The San Gorgonio Search and Rescue Team is only a few weeks away from taking a technical rope rescue test that must be passed in order to continue its mountain rescue operations. Saturday (SGVA training day) was our "dress rehearsal" for that test and the test itself falls on another of my favorite SGVA days, National Trails Day on Saturday, June 5th. I will be working closely with Val Silva in planning our Pacific Crest Trail work for that day, but I will need a couple of volunteers to fill in for me as far as picking up all the tools at Barton Flats and assisting Val on the day of the project. If you are interested, please call me at 909-797-8812. This is always a fun day and we usually get quite a bit of work done besides the fun. I'm hoping we have the same enthusiastic turnout this year as last year.

On a beautiful warm spring day, 115 volunteers gathered at Alpine Meadows Camp. We shared experiences of another winter gone by and planned another exciting summer of serving the public in and around the San Gorgonio Wilderness. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful tall pines and views of Sugarloaf Mountain. The Alpine Meadows Camp facilities were great and the lunch and dinner donated by the camp owner, Peter Huber, and his wonderful staff were delicious. (See another article about Peter Huber's generous donation.)

We were very happy to have 37 new volunteers with us for training in radio and emergency procedures, professionalism, safety, permits and regulations, and visitor contacts. The whole day was made a great success by a lot of people. I would especially like to thank volunteers Patti Gossett, Jan Gudgell, Bill Hedekin, Jeff Highton, Cindy and Joe McGregor, Sheila McMahon, Pat Peters, Ann Robinson, Karen Saffle, Ted Schofield, Val Silva, Jim Sirick, Larry Stiles, and Jarome Wilson for helping to welcome, train, and make comfortable all of the volunteers. We were also very pleased and grateful to have welcoming words of appreciation and training provided by Forest Service personnel Karen McKinley, Sandy Vandenberg, Larry Vincent, Lenore Will, and Bob Wood.

As you may recall, the SGVA entered into a partnership with our local Forest Service fire crews last summer to provide small Smokey Bear dolls to certain young children. Firefighter Steve Seltzner believed it would be a wonderful ministry, and a great comfort to young children, if the fire crews could give a Smokey Bear doll to children who were involved in an accident or fire incident. Taking Steve's lead, we contacted our Smokey product distributor, Dawna Fazio, owner of Woodland Enterprises. The good folks at Woodland Enterprises gave us a generous 50% discount off retail, which enabled the SGVA to give 24 Smokey dolls to the fire crews. The crews made sturdy containers to carry Smokey on their engines and Smokey was ready to roll.

The fire crews and Smokey have comforted many children since they received the dolls last summer. For example, Engine Co. 33 gave Smokey to five-year-old Jeremy who narrowly avoided injury in a traffic accident on I-15, north of Hwy 138. While on assignment to the large Florida fires, Engine Co. 32 gave Smokey to a local child traumatized by the fires. Thirteen-year-old Isabel, terrified and crying after being bitten by a rattlesnake in Mill Creek Canyon, smiled when Engine Co. 34 gave her a Smokey. While returning from a Strike Team assignment, Engine Co. 34 came upon a serious traffic accident on I-5. Two-year-old Ishmael sustained minor injuries and became extremely upset when separated from his mother who was also injured. Ishmael bonded with a Forest Service firefighter who comforted him with a Smokey doll.

Volunteers often ask me about providing some uniform presence in the Wilderness while they are up there on vacation. I really do appreciate the desire of volunteers to help us when they are going to be out there enjoying the Wilderness on their own time. A recent request and my reply to the volunteer illustrate the difficulty of mixing a vacation with patrol duties.

The volunteer wrote, "I am going on a hike in the Wilderness for several days with a few friends. We will hike to Dry Lake on Friday, do the peak on a day hike Saturday, and hike out on Sunday. Could I take my uniform and wear it on Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday and do trail patrol? I could pick up a radio on Friday and would at least provide a presence of some sort."

I replied, "That would be okay if you are ready and willing to leave your friends to take care of any emergency that may come up, including going where you may not have planned to go." Volunteers often have to respond for injured or lost hikers or travel away from their intended route to check out reports of fires. I went on to say, "For example, if something came up on Sunday, you may not be able to leave the Wilderness with your friends. Or, if something came up Saturday, you may not be able to go to the peak with your friends. In short, when we are out there in uniform with a radio, we are on duty, not on vacation."

Many who know the great value of our forest and wilderness areas may not have the time, but have the monetary resources to help the SGVA continue to "Serve, Protect, and Educate." Recent contributing members to whom we and forest visitors owe many thanks are:

• Doug Fantazia

It was a lovely day, about 80 degrees, with a slight breeze. We wore shorts and tank tops with sweatshirts wrapped around our waists. The scent of ponderosas, firs, and cedars filled the air. With that, and the fact that we only ran into three other hikers, it was a perfect day.

