Palomar Mountain News

Per Rosemary Johnston:

The State Park is now open for Day Use only.

We’ll have to have pancakes at home this year on Memorial Day Weekend.  Be sure to have sausage links and those wonderful fresh strawberries.  But, it just won’t be the same without YOU!  Please keep reading for more weekend info from Cecelia:

From: Cecelia Borland
Subject: Pancake Breakfast/PMPO Annual General meeting

Very sorry we cannot have the Pancake Breakfast or PMPO meeting at the Fire Station this year.  There isn’t an adequate venue elsewhere on the mountain so the Pancake Breakfast is cancelled for this year and PMPO meeting is TENTATIVELY planned for July 25.

One of our much-loved families is moving!  Jamey Eriksen started at the Observatory in 2012 as Support Astronomer and is now the Supervisor of the Electrical Group.   Stacy and the oldest girls joined him in 2015. Two daughters, Rowan and Molly were soon joined by little Astrid. They have lots of friends on Palomar and are such smart and kind girls and will really be missed.
Congratulations to Jamey for his promotion as the new Director of Operations at Apache Point Observatory in Cloudcroft, New Mexico! They are heading out the first week in June where they will most likely be living next door at Sunspot Solar Observatory. It’s the tall structure to the far right in the photo in the distance. And it’s all overlooking White Sands National Park, out to the top left:

Stacy made many moms (and grandma’s, too) so happy up here when she started Palomar Mountain Kids Club. Each week was something very special with story time for the littles and many fun activities for our kids and youth. She orchestrated everything from outdoor hikes to poetry recitals and graduations. The kids learned how to build solar ovens, do great crafts, play games, had behind-the scenes tours of the Observatory and Post Office, climbed up in the fire trucks, met the fire department and forestry service crews and even Smokey the Bear. We’ll continue with the foundation Stacy laid and are forever grateful with wonderful memories of all the great times:

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Cloudcroft is another beautiful mountain-top town at 9,000 feet. A lot of the same beauty and even more as it’s a little bigger with a library, playground, gas station, grocery store and choice of restaurants! Instead of mountain lions, they have bears! In fact, the original Smokey Bear came from that mountain range in New Mexico.

We wish we could have a big party with lot of hugs. Please join me with virtual mountain hugs and love and let the Eriksen Family know “we are with you, no matter where you are”:

It was so fun to meet up at the Post Office with Mitch and Sarah Peters and daugher, Giana.  They have enjoyed their time together so much with the adventure of a snow storm and her home-schooling and all the fun of quarantining on the Mountain.  Giana has been an ‘only child’ and now that status is expiring.  Number Two is on the way in November!

Meet the Cabin Angels, Doug Morehead and Anne Schafer!  Reluctantly, Ed and Kathy Trudersheim let go of their family cabin after four generations of happy memories.  They were so thrilled to hear of Doug and Anne’s plans to restore their treasured cabin that Ed named them the ‘Cabin Angels’.

It was so fun for the prior owners to come up and meet the newest keepers of Hi Ho Cabin.  They decided to pull the old wood stoves out of the basement.  Dudley 322 was on the front of the original stove and D22 1826 was on one leg of the stove.  A quick search found the Dudley Wood Burning Box Stove might have been made in Nashville, Tennessee. That box stove just might go back inside one of these days as a lamp table.

Ed complied old photos and wrote some family history as a keepsake.  I asked to share as I thought some of you would enjoy it too.  Click for A Photo History of the Hi Ho Cabin and the Plaid Sofa

Wayne and Anne, also known as A&W ’round the mountain, are so excited with their latest project.  They have been happy as can be ‘sheltering in place’ next door and are finishing up transforming a guest cabin on their property.  Perfect timing for Hi Ho! They love Palomar and were so tickled to be first in line and now the newest owners.  In no time at all, they got the water running, water heater working, cleaned out the Ben Franklin stove and built their first fire.  The mice have been encouraged to move elsewhere, the curtains were washed and hanging up, the top layer of dust and acorns were swept away just in time for the photo with the plaid sofa:

Ahh, many more good times to come at Hi Ho!

See also Free Cabin with purchase of TP and Soap

and Hi Ho Cabin Sign Change

Poison Oak is very happy out there!  With all this rain and snow, it looks like more poison oak then I’ve ever seen.  All the showings I’ve done hiking property with clients lately, some folks are pretty nervous.  They have told me they are allergic to poison oak.

Meet Doctor Gaila!  She is wonderful with reversing allergies.  I had amazing results under her care. At the end of the painless, pleasant treatment, I was so impressed and asked how often I would need to go back to see her.  She said “I usually never see my patients again”.

Our son Nathan has been to Dr. Gayla for allergies and poison oak specifically and she cleared him of that itchy misery.

So, if this strikes a cord, you might want to connect with her before you go hiking in the woods again.

Bonnie Phelps

Eric’s snowboarding career began on Palomar Mountain!?!  How fun is that!  Do you have the snow levels recorded, or know someone who does?  Thought you might find his note and request interesting and hoping a fellow subscriber can help him out.  Keep reading for the details and be sure to check out Eric’s website below:

From: Eric Blehm <eric@ericblehm.com>

I hope you’re doing well, considering all that is going on….

