Welcome to the Foundation’s eighth E-News, an end-of-the-month monthly newsletter designed to keep you up-to-date with developments and progress related to the San Diego Sea to Sea Trail. Bumper issue to kick off the New Year, folks, but lots of good reading. And some great competitions to kick the new adventure year off with too!
Maxim of the month
“When you see someone putting on big boots, you can be sure adventure is about to happen."
Trail updates
It looks as though there may be some encouraging progress with regard to the Trail along Carmel Valley Road very near the Western end of the Trail’s outset. Much of it is due to the hard work of John Quirk, Chief Ranger for San Diego Coast State Parks, and a member of the Trail’s Joint Agency Committee. State Parks has now approved that the Trail be permitted, running along the south side of Carmel Valley Road, up to Portofino Road the end of the applicable jurisdiction. “This means there will be no loss of wetland," said Quirk, “except for the .07 acre of seepage touching the edge of the current roadbase adjacent to the Portofino Drive intersection. Also, any wetland impacts must be mitigated to the satisfaction of State Parks and the California Coastal Commission." Cyclists will also be catered for, with designated bike lanes running both sides of Carmel Valley Road.
Another development that will affect the western end of the Trail, is the proposed new Torrey Pines Bridge, to replace the old bridge. The San Diego Sea to Sea Trail passes directly under the northern end of the bridge, to reach the Pacific Ocean. To view the current bridge and then the proposed bridge, click here and place your cursor over the current bridge at the bottom of the Web page.
Trails news from volunteer Gene Dixon, who’s out on some part of the I-15 to Pomerado stretch of the Trail twice a week. “And I love it," said Gene. “I’ve seen deer, coyotes, raccoons, ducks, egrets and five species of hawks down there, never out of sight of houses. Amazing."
People have been watching with keen interest plans for completing the section of Trail from El Cajon Mountain, northeast down to the West Side Truck Trail. This currently entails a desperate bushwhack, which is liable to leave you either retreating or ripped to shreds. Well, good news is afoot! Dave Harloff, Wilderness and Trails Specialist for Cleveland National Forest, is well under way with his alignment of the Trail. “The Trail will run from Cajon Mountain Truck Trail north east between El Cajon and Rock Mountains, joining up with the West Side Truck Trail," said Dave. “We’re hoping to have it all flagged by March, and then once that’s done we can start the environmental report process. Then, if all goes well, we could start the actual trail work by the fall." And that’s when we’ll be calling for volunteers!
An update from Trail Friend and volunteer Virginia Haddad from the Salton Sea. “The great Salton Sea International Bird Festival is taking place this year, February 14-17th. Serious birders are as avid as Dead Heads. From as far away as Russia they migrate to the Salton Sea Bird Fest annually, though they didn’t hold one last year for some reason. There’ll be pontoon boat rides (leaving at the crack of dawn - brrrr, dress very warmly), a big banquet, and all kinds of lectures and outings to spot various feathered friends making their winter pitstop." For more information, click here.
Sign up as a Friend of the Foundation or renew your membership for 2003
We’re very keen for our valuable supporters of 2002, to look on their Friends donation as an annual membership to the San Diego Sea to Sea Trail Foundation. To assist us in our ongoing mission, feel free to renew your membership for 2003, or join up as a new Friend of the Foundation, by clicking here and helping us make it all happen! And don’t forget to check out our valued Supporters page.
Foundation signs up to eScrip Program!
As another way of raising money for the Foundation’s education program, we’re thrilled we’ve been accepted into the eScrip Program. Many of you, especially those with school-aged children, may be already familiar with eScrip. eScrip’s a hassle-free way for non-profits such as the San Diego Sea to Sea Trail Foundation that support children’s programs to raise funds through everyday purchases made at eScrip merchants.
eScrip and over 150 merchant partners have created a system that rewards customer loyalty by contributing a percentage of purchases to your chosen group. You shop the way you like to shop (grocery shopping, buying clothes, travel and entertainment). It’s simple, safe and convenient, all you need to do is register your grocery club card and debit/credit card(s). It’s also simple to register:
Log on to http://www.escrip.com/ and go to ‘sign up’ (orange bar at the top), or e-mail Kristen for details.
