services - Idyllwild Town Crier

By Bruce Watts
Outside Idyllwild
A wise man once told
me, part II
After this past weekend
I am thinking I
should run last week’s
column over and over
until the snow melts in the high
country. Just when you think you’ve
heard it all someone comes and says
something truly outrageous. This
week I had more of the same with
folks wanting to go into the high
country with no idea there was snow
on the ground, but that’s old hat at
this point.
On Saturday, I talked to two gents
who wanted to do a loop from Deer
Springs to the top of San Jacinto
over to the Tramway then up Hidden
Divide to Saddle Junction. They
would then go back up the trail to
the Strawberry Cienega Trail, back
to Deer Springs and down to their
car.
After doing some calculating in
my head I figured this to be about
30 miles; it actually works out to
30.4 miles, so I was very close. After
sounding them out I realized they
had no snow gear whatsoever and
no real idea of the conditions. They
poured over the maps in the shop
and discussed various routes for the
next half hour or so and seemed to
be determined.
Then, after I once again told them
they would need snow gear they said
they were planning to ride mountain
bikes. Well, this is the classic case of
not doing your homework and I explained
to them that mountain bikes
are not allowed on hiking trails. Their
answer was that they had plotted a
route that avoids the wilderness areas.
My answer was simple: No such route
exists. They ended up heading down
the desert side of the mountain.
I had my first announced PCT
hiker on Sunday. He was from South
Carolina and was looking a little
chastened as he had no idea he would
run into snow in sunny California. He
decided to head back home and come
back in a month or so to start where
he had left off somewhere around
Apache Peak.
Although I’ve had PCT hikers
come into the shop earlier than March
22, they were mostly prepared to deal
with snow conditions. Apparently,
another hiker is close behind him
so I will be keeping a lookout to see
what he intends to do.
The next story comes from my
friend, Kastle Lund, who owns a gear
shop in Lone Pine. This time of year
she gets a lot of people looking to
do the Mountaineers Route on Mt.
Whitney. It seems one of her customers
had told her he didn’t need
a map to find his way up the route.
He called her about 20 minutes later
on his cell phone to inquire how to
get to the trailhead.
The bottom line is that all this
information is out there — you only
have to do a little research. I’m going
to go through Jim Fairchild’s hiking
checklist and get it into shape to enter
on my computer. I plan to make this
checklist available in the shop for free.
There are also numerous places online
to get this information. All you have
to do is Google.
Police chase ends in death
By J.P. Crumrine
News Editor
On Thursday evening, March 19,
a high-speed chase through Hemet
resulted in the death of the driver
near Mountain Center.
Detectives from Hemet Police
Department’s (HPD) Crime Suppression
Unit were conducting a
narcotics investigation at The Parkside
Inn (2700 W. Florida Avenue).
The detectives had information that
heroin was being sold and used from
a room. While officers were inside
the room, a male suspect who had
rented the room arrived,
but stayed inside
his vehicle.
The suspect avoided
arrest and sped away
in a white van. Racing
through Hemet,
he ignored red lights
and nearly caused several
traffic collisions. He
headed east on Florida
Avenue and continued
through Valle Vista,
reaching speeds of 70
to 75 mph, according to HPD Lt.
Duane Wisehart, who prepared the
press release.
Several miles up the mountain,
just past the Caltrans mixing station,
the suspect began to negotiate
a turn. Then he suddenly steered
to the left and drove off the road,
over the hillside. HPD officers in
following vehicles believed it was
an intentional act since they saw no
brake lights and the turn appeared
to be deliberate.
With the help of a Riverside
County Sheriff ’s Department he-
See Chase, page 21
Idyllwild Town Crier, March 26, 2009 - Page 3
Despite being taped off by county officials as a
health hazard, the Bay Tree Spring on Highway
243 is still being used by an individual as a water
source. Pine Cove Property Owners Association
President Annamarie Padula stopped to advise
the pictured individual that the water was
contaminated. “Yes we know, we read the sign,”
Padula reported they said.
Photo courtesy of Annamarie Padula
Bay Tree Spring to be closed
The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to shut
down Bay Tree Spring, a popular water source
along Highway 243.
The spring is under the direct influence of surface
water, and Riverside County tests have proven
the water quality is consistently a public health
and safety hazard.
To shut down the site, the pipe will be cut and
capped.
A 30-day public comment period regarding the
proposal ends April 20. See the “Public Notices”
section in this week’s Town Crier for more.
A Celebration of the Life of
Mary
Austin
will be held on April 25th, 2009
at the Amphitheatre of the
Idyllwild Arts Campus
from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Music, Great Fellowship & Laughter
will be the order of the event.
Doug Austin and his extended family would like to
thank “Idyllwild Arts” for their kindness and caring.
This is an example of their on-going effort to support
our thrice-blessed mountain community.