Trails and Tales. News for VIP Volunteers in the Montane Sector July Meet the Park Staff by Bob Hillis

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1 Trails and Tales News for VIP Volunteers in the Montane Sector July 2012 Meet the Park Staff by Bob Hillis VIP EVENTS June 30-July 1 TMU Palomar work/party campout Raptor Institute will be doing a presentation at 1;pm in the Paso day use area on these dates : July 21st and Aug 11th, sponsored by CRSPIA Photo by Bob Hillis July 29 MAU Benefit Ride This month s featured staff member is Heidi Addison-Bier. Heidi is a State Park Peace Officer (Ranger) at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. She has worked at Cuyamaca for almost 8 years. Heidi began her ranger career at Ocotillo Wells State Vehicle Recreation Area. While there, Heidi arrested lots of DUI drivers, patched up lots of accident victims and tried to protect what resources she could. She worked there for two years, before coming to Cuyamaca. Heidi likes working at Cuyamaca because the public interaction keeps her busy. She especially enjoys spending time with park volunteers. Heidi also enjoys hiking in the Park and discovering new locations, plants, and critters. Oct 6 th - Retirement party for Nedra Oct 13/14 MAU safety training Oct 14 MBAU Annual Benefit Ride 1

2 Her favorite areas of the Park are Oakzanita Peak and the meadows east of Stonewall Mine. Heidi is the liaison ranger with the Interpretive Assistance Unit and the Camp Host recruiter. Unfortunately, Heidi has limited time to spend on those tasks because she is assigned to Palomar part of the year, to cover the staffing shortage there. When Heidi isn t at work, she enjoys painting, writing, hiking, beachcombing, playing Guild Wars online, and having (mis) adventures with her son, Lorin. Heidi stands out as the creative ranger amongst her peers. She has a passion for the Park s natural resources that is obvious during her formal and informal interpretive presentations. Most importantly, Heidi frequently brings chocolate to work and she shares it with her boss and co-workers. The next time you see Heidi in the Park, ask her to complete the following sentence, Never play leap frog with a. Photo by Jason DeMendonca 2

3 IAU Article and photos by Marc Arnt The Raptor Institute came to Paso Picacho day-use area on June 16 to educate campers, and a few volunteers, about San Diego's native raptors. Danny Sedivec brought an American Kestrel and a Barn Owl for their first program in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. Roughly thirty campers learned a great deal about San Diego County's raptors in general, and specifically, the American Kestrel and Barn Owl. Dan taught them about the birds' diets, hunting methods, acute senses, habitats, and the dangers they face. The Raptor Institute's second (of three) program is July 16, and there was mention of new birds for this one. I believe Screech Owl was one The third, and final for this summer, will be August 11, and should be equally informative. Please consider coming up and learning a thing or two about San Diego's amazing hunting birds. This is an excellent opportunity, thanks to Jean Harnage, and CRSPIA. 3

4 The Raptor Institute is a non-profit organization who's goal is to educate the public on local raptors. Their motto is "Conservation through Education and Inspiration." Their goals are to promote community conservation efforts, provide education to the public about raptors and produce the inspiration needed to protect our environment. You can learn more about The Raptor Institute at raptorinstitute.org. 4

5 MAU Article by Bonnie Slager & Photos by Darla Winland I want to thank Suzie Kirkwood for serving as unit coordinator for the last 4 years and the advisory committee for electing me coordinator for this year. We have some great trainees and it looks like our benefit ride is going to be well attended. I am looking forward to a good year for our unit. I just got home from our MAU family and friends campout at Los Vaqueros. We had a great time, good weather and lots of food. Our potluck on Saturday night was really amazing. I am not sure where all the food came from but there was enough for twice as many people. Thanks to Suzie for organizing the event. Thanks to Doreen and friends for the music and most important, thank you to the clean-up committee that made sure the campground was clean before they left 5

6 on Monday. Also, Janet Viloria provided us with a little entertainment on Saturday but she was back from the hospital in record time with nothing broken and she cowgirled up and rode her horse on Sunday. Way to go Janet! The benefit ride is July 29 th and we have a full camp ground for the event. Just a reminder to everyone we need raffle prizes and everyone needs to bring a dessert on Sunday to go with the meal. We need everyone to help with this event so please plan on being there early on Sunday morning and staying for the day. Parking begins about 7 am and clean up should be done by around 5pm. Raffle prize information should be sent to Diana Anderson and I have the list of jobs so if you are unsure what you signed up for or did not get signed up for a job, send me an . Thanks for all the hours you spend getting ready to come to the Park and patrolling. I know it is time consuming but we have the best place to ride in southern California and maybe all of California. Enjoy the Park. 6

7 Palomar TMU News and Photos by Rick Barclay Nothing beats before and after pictures for enjoying the fruits of your labor. Here are a couple that show recent work on Palomar's Scott's Cabin Trail. The sawyer is Doug Lande, a recent addition to Palomar's TMU crew leaders. Even though he's fairly new to our unit, Doug brings a tremendous amount of experience in sawyering and tread work. In fact, for this project he showed us how to build a water bar using the logs he had cut, and how to countour the trail to control runoff and erosion. He was helped by swampers Jim Zevely, Drew Barclay and Rick Barclay. 7

8 MBAU by Jason DeMendonca Photos by Michele Hernandez Trail work with the legendary Steve Boland Last fall, just prior to the annual benefit ride, Steve Boland and Rodney called for some volunteers to help clear some ceanothus and scrub oak on CRH/La Cima Trail in preparation for the new route. A few of us MBAU members came out. This was the beginning of a series of work days and adventures with Steve. Aside from being a strong bike rider, Steve is quite the worker. On one particular occasion, he and I hiked and hacked the La Cima Loop in the morning. Once we went a certain distance, we jumped into his vehicle and sped off to the School Camp to ride our bikes via the Upper Green Valley Fire Road to hit the trail from the other side. While driving down SR 79, we ate some PB & Js that Steve made using organic Strawberry jam (quite good - thanks Costco). Steve would pedal ahead, jump off the bike and be cutting at a scrub oak while l was still cresting the hill. We were out all day. I hadn't known Steve that well but I quickly gained respect for him. Now, fast forward a few months and Steve was at the West Side Trail with another project with the help of TMU and San Diego Mountain Bike Association. We started on a cold November rainy day. We were all drenched but had a good time. I ordered two Gortex rain jackets soon after that experience. After the section was opened up to mountain bikers, the legendary Steve Boland decided to tackle the Cold Spring Reroute (oh my). With the approval from the park, Steve was able to elicit the help from all stakeholders: SMBA, TMU, MBAU, REI, New Belgium Ale et. al. We had pep talks; we had swag. We ate hot dogs. We had a camp out. We worked in the snow. We saw some rattle snakes. We pulled out some stubborn roots. Good times had by all. We are certainly lucky to have such an energetic volunteer. Perhaps sometime in the future, park users will come across a new trail aptly named The Steve Boland Trail. Harvey Moore has nothing over Steve. 8

9 Note from Michele Hernandez: It will open-so contact Steve about future work parties in the fall and winter for a spring 2013 opening! The gang is taking the summer off because it s a might warm out toward East Mesa. 9

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11 Contacts: Palomar TMU-Rick Barclay TMU- Dave McClure - dmmcclure@cox.net IAU- Jean Harnage- jgharnage@gmail.com MBAU- Jim Loh- maryeloh@aol.com MAU- Bonnie Slager- slagerb@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 29th to- Susan Russo- nebulae3sma@hotmail.com 11