Designate the Foundation to receive contributions. Our Group ID is #150734477.
Register your grocery club card from a participating merchant, your Chevron card and your debit/credit cards.
And that’s it! Visit eScrip merchants to shop and earn. It’s automatic! For more information, just click here.
Adopt a Tree out on the Trail!
Adopting a tree a native California Oak or Sycamore along the route of the San Diego Sea to Sea Trail is a gift for a 1,000 years. Not only is it a wonderful gift for someone close to you, or even for yourself, but it is an excellent way to help support the building and maintenance of the Trail. And importantly it helps preserve and add to the Trail’s native habitats. All for $100.
Adopting a tree is easy. We do all the work for you, working with the agencies along the Trail to identify the planting sites, order the five-gallon trees, plant and care for the planting sites. And for your support, we’ll send you or your loved ones, a certificate of their adoption. For more information, just click here.
National Trails Day 2003
June 7 is National Trails Day 2003, and this year’s theme is ‘Healthy Trails, Healthy People’. Months away yet, but we want to make sure you mark this day on your calendar and keep it free. We’ll be hosting some great event and we’d love for you to join us! Keep an eye out here for more info.
Trail days the work goes on!
We have a new section of Trail that urgently needs our attention. For the next few months we’ll be focusing our efforts in Sabre Springs, from Springhurst Drive to the top of the hill as you head east (Thomas Guide p1190 A6). It’s only about a quarter of a mile, but there’s been some serious erosion with the last few rains, and we need to rebuild the Trail so it doesn’t get any worse.
This is a real community effort. The local homeowner’s association, chaired by Rick Smith, has agreed to fund the necessary materials, while the Foundation is providing the tools and labor. The San Diego Mountain Biking Association (SDMBA) is also a major supporter of these Trail efforts and will be out in force with us as well. To ensure the correct realignment of the Trail, we’re working closely with Bob Murphy, Grounds Maintenance Manager, and trails expert Park Ranger Rick Thompson, both with the City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department Open Space Division.
Planned Trail Days are February 9 and 23, and March 9 and 23. This will be a lot of fun, and we’d love to see as many of you out there as possible. And if anyone has access to a gator and/or bobcat we could use on those days, we’d love to hear from them! Please e-mail Kristen if you would like to join us, and for directions.
General interest learning out on the Trail
Outdoors education is a big part of the Foundation’s mission, and a major objective is the development of educational forums for all ages to foster an appreciation and responsibility for San Diego’s natural environment and history. In this respect, we’re very keen to open up a new service to those interested in the Trail and the outdoors hands-on learning experiences related to life on and around the Trail. Our first thoughts are on-the-Trail classes in map reading (compass and GPS), basic and more advanced camping skills and general hiking skills for individuals, families, and community and minority interest groups.
We’re also looking at leading walks along various sections of the Trail itself. This would also give people the opportunity to walk, bike or horse ride the complete Trail (as it currently stands!) over a period of time.
If you would like to be a volunteer instructor for the Foundation for any of the above classes, like to lead a hike (hike, bike or horse) or have any further ideas we could pursue, please contact Kristen. And if you would like to attend any of these classes, or have ideas for any other classes that we could offer, please let Kristen know.
Trail Trips for day or weekend adventures
The San Diego Sea to Sea Trail is not only an amazing thru-trail, it’s also an excellent opportunity to get out-and-about for a day or weekend adventure. Whether you’re a hiker, biker or equestrian - or a mixture of the three - there’s something for everyone, for all levels of experience, on the San Diego Sea to Sea Trail.
A new page on the Web site is dedicated to giving you as many ideas as possible to make the most of your time on and around the Trail. Where else in the world can you experience such a range of environment in just 140 miles?! Check out the first Trail Trip!
We’re also hosting a quarterly competition, sponsored by Gregory Mountain Products, if you would like to make your own Trail Trip submissions. More details below.
Trail Trips competition, sponsored by Gregory Mountain Products
Here’s a great new competition, and a quarterly chance to win some terrific prizes from Gregory Mountain Products. We’re looking for exciting all-levels, multi-use ideas for getting out on the Trail for day or weekend hikes, using hikes, bikes or horses, or a mixture of the three. These could be activities directly following the Trail, or variations based around the Trail. All contributions will go into a quarterly draw to win a cool Gregory pack, courtesy of Gregory Mountain Products. Deadline for the first quarter competition is March 31, 2003. Click here for all our competitions and Trail Trip submission instructions.
