sammydee
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Posts posted by sammydee
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Dear Coyote Creek Parkway Master Plan Interested Parties,
At their upcoming May workshop meeting, the County's Parks and Recreation
Commission will hear a report back from staff on the status of the
development of a Draft Program Document for the Coyote Creek Parkway County
Park Integrated Master Plan. The Parks Commissioners will hear a
presentation by the project consultant, take public comment on the project
to date, and offer their comments to staff as they proceed with the project.
Those interested in the progress of this project are invited to attend this
meeting.
Report to Parks and Recreation Commission on the development of the Coyote
Creek Parkway County Park Integrated Master Plan Program Document
May 4, 2005
6:30 pm
Issac Newton Senter Auditorium
70 West Hedding Street
San Jose, California
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, those requiring
accommodations in this meeting should notify the Clerk of the Board's Office
24 hours prior to the meeting at (408) 299-5001 or TDD (408) 993-8272.
An approved agenda for this meeting will be posted on the Parks Department's
website www.parkhere.org
72 hours prior to the meeting.
A program document is the critical first step in the development of an
integrated Master Plan for Coyote Creek Parkway County Park. It sets the
stage for development of the subsequent steps in the process. A program
document may include an inventory and analysis of existing site conditions,
current recreational trends, proposed vision and guidelines for the master
plan in compliance with the Department's Strategic Plan, community input,
potential uses and facilities to be explored further in the plan's design
alternatives, and goals and objectives for the management and protection of
the Parkway's natural resources.
Please share this meeting announcement with your
friends, neighbors, community groups, organizations, agencies, or with any
one who may have an interest in this project.
Santa Clara County Parks only forwards project information directly to those
individuals
who have requested to be on our project mailing list.
For more information on this project, please visit the County Parks' website
at www.parkhere.org. To add your name directly to our mailing list, please
contact Elish Ryan, Park Planner, at this website or (408) 355-2236.
<<...OLE_Obj...>>
Coyote Creek at the Metcalf Pedestrian Bridge
_______________________________________________
from the desk of:
Elish Ryan
Park Planner
Santa Clara County Parks Department
298 Garden Hill Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032 main line: (408)355-2200
direct line: (408)355-2236 fax: (408)355-2290
email: elish.ryan@prk.sccgov.org
www.parkhere.org
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I can only say what I said on the cache page ...
THANK YOU for coming! Wow, this was better than I had ever imagined! There were 22 geocachers in attendance - nearly half of the total volunteers who came. I'm 100% convinced that we made a great positive impression on the parks folks, and we exposed a lot of people to our positive sport of Geocaching!
I hope each of you is proud of the work that you did today. That trail has been closed for years - and opening it was a big accomplishment.
I certainly had a super time, and I hope you did too!
The County runs similar Trail Days events EVERY month. We'll have to do this again sometime soon!
The event cache is no longer at the event coords. It's been moved up onto "our" trail, and should reappear soon as "Hey We Did It!"
Thanks again - it was great to see / meet / work with each of you!
....Sam
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Tomorrow's "Trail Days: Almaden Quicksilver". Thanks to all of you who have volunteered to attend!!!
As you know, the event is scheduled for 9am to 1pm tomorrow. We're meeting at Castillero Middle School (the event coords), where vans will take us up the hill to the worksite.
I got late news from the County Parks folks today that there will be ONE run of vans up the hill in the morning, and ONE run down the hill at the end of the event. It's a short, downhill hike from the work site to Castillero if you need to leave early.
To make sure that you are there for the morning run up the hill, the Parks folks recommend that you arrive around 8:30 - NOT at 9.
Sorry for the late notice - I just heard myself.
For anyone who comes a bit late, please head up the Senador Trail to the junction with the New Almaden Trail. It's about 0.4 miles in from the trailhead at the end of McAbee. We'll be working on the New Almaden Trail between the Senador and the Mine Hill. Later today I'll post a map on the cache page.
Thanks again, and I'll see you tomorrow! ...Sam
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OK - new topic. TICKS!!!
I've been enjoying the winter - no ticks, snakes or other ooky stuff to deal with.
We went caching both Saturday and Sunday, and went a bit off trail in grass up to the waist both times.
Each time we pulled ticks off our clothes - 4 or 5 in total. No bites - but they are positively back!
Is there a recommended repellent to use? Do "Off" and others do anything to dissuade 'em?
