Missouri called so I’ve been here visiting our Treasures a few weeks. (Home today!!!) Turned a corner here and saw this tower with lines running above standard power lines. Of course it made me think of what could be heading our way on Palomar Mountain.
We do have a hard-working Task Force with the goal to stop the towers from cutting across the mountain. Our Chairman, Jim Hamerly, saw this photo and thinks this tower may carry about 117,000 volts. The towers that are proposed to perhaps come through a huge percentage of the only east-west road on mountain are MUCH LARGER at 500,000 volts. Hard to imagine something that huge needing to drive by and under in several places to get to the top and then through the State Park with the tremendous clear-cutting that would be required.
<<< From Friends of Palomar State Park, Rosemary Johnston
Come one, come all!!! Everyone is invited to visit the State Park Saturday June 15, 2024, for an event at the Silvercrest Picnic Area.
Park Interpreter, William Meyst has put together some interesting info on the history and culture in the area. Be sure to stop by Friends of the State Park Booth. You’ll also be able to go through the ‘secret’ paths to discover dozens of Indian Grinding holes tucked away under the trees.
Join us for a captivating journey through the rich tapestry of history and culture at Palomar Mountain State Park! We invite you to immerse yourself in an array of interactive exhibits and storytelling sessions that highlight the diverse heritage of the park. Explore artifacts, photographs, and multimedia presentations depicting the rich tapestry of Native American, Spanish, and American homesteader influences, as well as the park’s construction in the 1930s. Engage with knowledgeable staff and locals as they share insights into traditional crafts and skills. Concurrent storytelling sessions provide a dynamic backdrop, allowing you to hear captivating tales from respected elders and community members. Whether participating in hands-on activities, enjoying live demonstrations, or simply soaking in the natural beauty of the park, there’s something for everyone to enjoy as we come together to celebrate our shared heritage!
Directions: You may try parking at Silvercrest but might need to (or enjoy) parking outside the main entrance and walk the trailhead across the road, to the left of the Palomar Mountain State Park sign. Hike that trail about a mile and it drops you right down to the Silvercrest Parking lot. Or, drive past the Ranger Station and Silvercrest is the first driveway on your left.
Booths will be open from 10 am to 2pm >>>
From Save Palomar Mountain: As you drive along State Park Road, you might also notice the power lines that serve our homes and businesses as you approach the State Park. The poles travel up to Boucher Lookout where they drop down to Pauma Valley. Our power is brought up from Pauma to serve the mountain. We have been led to believe that one route for the 500,000 volt transmission lines might include traveling through the State Park. Imagine if you will, seeing 13 story, four legged towers carrying all those lines to power South Orange County and LA Basin. Clear cutting this mountain ANYWHERE would be a travesty. Please, let your voice be heard with a simple click at Save Palomar Mountain and thank you for getting the word out by sharing. Thank you!
If only Mr. Guy Wray could see his cabin now! He had it built a hundred years ago and he just might be amazed to see it is still in pretty good condition! It looks about the same but there is a new ‘guy’ sitting in his rocking chair!
Justin and Beth Pettis couldn’t resist stepping back in time with the bonus of having two bedrooms! How special is that!?! Justin could never have enough projects and the first on their list was moving out the ‘free pets’ (oh, you know, those critter’s that came with the place). Then he’ll tackle excluding them forever, leveling the floor and has quite a long list to shore up the cabin for another hundred years or so.
When not at their cabins, Beth works as a nurse at Sharp Hospital and would be your favorite nurse of all time… and Justin? He keeps busy with his company On Point Marine Services out on Shelter Island.
We’re glad to have them on both sides of the mountain now. If you pop by to swap howdies, he might lend you a hammer and a tool belt, just so you know. Let the fun times begin!
They have a simple low slide for very young children, two middle-size slides that are gentle, these two blue corkscrews, the one long twin white one, and (in the smaller deeper pool) two short but fast tight corkscrews. And the famous waterfall mushroom you can stand or sit under. The snack bar is open with ice cream, chips, nachos, burgers, and hot dogs.
Open Saturday and Sundays 11-6. After June 20th they will be open Thursdays- Sundays 11-6
Beautiful Palomar Mountain is such a draw for so many people. This weekend its all about the challenge to take those curves and the steep grades, get through the rest stops quick and WIN the race. You’ve got to hand it to these bike enthusiasts that come from all over the world to ride this mountain. The Mission Statement for the Gran Fondo Bike Race is to “draw cyclists from around the globe”.
Click to read about this 13th Annual Bike Race. Here is the Route. It’s a fundraiser and they are still needing some volunteers! This very minute, they have openings for four people to volunteer at the Palomar Summit.
The riders will see flyers posted with the Save Palomar Mountain QR code for their testimonial to keep our specular views forever. Lets get some more testimonials from these riders!
Have you seen how many states and countries Palomar has had visitors from?!? Scroll down and check out the maps at Save Palomar Mountain – People are Talking! And, be sure to leave your testimonial, too!
So many of you have amazing memories from childhood, visiting Palomar Observatory, enjoying our Winter Wonderland as a favorite destination on snow days, camping in the State Park, fishing Doane Pond or Lake Henshaw or enjoying one of our delightful Vacation rentals. Maybe you spent a week at 6th grade a camp on Palomar that changed your life forever. Please click through link to tell us why you are not excited about the possibility of HUGE 13 story towers running along the top of our Rim-to-the-World or ANYWHERE on this beautiful mountain.
