My thanks go to Ann Robinson for her excellent computer work; to Patricia Peters who organized and prepared 4-Victor for mailing; to those who contributed articles during the season; to all of you who read each issue (you did read them, didn’t you?). I’ve enjoyed being the Editor these past two years and hope each issue has been worth your time to read.
[Jan Gudgell, Editor]

I guess Marie Kupecz would tell us it’s the elves at work, but I didn’t see any item for, nor did I see, gardeners in John’s budget! But somehow it went from plots of waxy red snow plants, to delicate pink roses, to purple asters and yellow goldenrod. It’s really a beautiful, serene place to spend a day with a good book.

I saw the flowers; Dana Klatt would tell you of the great variety of birds and their antics; Val and Danny Silva would tell you what a wonderful place it is to keep a grandchild entertained or a horse fed; John Dombrowski would tell you about the wonderful, appreciative people you meet coming through.

New equestrians this summer are Barbara and Steve Oshe, Sandy and Ron Perkins, and Gail Seymour. They are having the "I don't know what I'm doing" blues -- typical of new volunteers for the first few years. They have helped rebuild the bridge over the trail above Horse Meadows, hosted at Horse Meadows, removed trees from trails, trimmed trails, picked up trash, and, of course, checked for wilderness permits. They are having so much fun they feel they aren't doing this volunteer thing right. Probably another reason they are enjoying volunteering so much is they are all from the desert and the weather is certainly nicer in the forest!

Peggy Manning is back in the saddle again. She had her knee replaced in May and has made a fast recovery. Of course, those of you who know Peggy can't imagine she would have anything but a speedy recovery. She spent several days at Barton Flats helping Marcia and Glen. She also cleaned the residence while she was there; did you notice you no longer stick to the kitchen floor? I also understand that while at Barton Flats many card games were played. There is conflicting information as to who won.

Sheila McMahon, Ann Robinson, and Teri Cappuccio, non-horse volunteers, have enjoyed the facilities at Tulake Camp several times this summer. They say they understand why Mickey K. always stays there. It's great to have people come stay. We get tired of our old horse stories and welcome their new unhorsed stories. We would like to see more volunteers use the camp.

See you all on the trail.

Val Silva

The SGVA has spent the last 2.5 years at www.edgeinternet.com/sgva. This previous home was generously donated to us by Jim G. of American Business Web, at http://usbusinessweb.net. In an even more generous and supportive move, American Business Web completed the registration process for our new "unique" domain and will continue to provide the SGVA with donated hosting space and technical services at our new domain.

What does this mean for the SGVA? Well, we're now side by side with the other "big" web sites and companies who have unique domains, e.g., www.microsoft.com, which makes us even easier to find, and our URL (Uniform Resource Locator, or address) even easier to remember. Sounds more impressive too, doesn't it?

The old URL, or address, (www.edgeinternet.com/sgva) will always stay active as a "forwarding" page which will let visitors know of our move should they use the old address. Please update your bookmarks to reflect our URL change, and let your friends know, too.

As of this writing, the SGVA web site has logged 11,519 visitor hits since shortly after its inception -- not bad for a little organization on the World Wide Web. Again, a large thanks is due to American Business Web, at http://usbusinessweb.net, of Burbank, CA for its continued donation of site hosting, technical services, and support of the SGVA and our mission. Without American Business Web, this might not have all been possible. I encourage you to take a look at their services for your company or employer.

Sheila reports that the flowers from Horse Meadow all the way to South Fork Meadow are almost like spring -- there are so many and lasting longer this year.

She says a gentleman reported to her that on a winter hike recently he and his party were caught in a snowstorm. They took shelter in the buildings at Horse Meadow and made it down the next day. He was glad to see the area was still there and being used again.

Horse Meadow will close the weekend of October 10-11. If you did not have a chance to volunteer this season, put it on your wish list for the next.

This scenic stop-off point has provided many visitors with a relaxing place to gather information, obtain a refill of water (and sometimes other "goodies" graciously supplied by the volunteer on duty) or to view, first-hand, remainders of bygone uses of this region.

