Palomar Mountain News

Come one, come ALL! Bring your family and meet your neighbors at the annual Pancake Breakfast followed by the PMPO Meeting.

Saturday, May 23rd at the Fire Station

Breakfast is served with smiles from 8 am to 10 or until all gobbled up. $3.00 per adults, $1.00 per child

Pancakes, sausage, strawberries, OJ and coffee.

Palomar Mountain Planning Organization – PMPO meeting will follow.

After the PMPO Meeting any left over sausage and strawberries will be available for purchase.

Volunteers will be at the Fire Department bright and early at 6:30 am – they won’t turn away any set up help. If you can stay later, to help clean up, fold chairs and load the tables for the next event, that would be wonderful. All help is much appreciated.

Cecelia Borland has been in charge of this event for many years. Many thanks for her and all the other volunteers that provide extra fun for us on this beautiful mountain.

It’s pretty exciting to live on the Highway to the Stars and have our World Famous Observatory here at the very top of our favorite mountain. Looking forward to meeting some of you locals when we take our next friends over for an Observatory Tour!

Check out their webpage for more info and the application. Be sure get it in by May 23. We’ll be watching for YOU!

What is even more fun than owning one cabin on Palomar? How about TWO?

Very much loved over the years as full time homes and now successful vacation rentals. Who could resist this charming setting in the woods? Both cabins have so many recent upgrades. Will you join us year round? Oh, maybe you could one out to help pay your mortgage?  Yes, those lovely furnishings are optional.  A lot to think about… Very private and peaceful on nearly an acre. Click to see inside then let’s connect for a tour!   

Bonnie Phelps, Palomar Mountain Resident Realtor 760-533-1742

PalomarProperties.com since the beginning of the Century!

Hey Palomar Neighbors!

The Fire Safe Council will be providing a dumpster for community use on Saturday May 16th from 8 to 4 (or until full) at Robert Carlyle’s property on Bailey Meadow Rd.

Take State Park Road to Bailey Meadow, first driveway on the right.

The usual rules apply: No paint, tires, HAZMAT, ewaste, Lg appliances, chemicals. It generally fills fairly quickly so come early.

Donations appreciated. Do your ‘Spring Cleaning Out’ and bring it over.

Dumpster Day – It’s the place to be to see all your neighbors and friends.

Cecelia

760-594-4688

In just about two weeks, get up bright and early for the very yummy, Pancake Breakfast at 8 am at the Fire Station. It is followed by the PMPO Annual Meeting at 10. Saturday, May 23, 2026.

Labor Day Weekend is a little later this year. The Hoedown was moved up a week because of the availability of the County Park for the lunch. So, we’ll be looking for you on Saturday, August 29, 2026. That is the weekend before Labor Day Weekend. The Hoedown is an all day event with a great BBQ. raffle prizes, community booths, live music – hope to see you there!

The FIRST Saturday (not Sunday) of September will be the day for the PMCFA. What is the PMCFA? In the past it was known as the PMVFD, or the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department. Since CalFire is here now, the organization has a new name: Palomar Mountain Community Fire Association. Everyone is welcome and will meet Labor Day Weekend on Saturday, September 6, 2026 at 9 am in the Community Center, next to the Fire Station.

After 26 years in Real Estate, attending most all inspections, these inspections today were pretty sad to see. Two pre-marketing septic inspections for Vacation Rentals are needing leach field replacements. How can YOU avoid that costly repair? Keep reading for Tips to avoid Septic Woes.

When a septic tank lid is uncovered, what you normally see kind of looks like mud. Not today! It was almost white inside! Oh no….. I’d seen this in the past. Some people rinse their cooking pans off in the sink and pour their bacon grease or cooking oil down the drain. It gets cold in those tanks, the grease rises to the top and forms a very think layer that doesn’t break down, clogs the system and is a very pricy to resolve.

Even if you have a garbage disposal, after meals you might consider scraping all your dishes and cookware into the trash before washing them. After what I saw today, wiping them out with a paper towel is a good idea, too.

What about those “flushable” makeup or baby wipes? They flush but they don’t break down at all in a septic system. They clump together and it takes so much longer to pump. (So your service bill goes up!) Today I was blown away with what I saw in the tank – all different colors of plastic – pink, yellow, bright blue. I thought there were a few writing pens floating around – nope, they were syringes. All that stuff doesn’t break down either. For a healthy septic system, flush NOTHING but TP.

My buddy at ChatGPT made these little signs you might want to post.

Click for a fun Plumbing Poem.

Also see How to not have a Septic Tank as Acorn Storage

And Surprise in a Septic Tank

Good news for our beautiful mountain with the proposed map. (So sorry it has to go through the other areas but thankful). I was curious when this issue first launched so I had to search PMNews. Click to see the posts going back to April 20, 2024 — two years ago yesterday!

From: Jim Hamerly

A new 500 kV transmission line was proposed to deliver power from Arizona and New Mexico to the Los Angeles Basin. In April 2024, Horizon West Transmission (a NextEra Energy subsidiary) was named the project sponsor; however, as of August 2025, project leadership has transitioned to SDG&E.

For the past two years, our Save Palomar Mountain Task Force has worked tirelessly to prevent any proposed routes from crossing Palomar Mountain. Our mission is to preserve this “Island in the Sky” for the enjoyment of visitors from Southern California and around the world.

While SDG&E’s recently released draft path, shown below, excludes Palomar Mountain a- a significant victory – the final route has not yet been solidified. Because the risk of impact remains, the Task Force will stay fully engaged. We will continue to monitor SDG&E’s progress, participate in public forums, and collaborate with other affected stakeholders to ensure Palomar remains protected.

See more at: SavePalomarMountain.org

What a fun find! Out of state friends popped by today and shared this app with us. In seconds it identified the birds out singing, then you can click through the app for more info on each bird.

Simply download “Merlin Bird ID” and use it around the world!

Bonnie-the-newest-birder-on-the-mountain!

Stan Hill and his crew are on their way back up the Mountain! The contractor found a special lift needed to get to the more difficult trees. They plan to start removing their downed logs to make these areas more fire safe. Then, Stan said their plan is to stay until they are done, until they spend out the grant.

Back in on Birch Hill especially is where the wood is waiting to get removed. If you want to keep your wood be sure to call the number on the tags attached to the logs.

This photo shows a standing dead fir that lost the top 40 feet in one of our recent storms. The wind blew that huge treetop about 30 feet away, blocked the road but thankfully it did not hit the cabin. This tree was on the grant list but needed that equipment that is heading our way so rest of the tree will come down. So thankful for Stan’s work getting this grant for our beautiful mountain!

See also Grant Info