The San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy and the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority are long-time partners in the joint effort to preserve land and create a regional natural open space park in the San Dieguito River Valley. On Saturday, September 30th, from 4:00 p.m until 8:00 p.m., the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy will be celebrating its 20th anniversary at the Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo. Admission includes wine tasting and a buffet. For questions or reservations, call The Conservancy (858) 755-6956 or email sdrvlc@pacbell.net.

The Conservancy's goal has been to increase public ownership of the 55 mile Coast to Crest Trail from Volcan Mountain to Del Mar. Preserving and restoring this open space corridor for future generations has been a journey of vision, planning, and hard work. Much has been done, but there is still much to do.

Join us as we celebrate the Conservancy's achievements with music, a silent art auction, and a special presentation by Rick Halsey, author of Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California -- The Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented to Karen Berger for her dedication and devotion during these past twenty years to maintaining natural open space areas.

A toast to Continuing the Journey!

There's a lot to do at the River Park, and it's not just hiking, bicycling, or riding your horse along the many trails. You can stargaze at a special site, learn how to shoot great photographs, take a sampler course in a hobby you're interested in pursuing . . .

"Stargazing in the San Pasqual Valley" is a new activity the River Park is offering as part of the Astronomy Outreach Program hosted by California State Parks at the San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park/San Diego Archaeological Center. Join us every fourth Saturday of each month as we feature a special presentation at 6:00 p.m. with sky viewing at dusk. There is plenty of room to set up your telescope and equipment on site! The next presentation entitled "Astronomy for Beginners - What's in the Night Sky?" is charted for August 26th with avid astro-photographer Stewart Hall. For more details on the speakers and topics click on the quarterly Activity Calendar! And click here for a report on the first Stargazing event held July 22nd.

There are two opportunities on two beautiful trails to learn photography tricks and experiment with your cameras on a more down-to-earth level! The weekend of August 26th and August 27th (choose one or both) Professional photographer Peter Gorwin will be your guide. Bring your favorite camera, a hat, and water!

Picnic atop Volcan Mountain on the last day of September -- what better way to start off Fall! This hike will begin at 2:00 in the afternoon and River Valley Guide Mike Thacker will lead you to the summit for a sunset view! See Page 3 of the Activity Calendar for detailed directions.

For more fun come to the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead! The River Park is offering a class in "Making Hand Crafted Holiday Cards!" on September 9th; and an equestrian ride and barbecue is being held on September 23rd.

The restoration of Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead , at the gateway to the San Pasqual Valley Agricultural Preserve, is ongoing. The Farmstead represents a legacy of Old California and our ranching and farming history. During the summer, the house is open from 10:00 a.m. until noon on Saturdays and 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Sundays. We're working on rebuilding the creamery, wallpapering the sitting room, and acquiring period furniture. Look for the windmill between the trees!

On Wednesday, September 20th at 2:00 p.m., Ron Hall, a docent at the Sikes home, will be the guest speaker at the Santa Fe Depot in Historic Grape Day Park. Ron has meticulously researched the geneology of the Sikes family and is a local expert on the old family farmstead! All are invited to attend.

The San Dieguito River Park offers special classes celebrating the spirit of craftsmanship in our community. Please call (858) 674-2275 x 14 if you are interested in attending these free sessions or if you have an idea for a class! Our "Saturday Mornings at Sikes" series has featured soap making, woodworking, quilting, spinning, scrapbooking, and growing vegetables in small spaces. "Making Hand Crafted Holiday Cards" will be held on September 9th instead of the first Saturday of the month due to the Labor Day holiday.

In August, the crafts class held at the Sikes Farmhouse featured scrapbooking.

This summer the River Park has been hard at work on two interesting projects, first the rebuilding of the adobe creamery at the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead, which has been partially accomplished, and a repair on a section of the Mule Hill segment of the Coast to Crest Trail to make it more accessible for disabled trail users. Click here for photos and to learn more about both of these projects.

Several other projects are about to commence this Fall. The long-awaited Southern California Edison Wetland Restoration Project at the San Dieguito Lagoon will begin in September. At the same time we will be building Phase One of the Coast to Crest Trail in the coastal area. The first phase includes a 1200-foot-long boardwalk with a viewing platform overlooking the San Dieguito River.

Just downstream of the Lake Hodges Dam is the Del Dios Gorge. We plan to begin construction of a trail this Fall that will connect the existing trail on the north shore of Lake Hodges to the newly constructed Santa Fe Valley Trail that goes by the Crosby Estate residential area. The project includes a 180-foot-long bridge that has been challenging to design because the gorge is deep and access for construction purposes will be difficult.

The much anticipated Lake Hodges Bicycle Pedestrian Bridge, a 990-foot-long bridge over Lake Hodges approximately 1000 feet west of the freeway, was scheduled to begin construction this September. Unfortunately the bids came in much higher than the available funding can accommodate. We are currently examining our options to see if rebidding or redesigning the project would enable us to move forward.

Don't forget! The Rangers can always use help on work projects -- the second Sunday of every month is Trail Maintenance; and the third Saturday of each month is Habitat Restoration. Check the Activity Calendar for locations. Tools are provided!

Supervisor Pam Slater-Price hosted a thank-you party for donors and supporters of the San Dieguito River Park on June 29th. The event was held at a site overlooking the San Dieguito Lagoon where Southern California Edison will soon begin a 150 acre wetland mitigation project. Pictured at left are Supervisor Slater-Price with San Dieguito River Park Executive Director Dick Bobertz.

Many River Park supporters may not know that the River Park has converted from a print-based news distribution to an e-mail based distribution only. Therefore, please forward this e-mail to anyone you think would be interested. Then they can sign up for themselves if they wish to continue receiving the San Dieguito River Park's RiverScape newsletter. Thank you!

email: sdrp@sdrp.org

phone: 858 674-2270

web: http://www.sdrp.org