It was my pleasure to host this unique and awe-inspiring site several times this season. What a wonderful and soul-soothing experience!! Nestled in the rugged terrain of Poop-out Hill and the San Gorgonio Wilderness, its stately pines contrasted with a large golden sun-drenched field of waist-high grass, is a breathtaking sight to behold.

Visitors marvel at its quiet beauty and revel in its history, producing a refreshing and inner satisfaction not found in many other places in these mountains. Speaking with the 100⁺ visitors passing through, I found they were pleased to find such a relaxing and informative stop-off out in the "wilderness." Most of them told me it was a great idea to have something so useful and educational staffed in this remote area. A former US Forest Ranger from northern California reminisced about a mounted patrol; another likened this meadow to those found in the High Sierras. Families with small children especially appreciated a place to stop, drop their packs, and let tired youngsters wander a bit.

Well, another summer has gone swiftly by. But it was fantastic and the memory is sweet. All of you working volunteers and contributing members once again enabled us to care for the forest and help visitors better understand and enjoy the very special and wonderful resources of the San Bernardino National Forest. Your service was amazing and varied as it has been for the past 17 years. Of course it is people and how well they care for others that makes any program as successful as this volunteer program has been for many years. We’ve been very lucky to have very caring Forest Service personnel and volunteers over the years from the Forest Service founders of our program, Dave Hood and Bob Shuker, to volunteers Val and Danny Silva who just completed their 15^th summer with us. What is really exciting is that we continue to have new volunteers come on every year who are at least as dedicated and caring as our veteran volunteers. As a result, your summer accomplishments are truly unbelievable.

This summer you donated 18,106 hours, worth about $182,000 to the Forest Service and the public. You protected and cleaned the forest, improved facilities and trails, and helped about 18,000 visitors with whom you had personal contact. Some of your major accomplishments in 1998 were: removed thousands of pounds of litter from roads, trails, and campsites; cleaned up 148 illegal fire rings and prevented many more; moved about 8,400 pounds of rock and 23 bags of trash in removing 21 very old legal fire pits to make the Wilderness look and feel more like wilderness; presented 21 nature walks and talks to 1,205 visitors; provided lunch and fishing buddies to 190 children at the Forest Festival; put on a free forest festival for 500 visitors; operated the Barton Flats Visitor Center where you had 6,528 contacts; refurbished and operated a new public interpretive site at Horse Meadows; provided complete patrol of the San Gorgonio Wilderness and surrounding areas; made initial reports on two wild fires; provided fishing and litter control and education along 10 miles of the Santa Ana River and 5 miles of Bear Creek; performed minor trail maintenance along 100 miles of trail in and around the Wilderness; removed 25 trees from across trails; assisted Forest Service trail crews on three major trail maintenance projects including over four miles of brushing and tread work; patrolled and monitored mining operations in the forest; provided litter control along two miles of state highway through the forest; managed educational sales outlets in three locations on the forest; maintained an extensive web site containing forest information including weather and trail conditions; operated and maintained a permanent work camp for all volunteers; provided current trail/camp conditions reports for Wilderness visitors; provided 19 public assists to lost, injured, and/or stranded forest visitors.

Lower Bear Creek flows into the Santa Ana River about seven miles west of Seven Oaks and eight miles east of the new Seven Oaks dam -- mileages being as the crow flies. Bear Creek is a protected California wild trout stream which means only artificial lures (no bait) and barbless hooks may be used to catch a limit of two trout with eight inch minimum length. Unfortunately, neither California Fish and Game nor the Forest Service has the resources to actively protect the area. Lower Bear Creek is in some wild and beautiful country but it takes most of an hour to get there on some pretty rough dirt roads. At about 4,000 feet elevation, it can be considerably warmer than many places in the forest. Camping is allowed in the area, so illegal campfires, litter, and piles of beer cans are not unusual. Obviously, this precious resource needs some protection, but by whom?