And another competition!
Just to keep you on your toes and kick into your latent exploring mode, we’ve launched the quarterly ‘Where is it on the San Diego Sea to Sea Trail’ competition. Every quarter, we’ll show a photo of an object that can be found somewhere on the Trail. All you have to do is tell us where it is. We put all the correct entries into a draw, and the winner collects. Here’s this quarter’s photo, and just click here to enter. Happy hunting!
Education program update
To help achieve our educational outreach to schoolchildren, we’ve launched the ‘Adopt an Animal’ drawing competition. Co-sponsored with REI, it’s our goals to arouse children’s interest in their local environment by learning which animals survive in their local habitats and how they can help protect them. Ultimately, we see school children and community groups adopting an animal and by creating their own animal clubs of their choice, learning how their animals survive and helping to protect them outside the classroom. Classroom activities based around the animals will also be available to teachers.
The San Diego Sea to Sea Trail has been split into eight sections, each representing a different bird or animal. We’re asking children to draw any one (or all) of the animals we have chosen and to submit them to the ‘Adopt an Animal’ drawing competition. A professional animator will redraw the winning drawing in each of the eight categories, and those drawings will be placed on the new REI/San Diego Sea to Sea Trail classroom map. Drawn by well-known local artists Carol Mendel and Gaston Lokvig, the maps will be distributed free of charge to all schools in San Diego County.
The animals for each section are:
- Dolphin of the Pacific Ocean
- Great Blue Heron of Los Penasquitos Lagoon
- Mule Deer of Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve
- Coyote of Poway and Goodan Ranch
- Rattlesnake of Cleveland National Forest
- Mountain Lion of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
- Big Horn Sheep of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
- American White Pelican of the Salton Sea.
If you’re a parent, aunt, uncle, et al or a teacher or scout group leader, please help us to promote this competition amongst your children. We can print flyers for your schools or community groups to help get the message across. Contact Kristen for flyers etc., and click here for further information, entry form and rules.
Anza-Borrego Desert temperatures
Planning a trip in the desert sections of the Trail and want to know the average annual temperatures in Borrego? Just click here. Even has centigrade.
Traveling?
If so, try Orbitz.com. Just click here and click on the Orbitz button. Every time you make a travel reservation of any sort, the Foundation receives a commission. That means more of the San Diego Sea to Sea Trail can be built and maintained for your enjoyment, and more of its environmental and historical treasures can be preserved for future generations.
Salton Sea info
If you’ve been following the media with the machinations of the Californian water deal from the Colorado River, you’ll appreciate that the Salton Sea is under some threat. Donated by the Salton Sea Authority and the Salton Sea Restoration Project, we have a number of flyers containing all you wanted to know about this amazing inland sea but were too afraid to ask. If you’d like copies, please e-mail Kristen and we’ll mail them out to you.
Volunteer tax deduction tips
Tax time is coming up. Don’t forget that if you drive your own car while doing volunteer work, you can deduct 14 cents a mile. Alternately, you can deduct your actual un-reimbursed expenses for gas and oil. In either case, parking fees and tolls and interest or taxes connected with your car can also be deducted. Please check all your deductions with your tax advisor.
Take only photos
This could be the outdoors photo competition of 2003 for San Diego County, if not the entire USA! - ‘Take Only Photos’. Based on life on and around the Trail, there’ll be 13 prize opportunities with thousands of dollars worth of prizes. Twelve winners will have their shots published as the online San Diego Sea to Sea Trail’s calendar, and the final winner’s photo (of the 12) will be the Trail’s official poster. Prizes to date include a complete Yakima roof rack system, $100 Gulf Coast Grill gift certificate, four Ultimate Passes to all Balboa Park’s museums and galleries, a full suspension mountain bike and hot air balloon passes. For more information and entry forms, click here.
In the News
For all our coverage, click here.
Did you know?
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is one of the few remaining blooming deserts in the world.
