Palomar Mountain News

The events designed for campers are now being made available for all.  Will Meyst is our very wonderful State Park Interpretive Specialist.  He is providing the schedule for you to bundle up your family, call some friends to join you and come on up to Palomar to join in the fun.

Saturday, September 14, 2018

10:30 am

Hike: Weir Trail to Lower Doane Valley Trail

at Doane Pond Parking Lot

2 hour program

Join Park Interpretive Specialist Will Meyst for a hike into the absolutely stunning French Valley. The group will hike to the Historic Weir site then loop back to the Doane Pond parking area along the Lower Doane Valley Trail.

Meet at the Doane Pond parking lot. Bring water and wear sturdy shoes. Moderate difficulty due to terrain and climate. 2 mile hike.

May not be suitable for children under the age of 6 due to terrain and climate.

3:30 pm

Junior Rangers: Mammals

at Doane Valley Campground Campfire Center

40 minute program for children ages 7-12 and all ages

Discover secrets of our mountain’s furry friends. Sign up in the Ranger Station at the park entrance.

Wear sturdy shoes, bring water and meet at the Doane Valley Campground Campfire Center.

7 pm

Campfire Program: Sing-Along-Songs

at Doane Valley Campground Campfire Center

40 min program – suitable for all ages

Join Park Interpretive Specialist Will Meyst for an evening of singing classic campfire songs. You’re sure to leave this program with a spring in your step and a song in your heart!

Wow, it filled up fast this time!  Thanks to Glenn and Cecelia Borland for staffing today and all of you for cleaning up and being the early birds!

If you already have your truck loaded up, Pala Transfer Station is the best option in the county!  Great prices, friendly staff.  And, drum roll… you can drop off all you e-waste – computer, old tvs, etc at no charge!

Hooray for cleaning up the mountain!

Bonnie

Wouldn’t that be wonderful?  Did you know Palomar’s ISO rating has gone down?

ISO stands for Insurance Service Office.  These ratings range from 1-10 as 1 being the best and 10 being the worst. As a volunteer fire department, Palomar Mountain held an ISO rating of 9 but with the implementation Cal Fire/ San Diego County Fire, Palomar Mtn new ISO rating is apparently closer to a 3.  For most insurance companies, this is significant and could possibly save you money on your insurance.

Some of you have had insurance for a long time and are pretty content with your rates.  In my opinion, you might just want to keep things as they are.

However some folks have had increases in their rates recently or have mentioned very high rates.  If you choose to contact your insurance company or shop around, be sure to mention the ISO rating had been reduced recently.  They may provide a form to be filled out with fire department questions.  The friendly crew at the fire department have been very helpful.

When new owners are heading this way, I always suggest they contact the company that provides insurance for their primary home, vehicles and business.  You can often have a savings if the same company insures all.  Some options for insurance are found at the Mountain Yellow Pages.   Any corrections or additions are always welcomed.

Hope to see you at the Potluck today!

Happy Labor Day Weekend to All!

Bonnie Phelps

Plan ahead and start gathering your stuff! This is really a great deal and time and money saver.  Thanks to all the volunteers who work together to have this opportunity for the community!

From: Cecelia Borland

Palomar Dumpster Days coming again soon!

Saturday September 8

Sunday September 9

Improve your defensible space

Get rid of all the “stuff” outside your house that is a fire hazard.

The Palomar Mountain Fire Safe Council is sponsoring defensible space

“clean up” days. A large roll off dumpster will be parked at 21610 Crestline

Road, by the fire station, for community use. The dumpster will be opened

at 9:00 AM and closed at 4:00 PM or sooner if full.

Limit of two pick-up truckloads per resident until 12 noon on Sunday.

Come early!

Items NOT accepted:

Tires, hazardous waste, paint, chemicals and e-waste

This free event is made possible by the Palomar Mountain Fire Safe Council

Donations are appreciated to help cover the cost of dumpster rental

Seen any mountain lions lately?  One of our weekenders (who asked for anonymity) shared these photos tonight, taken over the past couple months from his camera at their cabin.

This is north of Birch Hill but could be most anywhere on Palomar.   I’ve personally noticed many more deer the past couple weeks all across the mountain.  I can’t help but think they were pushed this way from the recent fires.

About noon a couple days ago, I was walking through our orchard to put trash in our dumpster.  A large mountain lion trotted by about 50 feet in front of me.  He didn’t even look my way, but went straight up the hill.  (Where our four grandkids live!)  I let them know a visitor was headed their way so they let their LDG Dogs out.

What can you do?  Be alert, make noise, stand tall, face the lion, yell, don’t turn and run… lots more tips for living together with all our wildlife in our beautiful forest are all over the net.

I’ll be posting more recent photos soon sent by other neighbors.

Bonnie Phelps

From: John Weisgerber

Star Party!

Saturday, September 15

Palomar Observatory Outreach Center (the old Palomar Mountain School House, located on Canfield Road between the USFS Station & the Palomar Observatory)

6:00 Dessert Potluck

7:00 Astronomy Presentation

Followed by telescope viewing of Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars & our Moon

This event is a joint venture by the Palomar Observatory Outreach Center & the Community Center of Palomar Mountain

Our Community Potluck and Neighborhood Watch Meeting at the Lodge (22228 Crestline) is today, Sunday August 26th. The Potluck is at 5:00 and the meeting will start promptly at 6:00.

Agenda:
1. 2 special short videos will be shown first:
-The David Letterman Show on Palomar Mountain
-Larry Himmel News 8 on Palomar Mountain

2. Introductions of law enforcement guests

3. Questions submitted from community members to be addressed by respective LE

-Cartel growing Marijuana on Palomar Mountain and video of the DEA drug bust
-Cut and Pile firebreak adjacent to Crestline/Birchhill explained by Forest Service Fire
-CHP will attend and share what they are doing about racing on the South Grade
-Mountain Lions in the Crestline Neighborhood, resident lions by a State Park Ranger
-Open fire regulations by CalFire
-Use of Forest Service property at the Summit by Forest Service Recreation
-Sheriff’s will report on recent burglaries on Palomar
-Speeding in the community

4. Open Q&A time

We hope to see you there!

Your Neighborhood Watch team

From: Cecelia Borland

Palomar Mountain Fire Safe Council will hold its August meeting on Saturday, the 25th at 9:30 AM in the equipment bay of the Fire Department, Station 79, 21610 Crestline Rd. All are welcome

Also: The Palomar Mountain Planning Organization ‘PMPO’ will hold its quarterly meeting on August 25th at 10:30 AM following the Fire Safe Council at the Fire Department, 21610 Crestline Rd. All are welcome.

Do you have refillable fire extinguishers?  This looks like a pretty good deal to get them serviced.  Mark your calendar to take them down Friday, Oct. 5th.  I checked with Amy at the Lilac Road station and she said it is open to anyone.  Palomar folks welcome and last year she said they even had people from San Diego.

Can you believe August is almost over!?!??  A week from Saturday is the annual Labor Day get together!  It is always a fun event.  This time at the County Park on Crestline.  Bring your potluck dish to share, your chairs, family and friends and come on out for a fun day.

Do you have items to donate for the Opportunity Drawing?  They would be much appreciated to add even more fun to the day.

Here are all the details!  See you there!