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From a nest of chenille covered pillows I nestled with flu induced chills on a balmy 75 degree day in early January. From my open window I could hear my daughter with the baby strapped on her back humming as she trimmed the rose and bamboo bushes out front. The autumn colored foliage still clinging to the tree outside my window wafted in a breeze against a perfectly blue backdrop. The dog barked at people walking by.
One of the first things I noticed about the history infused hamlet of Fallbrook is that the residents are active pedestrians. Amblers of every size, shape and race passed by my window all day long. Except for the village center, not many of the residential streets are complete with sidewalks, yet that doesn’t stop the ramblers. Well into the evenings, the streets are teeming with sneaker clad enthusiasts.
When I first started visiting Fallbrook a year ago, I learned about the Fallbrook Land Conservancy. With 1,840 acres of greenways acquired and protected since its founding in 1988, the Conservancy maintains 10 nature preserves (five of which have trail systems), an 84 acre farm, and conservation easements on another 100 acres. It owns Margarita Peak, the County’s highest peak west of Route 15, with its extensive trail system running adjacent to the bubbling river below.
Fallbrook consists of more than 30,000 acres. Upon its inception the Conservancy conducted an assessment of the development status of each and every lot within the incorporated planning area and discovered that only three were under conservation easements. With the comprehension that nearly the entire area was subject to unhindered development, the Conservancy got to work. Within the next ten years, eight properties had been acquired. More than 4,000 trees have since been planted, non-native invasive plants replaced with native non-invasive species, and miles of trails installed.
Through annual events such as the May 15th Celebration of Trees, the Conservancy continues to promote forestry by giving away free trees to residents on a first come basis. The Tails and Trails Dog Walk and Stage Coach Sunday are also well attended promotional events. The Conservancy estimates that more than 10,000 visit their preserves annually.
With 20 years of conservation under its belt, the Conservancy continues to preserve the rural beauty of the region on behalf of this community of approximately 43,000 people. Because Fallbrook thrives on agricultural revenues, mostly from the floral and avocado industries, it is relatively verdant for these arid parts. San Diego County ranks third on the list of counties throughout the nation with the most farms and it generates more dollars per acre than any other in the state. Yet, all too typically according to Executive Director, Mike Peters, many of those who hike the Conservancy trails within it do so unaware that they are maintained by a private—not public—nonprofit organization run mostly by volunteers through donations. Membership begins at an affordable $35 per year, a small price to pay for locally accessible off-street nature trails. Brochures are available at most trailheads and at their headquarters in the Palomares House. Donations can also be made online.
On the crest overlooking the pond at the Los Jilgueros Preserve stands Stuart Tucker’s bronze sculpture of an eagle in flight. It’s aptly entitled Siempre Aspirando, Latin for Always Aspiring. Aptly, because that’s what conservation’s about, the constant ambition to preserve more in the race against consuming even more; it's the earnest passion to save it before we lose it. As the infamous Will Rogers once said, “Buy Land; they aren’t making any more of it.” And that’s what the Conservancy has aspired to do, purchase and acquire (the latter through estate grants, etc.) greenspace in order to preserve the ruralscape for which Fallbrook is renown.
I am certainly pleased with the results. Given the vastness of the County which is the size of the state of Connecticut, to not have to drive far to find scenic unpopulated and unpaved trekking thoroughfares is a blessing. The County’s preserves are some of the prettiest hiking spots I’ve encountered so far; Fallbrook’s Land Conservancy trails easily fall into that same category. From the short but pastoral pathway rolling across the meadows and through wooded streams at Los Jilgueros to the more precarious riverside trails tucked along the shaded and now rushing Margarita River, from trails that traverse canyons to those that crest panoramic peaks, Fallbrook Land Conservancy has created an invaluable legacy for the community.
Although I am but a single victim to this countywide flu epidemic, being bedridden for the likes of me is tough business. I’ve just started discovering these preserves and had moved to this area so that I could walk outdoors everyday of the year unhindered by layers of thermal wear and increment weather. As I watched another beautiful cloudless day transpire outside my window, I was champing at the bit to get well and get back to it. My hips ached and my head pounded but the nausea was diminishing. Excitedly, I realized that I was on the mend and could very well be back out there by Sunday, picnicking on Rock Mountain over looking the other peaks visible from North County that I am just now learning the names of.
If everything has a purpose as I believe it does then my illness may have granted me the opportunity to appreciate my overall healthy and virility and the brimming sense of exploration that comes with being a newcomer to paradise. I may complain a lot about over crowded trails, but frankly, that’s one of the main reasons I’m here, so who am I to moan if others are so inclined. I’d rather see us all out there walking, communing with something other than steel and asphalt and an LCD screen, even if that means I have to share the trails.
Just do me a favor if you do venture out onto these trails that I am growing to love. Do NOT be so lazy and lame as to leave your Starbucks coffee cup wedged between branches of a trailside tree. A simple sight of wanton brazen conscious pollution such as this that I witnessed out on the Sandia Creek Trail constitutes a sacrilege to me and will stun me in my tracks swallowing incomprehension. When I go out into nature seeking to be in balanced harmony, to become a zen master, when I am intentionally escaping all signs of human stupidity and dominance seeing such sights tries my patience and brings out the militant Earth Firster in me. I beg you to be courteous and respectful towards the environment to which you have been granted access; pack out whatever you pack in, and as the old adage goes, take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints.
