Their video compression leaves a little to be desired, but it is a good introduction to the world of desert wildflowers we have here at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. From March, 2010.
03/02/2010: UPDATE: Chelsea King’s body has been found and the search has been called off.
Lake Hodges will never be the same. I will think of her every time I am there and every time I drive by it, which is very often.
These used to affect me before, but, now that I have a child of my own, my heart goes out to her friends and family.
Regarding hiking safety, I don’t know what to say. Lake Hodges was one of the areas where I felt a lone woman could be safe. There are trails like Black Mountain and Woodson Mountain, where the trails are sufficiently filled with people to deter a would-be predator. But that is what I thought about Lake Hodges.
Hopefully, putting this guy away will remove a great percentage of danger from San Diego.
I won’t say any more about this except it is tragic and pointless. There are going to be new debates about the release/punishment/rehabilitation of sexual offenders, but it is really outside the scope of this site.
Stay safe out there on the trail.
Ocotillo on the way to Villager Peak
Every year around this time, people start wanting to know if the wildflowers in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park have started blooming yet. After all, much of the park is about a 2-hour drive from most of the county and people want to know if the drive for a day-trip will be fruitful.
From what I understand, the bloom is about to be upon us. We are expecting some more rain in the park on Saturday, but the weather report indicated that Sunday, February 28th will be beautiful.
The bloom is starting right now, with a great amount in the coming week or so and should last in various forms until April. Reserve your lodging as soon as possible, since March tends to be the park’s busiest month.
The website that I always check is the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association (ABDNHA). They regularly update their observations of the wildflower bloom situation and include recent pictures and descriptions, as well as current locations of blooming flowers.
Another resource is the Wildflower Telephone Hotline at 760-767-4684.
If you head out there, be prepared for wide weather and temperature fluctuations, lots of wind, bring plenty of water, and make sure your vehicle is sufficiently fueled, for the service stations can be few and far between.
I am not sure if I am going to be able to get out there for the peak of the blooming, but I hope you do.
Update 02/25/2010: The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park page updated their information about the Wildflowers and included a map. Scroll to the bottom and click on the PDF, or you can get it below:
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Map (PDF – 1.71MB)
Charity Workouts
I wanted to write a quick blog about a friend of mine, Brian, who leads a workout boot camp at Balboa Park. It’s called Charity Workouts in San Diego and they workout on Sundays. The boot camp was named “Best Workout with a Purpose” by San Diego CityBeat and Brian was named Volunteer of the Quarter by Outdoor Outreach.
If you’re going to get in shape and are looking to join a fun boot camp on Sundays, you may as well do it for charity.
Details:
What: Boot camp for fitness and fun
When: Every Sunday @ 9:20AM
Where: 3088 5th Ave, San Diego, CA (Café Bassam)
Cost: Donations only ($5 is appreciated)
Why: 100% of all proceeds benefit San Diego Charities (e.g. Outdoor Outreach)
Details: www.CharityWorkouts.org
Email: CharityWorkouts at Gmail.com
An 18-year-old SDSU student named Sandy Khoo died this weekend while hiking in Torrey Pines. She was hiking alone along the trail that meanders near a cliff. She appears to have fallen about 50 feet and ended up below the Torrey Pines Glider Port. She was found by beach-goers who saw her blue jeans up on the cliff just after noon on Sunday.
She may have been hiking at night, since she was found with a flashlight that was turned on.
Torrey Pines can be a dangerous place, as we’ve seen several fatalities there over the years. The cliffs can be unstable and the sandy, gravelly trail can be very slippery. Don’t let its beauty lull you into thinking it is a walk through the park.
My condolences go out to her friends and family.
Be careful out there on the trails, people.
Some people call it Mount Woodson. It is a pretty good hike with about 1,221′ of elevation gain in 1.8 miles if coming up the east side. If coming up from Lake Poway, it can be pretty grueling. At 10:45 AM yesterday, a hiker on Woodson Mountain found a body off the trail. The authorities sent in a helicopter to confirm it was a body and airlift it off the mountain.
The deceased hiker was identified as 60-year-old Donald Allen Fobes of Oceanside, per the Medical Examiner’s Office, who has not yet determined how he died, but will perform an autopsy today.
It’s possible this hiker was out during heavy wind and rain and was simply unprepared for it. It is also possible that he had a health condition that caught him by surprise. I just have to say, be careful out there.
Update: ”The coroner’s office reports that death resulted from natural causes related to a heart condition.”
Take care of yourselves and see a doctor before starting any strenuous activity.
Shelton Johnson - America's Most Passionate Ranger
Saturday, December 05, 2009, 7:00 PM
The Book Passage in Corte Madera
Since I’ve had a lot of interest regarding the quotation from Lord James Bryce regarding American Haste, I thought I’d do a quick posting about a book signing of Shelton Johnson. He is the eloquent, frequently poetic gentleman who is about as passionate about America’s National Parks as one could get.
He has a book signing of his new book Gloryland
From Amazon.com:
Born on Emancipation Day, 1863, to a sharecropping family of black and Indian blood, Elijah Yancy never lived as a slave — but his self-image as a free person is at war with his surroundings: Spartanburg, South Carolina, in the Reconstructed South. Exiled for his own survival as a teenager, Elijah walks west to the Nebraska plains — and, like other rootless young African-American men of that era, joins up with the U.S. cavalry.The trajectory of Elijah’s army career parallels the nation’s imperial adventures in the late 19th century: subduing Native Americans in the West, quelling rebellion in the Philippines. Haunted by the terrors endured by black Americans and by his part in persecuting other people of color, Elijah is sustained only by visions, memories, prayers, and his questing spirit — which ultimately finds a home when his troop is posted to the newly created Yosemite National Park in 1903. Here, living with little beyond mountain light, running water, campfires, and stars, he becomes a man who owns himself completely, while knowing he’s left pieces of himself scattered along his life’s path like pebbles on a creek bed.
It sounds like an interesting read and he definitely is an interesting person. The book-signing is at:
Burning the brush on Middle Peak in Cuyamaca
I ran across this photo on SignOnSanDiego, which is the Union-Tribune. I should have waited for them to do this before I attempted my bushwhack up Middle Peak last month.
Firefighters John Reynolds (left) and Shannon Johnson with CalFire start a controlled burn in a wash on the north side of Middle Peak. The 70-acre fire was planned to remove vegetation in advance of planting 20,000 Coulter and Jeffrey pines in the spring. (John Gastaldo / Union-Tribune)
Take a hike in San Diego
SignOnSanDiego has a nice list of Open Space Reserves and Preserves on their website. It is not a comprehensive list, but is a decent source for finding ways to take a day hike in San Diego.
Interesting article from the Carmel Valley News on the San Dieguito River Park, which I will be hiking through on the way to my 100 peaks. They’ve accomplished a lot in a short period of time. I can’t wait until they are done with the whole trail and we can walk it from end to end.
San Dieguito River Park progress exceeds expectations
The restoration in the 1980s of 75 acres of habitat in the San Dieguito Lagoon west of Interstate 5 in Del Mar proved so successful that residents of the North County coast began imagining an even bolder plan — restoring a 55-mile corridor from the beach to the base of Volcan Mountain, north of Julian. “If you want a vision, you might as well dream big,” said Karen Berger of Solana Beach, one of the early volunteers in an effort that eventually created the San Dieguito River Park, a park and trail system that will one day provide a path for hikers, bicyclists and horseback riders to traverse the entire 55-mile length of the San Dieguito River from its source on Volcan Mountain to its mouth at the Pacific Ocean.This section of the Coast to Crest Trail, in the Del Dios Gorge, was completed about three months ago.
