a bit of snow 5

6 Quite a few day trippers And some snowmen of modest size. 6

7 But a very good day for some uphill hiking in Cuyamaca. The smile on my face reflects the medium temperatures and in general very good conditions for outdoor smiles on our visitors whose numbers were quite a few. We also opened up the visitor center for a while and had approx 12 people who seemed happy to talk a bit about the trails and what was a good place to go in the park. So just a short update to say that our park offers some great opportunities to work off some of the seasonal overeating and exercise some muscles other than the ones used to write Christmas Cards or sent Holiday Greetings by . Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays all. Bob Nuttmann MAU 7

8 MOUNTED ASSISTANCE UNIT BY BONNIE SLAGER Photo by Darla Winland Charlie Brown The winter weather has really curtailed patrols. The past 2 patrol weekends have been cancelled and we did not schedule any patrols the weekend just before Christmas so we have had very limited time to ride in the Park this month. However, the few patrols that did go out reported very pretty days and very cold nights. Now there are patches of snow in most of the Park. The cold and snow reminds me of two of my most memorable weekends in the park. One of my best patrols was when there was snow. I remember riding up West Mesa Fire Road and the patches of snow around reminded me of a Bev Doolittle painting. I was looking for the hidden horses in the landscape. One of my scarier times was being snowed in at Mickey James Camp. The picture is posted at Merigan. It really is not fun to be snowed in with a horse. When the snow plow came and got me out my biggest concern was hitting ice as I drove down the highway. Fortunately, Clyde and I made it home safely. I tell you these two stories to remind you that safety is a big concern and that is why you get cancelled so often this time of year. Brent tries to error on the side of caution and cancels us instead of having to send the snow plow to get us. If you have ever been in the Park on a snow day you know that the Park staff is very busy with visitors up for the day to see the snow and don t want to worry about our safety as well. I will try to let you know on Thursday if patrols are going to be cancelled so you don t get all packed to go for the weekend and then have to unpack. Happy New Year and enjoy the Park. Bonnie and Clyde Photo by Maggie Benfante 8

9 MM TMU ARTICLE by Dave McClure A new year is here already, and along with the usual resolutions to lose weight (my personal battle), get more exercise, eat healthier and remind that rich uncle to include you in his will, I have another resolution for the New Year to suggest: Get out and use your park more often. The trails, for the most part, are in good shape and ready for you to enjoy on weekends and your days off of work. There are trails in our park for every fitness level, from easy level hikes, to strenuous uphill challenges (but downhill on the way back). The important thing is to get out of the house and get your legs and heart working. As an added bonus, the various reforestation projects now in progress have cleared out huge amounts of overgrown brush resulting in views that haven t been available in years. For those of you who have been getting out on the trails, you may have noticed some new trail signs going up. There are a number of trails in the park that, for one reason or another, were never given official names and were simply named after the coordinates on the old park maps. These old maps are no longer available and all park maps now show these trails with names. This is a source of confusion for a lot of park visitors and the concern is that someone may get disoriented or lost because the trail sign does not agree with the park map. Consequently, we are replacing all of the old Coordinate Trail signs with new trail signs that give the names of the trails as shown on the new park maps. The new signs have all been made and are simply waiting for us to get to the area where they need to be replaced. We have also placed some new signs at several places along the California Riding and Hiking Trail to better display where mountain bikes are permitted. This involved placement of several new Multi-Purpose Trail signs and a few directional indicators to help guide new Park visitors to the appropriate trail(s). The Park has also designated a new mountain bike trail in the area of the Stonewall Mine. The Stonewall Mine Loop Trail is now approved for mountain bikes and has been so marked. This is not to be confused with the old E-6 trail (now renamed Stonewall Mine Horse Trail ) which is not a bike trail. The Loop Trail and Horse trail come into to close proximity of each other at several places, so please use care not to get off trail. We have tried to mark these trails appropriately and we ll make adjustments if necessary. All Photos in this article by Michele Hernandez 9