From a nest of chenille covered pillows I nestled with flu induced chills on a balmy 75 degree day in early January. From my open window I could hear my daughter with the baby strapped on her back humming as she trimmed the rose and bamboo bushes out front. The autumn colored foliage still clinging to the tree outside my window wafted in a breeze against a perfectly blue backdrop. The dog barked at people walking by.
One of the first things I noticed about the history infused hamlet of Fallbrook is that the residents are active pedestrians. Amblers of every size, shape and race passed by my window all day long. Except for the village center, not many of the residential streets are complete with sidewalks, yet that doesn’t stop the ramblers. Well into the evenings, the streets are teeming with sneaker clad enthusiasts.
When I first started visiting Fallbrook a year ago, I learned about the Fallbrook Land Conservancy. With 1,840 acres of greenways acquired and protected since its founding in 1988, the Conservancy maintains 10 nature preserves (five of which have trail systems), an 84 acre farm, and conservation easements on another 100 acres. It owns Margarita Peak, the County’s highest peak west of Route 15, with its extensive trail system running adjacent to the bubbling river below.
Fallbrook consists of more than 30,000 acres. Upon its inception the Conservancy conducted an assessment of the development status of each and every lot within the incorporated planning area and discovered that only three were under conservation easements. With the comprehension that nearly the entire area was subject to unhindered development, the Conservancy got to work. Within the next ten years, eight properties had been acquired. More than 4,000 trees have since been planted, non-native invasive plants replaced with native non-invasive species, and miles of trails installed.
Through annual events such as the May 15th Celebration of Trees, the Conservancy continues to promote forestry by giving away free trees to residents on a first come basis. The Tails and Trails Dog Walk and Stage Coach Sunday are also well attended promotional events. The Conservancy estimates that more than 10,000 visit their preserves annually.
With 20 years of conservation under its belt, the Conservancy continues to preserve the rural beauty of the region on behalf of this community of approximately 43,000 people. Because Fallbrook thrives on agricultural revenues, mostly from the floral and avocado industries, it is relatively verdant for these arid parts. San Diego County ranks third on the list of counties throughout the nation with the most farms and it generates more dollars per acre than any other in the state. Yet, all too typically according to Executive Director, Mike Peters, many of those who hike the Conservancy trails within it do so unaware that they are maintained by a private—not public—nonprofit organization run mostly by volunteers through donations. Membership begins at an affordable $35 per year, a small price to pay for locally accessible off-street nature trails. Brochures are available at most trailheads and at their headquarters in the Palomares House. Donations can also be made online.
On the crest overlooking the pond at the Los Jilgueros Preserve stands Stuart Tucker’s bronze sculpture of an eagle in flight. It’s aptly entitled Siempre Aspirando, Latin for Always Aspiring. Aptly, because that’s what conservation’s about, the constant ambition to preserve more in the race against consuming even more; it's the earnest passion to save it before we lose it. As the infamous Will Rogers once said, “Buy Land; they aren’t making any more of it.” And that’s what the Conservancy has aspired to do, purchase and acquire (the latter through estate grants, etc.) greenspace in order to preserve the ruralscape for which Fallbrook is renown.
I am certainly pleased with the results. Given the vastness of the County which is the size of the state of Connecticut, to not have to drive far to find scenic unpopulated and unpaved trekking thoroughfares is a blessing. The County’s preserves are some of the prettiest hiking spots I’ve encountered so far; Fallbrook’s Land Conservancy trails easily fall into that same category. From the short but pastoral pathway rolling across the meadows and through wooded streams at Los Jilgueros to the more precarious riverside trails tucked along the shaded and now rushing Margarita River, from trails that traverse canyons to those that crest panoramic peaks, Fallbrook Land Conservancy has created an invaluable legacy for the community.
Although I am but a single victim to this countywide flu epidemic, being bedridden for the likes of me is tough business. I’ve just started discovering these preserves and had moved to this area so that I could walk outdoors everyday of the year unhindered by layers of thermal wear and increment weather. As I watched another beautiful cloudless day transpire outside my window, I was champing at the bit to get well and get back to it. My hips ached and my head pounded but the nausea was diminishing. Excitedly, I realized that I was on the mend and could very well be back out there by Sunday, picnicking on Rock Mountain over looking the other peaks visible from North County that I am just now learning the names of.
If everything has a purpose as I believe it does then my illness may have granted me the opportunity to appreciate my overall healthy and virility and the brimming sense of exploration that comes with being a newcomer to paradise. I may complain a lot about over crowded trails, but frankly, that’s one of the main reasons I’m here, so who am I to moan if others are so inclined. I’d rather see us all out there walking, communing with something other than steel and asphalt and an LCD screen, even if that means I have to share the trails.
Just do me a favor if you do venture out onto these trails that I am growing to love. Do NOT be so lazy and lame as to leave your Starbucks coffee cup wedged between branches of a trailside tree. A simple sight of wanton brazen conscious pollution such as this that I witnessed out on the Sandia Creek Trail constitutes a sacrilege to me and will stun me in my tracks swallowing incomprehension. When I go out into nature seeking to be in balanced harmony, to become a zen master, when I am intentionally escaping all signs of human stupidity and dominance seeing such sights tries my patience and brings out the militant Earth Firster in me. I beg you to be courteous and respectful towards the environment to which you have been granted access; pack out whatever you pack in, and as the old adage goes, take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints.