President s MEssage. December 2012

Transcription

1 Volume 9, Issue 12 December 2012 Newsletter Date December 13 BCHU Christmas Party & Auction Doors Open at 5:30pm. Dinner at 7pm. C.R. Hamilton Indoor Pavillion 3700 W S Riverton (NEW location) President s MEssage REMEMBER: Auction Items Renew Membership Volunteer Hours Volunteers needed for party help INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Xmas Party 2 Ride Planning 3 Stansbury Island 4 Bison RoundUp 5 Techie Trail Gadgets 6 Membership Form 7 Help Needed 8 Hello All, With winter unofficially here and the yearend approaching much faster than I could ever imagine we still have a bit of business to still attend to. First we are still looking for volunteers to assess the usability of a handful of trails. So if you are looking to get some riding in, this is a perfect opportunity to explore and discover new trails while providing service to this important project headed up by Pat Wilson. Pat has a complete list of trails that need attending to and you can contact her by phone or patricia@csolutions.net. Secondly, our Christmas Party has been set for Thursday December 13th and Paul Kern will be accepting your RSVP s through the end of the month with your attendance and chicken or steak choice at kernpr@gmail.com. Please also let him know if you can help. Last year due to all your generosity we had a very fun and successful auction. This year we need your donations again. Look around, get creative, and gather up any items that will bring bids and help raise funds for our chapter. Gina Levesque has offered her time to organize the auction, so please contact her by phone or at ginaklevesque@yahoo.com as soon as possible with any items you plan to donate. Thank you in advance for your spirit of giving. Thirdly, PICTURES, PHOTOS, SNAP- SHOTS are needed of your equine adventures whether funny, whacky, or just plain beautiful to compliment our 2013 calendar. Cindy Furse once again is putting together this wonderful calendar and needs your photos to represent you all in the coming year. Please forward your photos to her at cfurse@ece.utah.edu as quickly as possible so you can make this fun publication. Along with me please take time to thank those who head up these projects by volunteering their time for our benefit. Lastly, we are looking for a 2nd vice president so please call me at with nominations at your earliest convenience. Thank you all, Paul Want Something from and Old Newsletter? Newsletter Archives: (click on Mountain Ridge)

2 Page 2 M o u n t a i n R i d g e C h r i s t m a s p a r t y a n d A u c t i o n D e c e m b e r 1 3 a t 6 p m New Location

3 Page 3 J a n u a r y 1 0 T r a i l & Project P l a n n i n g Meeting Each January we get together and decide what projects we want to work on and what trails we want to ride. Please give some thought to what you would like to join in on in the coming year. If you would like to lead a ride or host a project, contact Perry. And then everyone, please plan to attend the : January Planning Meeting Jan. 10 at 7pm Cottonwood Retirement Center 1245 East Murray-Holladay Road [4752 South] Bring your ideas to the Xmas party or this meeting. What rides, projects, meeting speakers would you like to see? If you can t attend, share your ideas with Perry White (H); (W) whitemt@aol.com Tell us about a good ride for you: 1) How many hours long? 2) How many miles? 3) Lots of interesting/difficult terrain or relatively easy going? 4) Easy, soft footing OR rocks and deadfall OK 5) Water crossings OK? Yes/No 6) Walk only / Walk-Trot / Walk- Trot-Canter 7) How many riders are you comfortable having in your group? 8) Do you feel frustrated waiting for slower rides? Frustrated trying to keep up with the group? Any speed is OK with me? What suggestions do you have for improving our rides? (attach more paper) What rides, projects, speakers would you like? Topics for newsletter? What would you like to volunteer to help with? Local Horse Trails I ve put together a listing of the horse trails and maps that I know of in Utah: FridaysTrails.WordPress.com (click on Utah Horse Trails) Know of others? Please cfurse@ece.utah.edu What trails would you like to ride this year? (circle any and all! If you have a favorite or requested ride in that area, please specify. Can you lead a ride in any of these areas?) Local SL Valley: Yellow Fork or Mustang Pen s (Herriman) Corner Canyon (Draper) Hemangog (above Corner Canyon) Jordan River Parkway (W.Jordan) Dimple Dell (Sandy) South: American Fork Payson Canyon (Blackhawk, etc.) Spanish Fork Canyon Utah Lake Provo Canyon (Vivian Park) Deer Creek (up Provo Canyon) East: Strawberry (several trails) Sheep Creek Woodland Park City Rail Trail (other Park City Trails) Midway / Dutch Hollow High Uintas (any special requests?) Nobletts West: Mile Marker 10 Simpson Springs / Lookout Pass Stansbury Island Stockton Canyon Puddle valley Settlement Canyon Pegasus Obstacle / Training Course North: Antelope Island Ogden Canyon Logan Canyon Bear Lake

4 Page 4 S t a n s b u r y I s l a n d R i d e Thank you to Paul Kern for leading a WARM ride on Stansbury Island under a stunning blue sky. We checked out the trailhead on the far north end, a very pleasant ride. None of us had ridden there before, but it was easy to find, well marked, good parking, nice trail. If you missed this ride, you may want to check it out on your own. More Photos at the BCHU Snapfish site. cfurse@ece.utah.edu for a login invite.

5 Page 5 A n t e l o p e I s l a n d B i s o n R o u n d u p After a whopping 22 degree snowy night, the day dawned bright, sunny, and only a little chilly! I m sorry I don t have any Bison pictures this year new horse, didn t join the rounding up part this time. Had a great ride, though! Winter Prep More Photos at the BCHU Snapfish site. cfurse@ece.utah.edu for a login invite.

6 Page 6 Techie Trail Gadgets Satellite phones use direct line of sight to satellite in order to make your call. They work in most terrain, although if you are deep in a canyon or gulch, you may have to wait for the satellite to come into view. They also can be a little glitch when under trees. They can be pricey to buy (see SatellitePhoneStore.com), but are not too bad to rent (SkyCallSatellite.com) if you have a group function in the back country and want to be sure you can call out for emergency medical care. You can pretty much count on being able to get 2-way phone communication 24/7. GPS Tracking & Mapping Systems FindMeSpot Satellite Tracker This cool little gismo came out a few years ago. It can let someone with a computer track your location real time, you can check in or call for help by pushing a button, and your location will be transmitted to your family or emergency personnel, you can track your route (to be viewed later it doesn t follow back like a GPS), and you can connect your smart phone to turn it into a satellite messenger (send texts, but not voice). The system uses satellite for communication and GPS for your location. It costs a lot less than a satellite phone, because it sends only limited data (location and ok/ notok codes, or texts)the device is under $200 (FindMeSpot.com or amazon.com), and monthly fees vary. GPS is like having a map in your hand, and someone pointing to where you are on the map, marking your trail, telling you how to get there or back. You can also transfer your trail to a friend, receive a trail track from them, and upload from public GPS sharing sites. Some versions (yep, they cost more) can even take pictures and mark where they were taken (I was thinking that would be awesome to take pictures of trail markers and signs). Some include a walkie talkie that can also transmit your location so your friend can find you. These cost around $200 and up, plus the electronic maps (about $99/state). I love my GPS and use it regularly. The only thing I still don t like is that most of the maps you can get for GPS don t have the trails premarked on them. And the batteries last only about 1 day, so bring extras, and bring a paper map & compass too.

7 Page 7 R e n e w Y o u r M e m b e r s h i p T o d a y! Mountain Ridge Back Country Horsemen Chapter Application Join M.R.B.C.H. and preserve our heritage!. Name(s): Address: Home # Work # Cell # Newsletter by: Regular Mail Both Liability Release: MUST BE SIGNED Recognizing the fact that there is a potential for an accident wherever horse/mule use is involved, which can cause injuries to horse/mules, riders, and spectators and also recognizing the fact that Back Country Horsemen of Utah, including units, officers, directors, or members cannot always know the condition of trails or the experience of riders or horses/mules taking part in trail rides or other BCHU functions, I do hereby release the above named from any claim or right for damages which might occur to me, my minor children or horses/mules. By signing this release, I/WE recognize the following Utah State Law, UCA 78-27b- Limitations on liability for Equine and Livestock Activities. It shall be presumed that participants in equine or livestock activities are aware of and understand that there are inherent risks associated with these activities. Inherent risk with regard to equine or livestock activities means those dangers or conditions, which are an integral part of equine or livestock activities. The equine activity sponsor is not liable for those inherent risks. If you are unwilling to assume these risks for yourself or for those under your supervision, you should not participate in these activities. Signed: Date: Make check payable to Mt. Ridge BCH, individual $30 year, family $40 year. New Renewal Mt Ridge BCH, P O Box 81, Riverton UT E m a i l o r S n a i l M a i l? Save a tree! Each month it costs just under $1 to copy and mail this newsletter to you. If you received this newsletter by snail mail, and if you would be happy to save a dollar and save a tree, cfurse@ece.utah.edu to receive future newsletters only. Each month I the color newsletter to everyone with an on file. If you are NOT receiving this by , please send me your corrected address. Thank you! Cindy O f f i c e r s President Paul Deputy (H), (c ) pmdeputy@gmail.com State Reps: Paula Hill colostatemama@yahoo.com Bruce Kartchner bruce1349@gmail.com 1st Vice President Perry White (H); (W) whitemt@aol.com 2nd Vice President Paul Kern kernpr@gmail.com Secretary Stephanie Yeager (801) yeagirls@msn.com Past President Tom Smith westernbreeze@comcast.net Education: Paul Hillier George & Christa Muller Treasurer Larry Newton Bignewt1@comcast.net Service Coordinator: Fred Leslie fredleslie101@gmail.com Historian: Rinda Black rrblack@hotmail.com Newsletter Editor: Cindy Furse cfurse@ece.utah.edu Photo Sharing Site: snapfish.com ( cfurse@ece.utah.edu for an invite

8 V o l u n t e e r H o u r s With our annual MRBCHU dinner fast approaching (December 13) please take a moment to turn in your 2012 service hours. Just take a moment to jot down the date, what you did, where and any mileage you drove, if you used livestock. Service hours count for a variety of activities: organized BCHU work parties such as Sandy Pride; individual work like picking up trash/clearing trails where you ride; administrative work such as soliciting donations for BCHU, attending community meetings regarding trails, informing others about trails concerns, working on newsletters, recording secretarial notes etc. IF IT HAS TO DO WITH KEEPING TRAILS OPEN AND ACCESSIBLE, WITH OPENING TRAILS, WITH MAKING OTH- ERS AWARE OF EQUESTRIAN TRAILS USAGE, IT IS "SERVICE." Beyond individual recognition and service hours patches, each BCHU chapter turns in its accumulative hours to the State organization, which in turn submits to BCHA. PLEASE take a moment to make our chapter an important contributor to BCHA goals. It is really important to demonstrate to public officials that equestrians value their ability to access trails and are willing to work to preserve the right to use them. Please return hours via fredleslie101@gmail.com or fax: Questions? Please contact Fred at C a l e n d a r P i c t s Let your horse become a famous pinup! Please send favorite photos and great rides to Cindy Furse cfurse@ece.utah.edu or 2295 Pinecrest Canyon Rd, SLC N e e d A u c t i o n I t e m s Gina needs extra help soliciting auction items this year, since she broke her collar bone. Please give contact her ginaklevesque@yahoo.com phone: (385) Bring your good used items (horse stuff, house stuff, gift stuff, fun stuff) to the Christmas Party with you. All proceeds go to BCHU. V o l u n t e e r s f o r X m a s P a r t y N e e d e d Volunteers needed to BBQ, bake potatoes & brownies, serve, set up, decorate, and clean up. Contact Paul Kern kernpr@gmail.com