James and I like to look at "scat droppings" (AKA dung!) and see what kind of animals went before us. On this day we saw something unusual and James asked me, "What kind of scat is that Mommy?" I told him that I didn't know, he thinks I know everything :) but whatever it was, it sure ate a lot of grass!

On the way out, he said "Mommy, look, a goat!" I looked and sure enough, there was a herd of about five bighorn sheep! They were on the north side of Mill Creek near the base of the mountain across from the blue-grey Vivian Creek trailhead sign. It must have been their scat we saw up in the canyon. It was SO special--a perfect topper off to a wonderful day and a rare treat. We watched them for a while. I wanted James to see the way they seem to float up the side of treacherous mountains, but they bedded down for the night. We would have stayed longer, but there was still snow on the ground and James had put on his sweatshirt and taken mine also (I had assured him I was not cold...it was a Mommy fib though and I could not last any longer). So, after asking a man who had thought to bring a camera to bring me copies of pictures, we left.

I called Steve Loe, our Forest biologist, and he said the herd up in that canyon is about 100-150 bighorn. The group I saw was probably a "ewe" group, all females of course. They separate themselves into small traditional groups and live and die basically in the same area with the same ewes. Pretty neat and very rare. So, I just wanted to share this unusual event with you. If I get those pictures, I will share them with Flip so he can post them somewhere for you!

A. 5 gallons
B. 10 gallons
C. 15 gallons
D. 20 gallons

A. An abnormal, sharp tooth that only grows in the upper jaw of male horses, in the space where the bit usually goes.
B. A normal tooth that grows in the upper and lower jaws in all horses, just behind the space where the bit goes.
C. A normal tooth that grows in the upper jaw of certain male and female horses, just behind the space where the bit goes.
D. A permanent tooth, also known as a canine tooth.

A. Phenylbutazone (bute)
B. Flunixin meglumine (Banamine)
C. Penicillin
D. Combiotic (the combination of penicillin-dihydrostreptomycin antibiotic)

ANSWERS

1. B - or about 1 gallon per 100 pounds of body weight. Of course, with the slightest physical exertion, warm weather, and depending on the makeup of his diet, that amount can increase.

2. C - Wolf teeth appear at about five to six months of age in some horses, both males and females. Permanent canine teeth are entirely different, and occur only in males, in both upper and lower jaws. Wolf teeth are extremely sensitive, and because of their location, are easily bumped by a bit. For these reasons, it's advisable to have them removed to prevent causing your horse discomfort.

In Dollar Lake camp, Jarome wanted to make a summit run. I agreed but knew I would only travel with him to Dollar Lake Saddle. It was still early in the season for me and I was not in any shape for that much hiking in the hot sun. At the Saddle we split up and I headed west towards Shields Peak.

I had forgotten how nice this trail is and how Big Bear Lake can be seen from here. I had forgotten how nicely flat and graded the trail is along the divide. Memories of past trips began to flood back and the goals and destinations of the day began to fade. I absorbed the silence of our mountains, sat studying the peaks and ridges--their summit outlines cropped into tidy images by the dead, woody tops of pines. I only met a few other hikers on this stretch of trail. In the heart of the wilderness, we spoke quietly, swapping trail information, then moved on.

Life in a trail camp doesn’t change much with time. Set up tents, haul water (only now there is the ritual of purification), and cook. This is when you and your partner get acquainted. Over the fiery whoosh of the portable stove the stories come out, first in dribs and drabs. Descriptions of past trips in these and (maybe) other mountains, what we do at our weekday jobs, gear and philosophy towards how much. Pack weight is always a good topic as is the efficiency of a particular piece of equipment. That night three deer wandered within 30 feet of our camp on their way to drink at the lake. One was relatively fearless and seemed to be begging. I threw my arms up to startle her, hoping to re-instill a fear of man.

Soon it was time to turn in and the other ritual of the night began--preparing for bed, running into the woods with your trowel, making pillows of smelly socks and sweat-stained shirts, water bottle close by.

On the trail, early mornings are a time for quiet contemplation. Even the stoves seem quieter. Little filter bags of coffee appear from inside worn stuff sacks and each brews his own brand of morning nirvana. There is not as much talking in the morning. It is a time, however short, for quiet reflection and enjoyment of the wilderness. At 10,000 feet, the sun is just a little brighter, the air thinner and sharper, the sky bluer. It is during these times that you get a quick glimpse of one of the reasons you volunteer.