10 There is some good news about the Kelly s Ditch Trail. With the help of the District Resource crew, we are getting close to the northern Park boundary with the brushing project. But with wet winter weather coming in, we are unable to safely use the Fire Road to access the northern trail head. As soon as things dry out and the weather starts to cooperate, we hope to get back to this project. We are cautiously optimistic that this trail will be open sometime this spring. For those of you who haven t been to the mine or hiked the Stonewall Peak trail lately, be sure to do so, so you can admire the newly installed Interpretive Panels. These informative and very attractive panels were purchased by CRSPIA and installed by TMU Volunteers and Park Rangers. There is a large panel installed at the mine that displays some old photographs and history of the mine. There are three new panels installed along the lower section of the Stonewall Peak trail that give information about the trail itself and of the Sweetwater watershed. At the peak, there are 3 new panels mounted on the railing with descriptions of the distant mountains. These last 3 panels were a challenge to install because they, and all of the mounting hardware and tools, had to be carried by hand all the way to the top; a 2- mile- all -uphill hike, from the trailhead. We were most fortunate in that Rangers Bob Hillis and Andrew Ferreira stepped up to the task and carried everything to the top, one sign at a time, for a total of 3 trips. The panels are heavy and it was a challenging and difficult job. A huge debt of gratitude for the hard work that the Rangers did to get these last 3 panels installed. 10

11 Weather permitting; we still have our 2 regular monthly trail projects. The first Saturday of each month is our monthly Hike n Hack with Michele Hernandez, Susan Russo and Elizabeth Baker. This is a fun event with the added bonus of Michele s huge knowledge of everything Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. If there is anything you have wanted to know about the history of the park, or what type of plant, bird or insect that is, Michele is the one to ask, so simply show up at the Paso Maintenance Yard ready for a fun morning. The second Saturday of each month is trail work led by Milo and Janet Prodanovich. You will not only get to work with our longtime volunteers Milo and Janet, you will also be treated to a nice lunch and social hour at the casa de Prodanovich at Camp Host site #62A. Check out the TMU Face Book page for latest details. Photo by Michele Hernandez Speaking of Face Book, our webmaster Mike Hamm and I will be getting together to do a little revamping on the way we report on trail conditions. We hope to come up with something that s a little easier for us to write which will bring you all the information that you need to know about trail conditions in the park. Please keep checking us at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Trails Maintenance Unit on Face Book. Please let me know of anything that you would like to have put up on our page and I will get it to Mike. And don t forget to Like us! Finally, I wish to extend my everlasting thanks to Ranger Bob Hillis for all he has done for the Park and all the assistance he has given to me and the Trails Maintenance Unit. Bob has hung up his Stetson and is moving on to a leisurely retirement. By the time you read this, Bob will have completed his final shift and he and Kim will be getting ready to resettle in Hawaii. I will miss working with Bob; his office door has always been open to me. He has never been too busy to take a few minutes to help me with a problem and I have benefited greatly from his years of experience. Best of wishes, Bob, and Godspeed. 11

12 MBAU MBAU Plus help from other Units continue the reroute on Cold Spring Photos by Jason De Mendonca The legendary Steve Boland split this rock in half (while the rest of us were theorizing the tools and technology it would take to break and move the rock) and moved it! 12

13 Awesome photos by Michele Hernandez 13

14 Contacts: Palomar TMU-Rick Barclay TMU- Dave McClure - CuyamacaTMU@yahoo.com IAU- Jean Harnage- jgharnage@gmail.com MBAU- Jim Loh- maryeloh@aol.com MAU- Bonnie Slager- slagerb@sbcglobal.net Visitor Center Gift Shop Manager- Barbara McCoybmccoy2008@yahoo.com Visitor Center Museum Scheduling- Greg Meckstroth greglm@sbcglobal.net 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 between the 24th and the 30th to- Susan Russo- nebulae3sma@hotmail.com 14 Photo by Michele Hernandez