Guest post: Palomar Mountain State Park volunteer & donation call

VOLUNTEER LOOKOUTS URGENTLY NEEDED FOR PALOMAR'S BOUCHER FIRE TOWER UPDATE ON MATCHING FUNDS FOR PALOMAR

ROOM WITH A VIEW: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR BOUCHER FIRE TOWER Did you know that Palomar Mountain State Park has a historic working fire lookout tower --- high atop Boucher Summit --- one of the few remaining in southern California? Ever dreamed of "sitting on top of the world" in a fire tower, enjoying a commanding view --- from the surrounding mountains all the way to the ocean --- while watching over our precious woodlands for forest fires? Volunteers are urgently needed to staff Boucher Tower during this coming fire season. Each volunteer would only need to commit one day per month to this valuable service.  Training sessions for new volunteers will be on April 6 and 13.   Anyone interested can contact Curt Waite at elcariso@yahoo.com. Curt is chairman of the San Diego - Riverside Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA), the non-profit organization that oversees the tower's operation and spearheaded its restoration. The current tower was built in 1948 (the original version was built in 1921) and was operated as a California Department of Forestry fire detection point until the mid-eighties when it was taken out of service.  Over the years it fell into disrepair until there was danger of it needing to be torn down.  An agreement was signed in November of 2011 between Cal Fire and California State Parks transferring ownership of the structure to the park.   Boucher Hill lookout has now been restored to its original 1948 condition through the efforts of Cal Fire, State Parks and the Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA).  The FFLA has restored the interior cab (top floor) of the lookout, and will be putting the lookout back into service as a working fire detection center this fire season in partnership with Palomar Mountain State Park and the Cleveland National Forest.  (FFLA also operates High Point lookout on the east side of Palomar.) For details about volunteering as a lookout, please contact Curt Waite at elcariso@yahoo.com

UPDATE ON MATCHING FUNDS FOR PALOMAR This month we submitted a proposal to Sacramento to receive matching funds for Palomar Mountain State Park. The matching funds are to come out of a portion of the money discovered in the Department of Parks and Recreation's coffers last summer, and their intended use must meet certain criteria. Because we have a pre-existing donor agreement with State Parks to keep Palomar open, our application will entail an amendment to our original agreement. We will notify you when we have finalized our revised agreement with State Parks. This will also allow us to establish a target for our 2013 Fund Drive, which we have postponed pending the results of this matching fund opportunity. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact Rick Barclay at 951-265-6385 or email Rick directly at rickbarclay92592@yahoo.com.

Thank you! Sincerely, Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park

Für Georgy - mit Liebe aus Torrey Pines

Eine schöne Woche für Dich wünsche ich!

Pour Yvette: Morena Blvd

I was up in La Jolla again a week or so ago and decided to ride back to town on Morena Blvd from its northern terminus to the southern, with my camera in hand on the video mode:

As you can see, it's a rather uneventful straight road. I bicycle on the lower portion of it (between Balboa/Garnet and Taylor St) quite often, either to access the Ocean Beach Bike Path from Old Town to the ocean or to get back to town from La Jolla after a much more interesting ride down Rose Canyon Bike Path (but don't want to navigate through the always busy bike/pedestrian path along Mission Bay). Riding south on Morena is mostly downhill all the way, with some really nice view of Mission Bay across the railroad and I-5 to the right (west) side of the road. On the left is the hills dotted with some houses and mostly business buildings.

I'm afraid the video resolution is rather low and nothing spectacular happened (whew!). I should note, though, that though just about all the maps I've looked at both online and on paper shows that Morena Blvd can be accessed from Clairemont Mesa Blvd via Jutland Dr, Jutland itself does not directly intersect Clairemont Mesa Blvd... but via Luna Avenue. I would tape the southern end of Morena as it goes across the river and into Old Town, but I haven't got a hand-free camera and that section isn't safe to navigate while distracted and one-handed (there are freeway ramps to merge with there). Maybe I'll get a helmet cam one of these days and correct that omission. 

Once you get past the Clairemont Dr overpass the bike lane is in great shape. Between that and Garnet/Balboa Ave, though, it is atrocious with lots of debris and icky surface bumps (especially next to trees... the roots are busting up the pavement from below, I think).