This is Eric Blehm, I’m one of your subscribers … you may recall my name from a few emails a couple years back when I was considering property up on the mountain. I’m an author in Encinitas, but grew up in Valley Center… I’m working on my next book right now, and it includes some reference to time spent up on Palomar Mountain around 1985 to 1989… One of my friends and I used to snowboard up on the mountain before hardly anybody had heard of snowboarding, and I remember the first time was either early in the winter of 1984/85 or 1985/86

There were big storms then, as I recall, and I remember waiting for the first one to hit where it snowed on Palomar, which was our closest place to go “surf” the snow…

Snowboarding ended up guiding my career, as I ended up moving to Colorado, giving it a shot to become a pro snowboarder in the late 1980s, and ultimately getting my degree in journalism so I could write for a snowboarding magazine… I ultimately became the editor of TransWorld SNOWboarding magazine in Oceanside, and it was my ticket to travel around the world snowboarding…

And it all began, for me, on Palomar Mountain!

I am contacting you, just because you are the local history expert, and thinking you might have an idea where I could locate records for snowfall back in those early to mid 80s period. I have not had success with my own internet searches, and felt you might be able to point me in the right direction…

I know, if I can find when the first significant snowfalls occurred in those winters… At least four or five inches, I will have nailed down the dates of my FIRST time snowboarding. I believe it was November or December in 1985, or January 1986…

Much thanks for any help… Eventually, I’ll nail it down. It is all part of a bigger project that will be my next book to be published by HarperCollins probably in 2021. My own biography is interweaved sparsely within a bigger story of a pro snowboarder who is ultimately killed during an avalanche in 2003. He was a friend of mine. But, my early days of snowboarding (renting a snowboard from Ocean Snow surf shop that was in the Escondido Vineyard) are the beginnings of the adventure. I greatly appreciate your help, or any guidance as I look back to that period and storms that dropped snow on The Mountain.

Best,

Eric

www.ericblehm.com

A car drove up to the grandkid’s firewood stand.  I went out to greet them and learned they are on a scavenger hunt.  Well, SHE is on a scavenger hunt.  Her clue only said “firewood” so they were at the right spot.  She looked around and sure enough, found the little bag tucked away to the side.  She opened the bag and her next clue was leading them to a gold post.

Tim and Shalina were so fun to meet. I was trying to guess what might be at she last stop.  I noticed she didn’t have a ring… when I suggested it, Tim looked like I’d spilled the beans!  He just didn’t stop smiling and laughing.   I couldn’t help it when I took their picture and told Tim “she’s a keeper”!  He was quick to agree.

Ah, love is in the air!

Tonight if you can see Venus, you should be able to see the SpaceX Startlink pass that Elon Musk has up!

—–Original Message—–
From: Michael Pique
Subject: Starlink pass tonight but low on the western horizon

From 8:10 to 8:15; no promises but easy to find.

Will appear very low on the horizon below Venus moving left (south), pass through Orion’s belt, then below Sirius. On this link, click on any of the times for a star map. All the satellites will follow the same path.  The pass this morning was very good but no more are forecast for San Diego this coming week. This one is worth looking for even though the satellites will be far away, they’ll be in full sun.

Click for the link.
Michael Pique

It was fun to have the seller of Grandpa’s Cabin offer the family telescope for the new owner-to-be.  Trisha asked, “Do you think he’d like it?”   Oh, yes!!!

As a Realtor, apparently I am one of those folks that is allowed to be ‘essential’ and out and about.  Oh, such a grand excuse to drive over to Del Mar and pick up that telescope!We had to put the top down on Mr. Blue and that big box just fit!  Now, to surprise the buyer, but first we had to get his escrow closed!!!

A lot happened in a week!  The surveyor finished the legal description for a shared driveway easement.  The very nice neighbor, Bill Redman notarized the deed.  Our local contractor, Tom Fortney waved his magic hammer and saw doing some last minute repairs.  We’d had Robert Carlyle and tractor there for a second trimming of the brush after all these storms. The septic cert, property inspection and chimney sweep reports were on file and ready for review.  Title sent the updated plotted easement, escrow docs were signed and delivered and we closed today!

Meet Brad Mills!  He was thrilled opening up his gift from Pat and Lydia Jones’ family.  He will treasure the telescope and all the books on Palomar that they included.  He is also looking forward to meeting Pat and Lydia’s daughter, Trisha, and her brother Jon, when they can visit the cabin one of these days. Brad is standing pretty close to where their Great Grandparents stood for a cabin photo in 1921.

When Brad told me this afternoon he was coming up to spend the night.  I asked where he planned on sleeping?  Oh, he said he’d just use one of the beds in the bedroom.  (Oh noooooooo!)  I asked if I could run over, grab the bedding, wash and return for him.  You see, the cabin came with free pets (he knew about the pets, but…)!  I had to confess that over the past few months, I had swept acorns and mice droppings off that bedding.  Whew, I made it back just in time so all was well when he arrived.

Brad came up with his car packed full of supplies for the next few days.  The cabin and shop were left furnished to move right in. He has great plans for all sorts of projects, putting to use the tools in the very well-stocked workshop.  Brad already met neighbors, Mitch and Sarah Peters with their daughter Giana, and talked about planting apple trees with another neighbor Alex Marlay.  All three neighbors are full time!  Imagine that!  Palomar is really changing with a growing number of full-timers seeking a safe haven living on this beautiful mountain!  When you see Brad out and about, be sure to say hello!

A warm welcome to our Newest Neighbor!

Bonnie Phelps,

At your Service for all your Real Estate and Laundry needs!