Simply click on SavePalomarMountain. It takes less than a minute. If you can include a photo with people in it, that helps our cause even more. And please share with all the ‘groups’ you possibly can. Thank you! Together lets help preserve Palomar Mountain for future generations to enjoy!
Bonnie Phelps, Realtor and ‘GramBonnie’ to those kids who claim the mountain as their very own…
Yesterday morning I jumped up from my desk and ran over to Bailey Meadow Road. I had a last minute idea to drive around, looking for another mountain flag for a Memorial Weekend post this year. I didn’t have to go far. Ken and Lynda Ruth had a flag hanging from their balcony! Ken’s truck was in the driveway so I ran up the stairs to say hello and ask if I could take a quick pic. Their charming cabin is so patriotic and all about red, white and blue, prompted by their love for America and Ken’s time serving in Viet Nam. He shared a bit about the military… then pointed out their latest project behind the wood stove… so of course, I’d found my flag.
This weekend we honor those who have given the greatest sacrifice for our freedom… God Bless the USA:
Driving past our dumpster this morning, I stopped and backed up to take a pic. “A bear must have tipped that over!” I got out of the car carefully to make sure he wasn’t inside having a tasty little breakfast (but, darn that could have made a cute pic!!!).
Sure enough, our neighbor at the end of Fern Meadow Road said there was a brown colored bear up on his deck about 4 am. He’s been traveling around. A few days ago a front porch camera might have caught the same one on Fern Trail over off Bailey Meadow Road.
Just a heads-up to keep your eye out and start locking your dumpsters… and have that camera ready!
Bonnie Phelps, Realtor lovin’ the Wildlife on Palomar
These 24 years in Real Estate, every time I see a surveyor, I pull over when I can. It is always interesting to learn what property is being surveyed. It is so helpful when dealing with properties close by to know where some professional corners have been set. Well, this gentleman remembered me from 3 years ago when he was here to gps every pin in the county roads. Knowing there was new pavement on the way, instead of digging around the set pins at the time, it makes a lot of sense to come back now with his gps map and set new pins.
He just finished State Park Road and South Grade, and I said hello again a few days ago up on Crestline.
When you see a circle of orange paint in the road, you’ll find a survey pin in the middle. If you border a public road, one of those pins might line up to your corners. It’s all good!
Tomorrow it will be just six weeks that we have been aware that there is a possibility of a huge 500,000 Volt transmission line cutting right through the beautiful view you see there from State Park Road. As most of you know the bid was awarded but even with a 30 minute conference call with that company, they absolutely would not disclose their routes. We were told they would release the routes sometime next Spring of 2025! We are guessing that because they planned the call with a group of Palomar property owners, the route may still go over this Mountain. So we aren’t backing down.
Kate Woods, one of our group of concerned property owners consulted with an eminent domain attorney. She shared that we must have findings for the “Public Good”, “Public Use”, with solid documentation and overwhelming pictorial and written statements, new articles, from the “Public” who use Palomar as a family tradition and wonderful memories, a playground, environmental learning, etc. This is not only about residents, this is about the Public.
There are thousands of miles of 500,000 Volt lines throughout the country over Environmentally Sensitive, Federal, State, and Native lands. Most of those lands do not have any use to the “Public” where the power line is placed.
Tactics in fighting a power line, cannot just be emotional, ‘not in my back yard’, with concern about environmental damage. Public Good has to be Number One. That the Public will be damaged, the Public, unknown individuals to residents on Palomar and visitors have to fight for Palomar.
We need public groups to join this fight, now, their opinions, pictures and letters of Palomar posted on our website. This will include the Camps, camp grounds, individuals married on Palomar (who don’t live on Palomar), Bird Watching groups, bicycle, car and motorcycle clubs, hikers, University papers, students that study the environment or archeology. The astronomers that come from around the world, news stories of the snow visitors, free hunting available to the public, no charge Explore the Stars events, etc. needs to be number one on the website.
Kate has had recent dealings with the Government and “the Greater Good for the Public Use” and this is the most important. In California it’s about showing an overwhelming Equity to the Public. When there is overwhelming Public Opinion and Use, the attorney said, the company will not win at destroying Palomar with 500,000 Volt power line.
Palomar has a tremendous history of astronomers and people coming from around the world to use and visit what would the world’s largest Observatory for 45 years! Our camps have had children enjoy their time so much on this mountain that they have now come back to be on staff or buy property up here. Our vacation rentals have an amazing list of guests from nearly every state already posted and international guests. We’ve hosted the Tour de California Amgen Bicycle Race twice and many more events that attract global attendees.
We need to hear from all of you from SoCal, the United States and around the world to help in keeping those huge transmission towers OFF this beautiful mountain. Please take a minute and leave your comments at Save Palomar Mountain.
Then, would you please share on all your social media, including group posts for neighboring cities?
Thank you so much for your support!
Bonnie Phelps,
Just one of the many volunteers that have been working night and day to Save Palomar Mountain…
Palomar Mountain News 