I'm lucky enough to have never been bitten - might as well try to keep it that way!
...Sam
p.s. But I'm SURE there won't be any ticks in AQS this SATURDAY! :-)
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By the way - the newest Santa Clara County Park will be opening on May 15th - Harvey Bear Ranch County Park, on the same ridge The Rat was describing but farther South. Over 4000 acres on the ridge between Coyote Reservoir and San Martin. I saw a presentation about it a few days ago, and it's going to be a real jewel.
http://www.parkhere.org/channel/0,4770,chi...61,00.html#maps
Reminder: NEXT SATURDAY is the Trail Days event at AQS. Hope to see you there!
...Sam
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Sat 23rd right?
D'oh, I hate it when that happens. Yes, the 23rd.
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As I noted earlier, the Santa Clara County Park Commission meeting was tonite. The agenda, totally unrelated to caching, is above.
I attended the meeting, and was the only cacher able to make it this month. (Everyone else had notes from their parents, so that's ok!)
Since nothing related to caching was even remotely on the agenda, one might think that this was a waste of time, but I don't think so. In fact, this meeting really drove home to me the value of attending these on a regular basis.
1. After the last meeting, WoW, SteveL and I were able to chat with two of the Commissioners about caching. Neither had any real knowledge of it at the time. This time, both of them made a point of saying "hi" to me, and both stopped to tell me caching stories! One had actually gone home from the previous meeting, looked up a cache near his house, and gone out to find it. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful. :-( The other Commissioner hadn't done it himself, but described a caching trip that some people he works with are about to take. He was very happy that he had known what his friends were talking about because we had discussed it last month.
2. Before the meeting, I talked with a group of about 4 or 5 civilians who were in the audience and who hadn't been to a meeting before (oh yeah, I'm the expert...) They were motorcyclists, who were there to show their solidarity around the County Motorcycle Park, which they seemed to think was in some sort of danger that I never quite understood. They basically showed up at the meeting, were completely bored for a couple of hours, and then vanished without talking to anyone or really making any contacts or any impact. I think I was the only one in the room who talked to them, or who knew why they were there. Pretty clearly they wasted an evening.
SO - I think that continuing to be visible, month after month, and slowly expanding our circle of contacts is a very good thing. And hey, I saw a nifty 30 minute presentation on the eradication of invasive thistle at various county parks, too.
Come to Trail Days: Almaden Quicksilver on the 23rd! You'll be a hero, and you'll get a free CITO shirt!
...Sam
p.s. Will whoever owns the cache in Vista Park in San Jose make it really, really easy to find? Please? The I'll send the Commissioner back to look for it one more time... <joking>
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FYI, the next meeting of the Santa Clara County Parks Commission is April 6, 2005 6:30pm Issac Newton Senter Auditorium, 70 W. Hedding.
I'll be attending, as I believe several other cachers will as well. Nothing related to caching is on the agenda, but we want to use the opportunity to continue to bond a bit with the Parks folks. This is part of our ongoing effort to make sure caching and cachers are seen as constructive, non-scary and good to have around.
We won't do any talking, other than a little light schmoozing before and after the meeting.
And, since actions speak louder than, uh, sitting quietly in a meeting - please join us at the "Trail Days: Almaden Quicksilver" event on the 26th!
Here's the agenda - I also have PDF versions of the various committee reports. If you're planning to attend let me know and I'll forward the complete packet to you.
...Sam
1. Call to order
2. Public presentations. Speakers are limited to one minute. Persons are asked to provide requests in writing to staff.
3. Approve minutes – December 1, 2004
4. Accept verbal liason reports.
a. Open Space Authority (3 min)
b. Santa Clara Valley Water District (3 min)
5. Accept verbal community liason reports
a. Friends of Santa Teresa County Park (3 min)
b. Youth Science Institute (3 min)
c. New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association (3 min)
6. Accept verbal report from the Director, Parks and Recreation Department (10 min)
7. Approve endorsement of the Capital Improvement Plan for FY 2006 as recommended by the Parks and Recreation Department (PRD) and forward to the Board of Supervisors for inclusion in the 2006 PRD budget. (10 min)
8. Accept recommendation from the PRD to approve user fee adjustments of Field Sports Park room, rifle and pistol range reservation fees, and forward a favorable recommendation to the Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation Committee of the Board of Supervisors and subsequently to the Board of Supervisors (15 min)
9. Accept an oral presentation and update on the Natural Resource Management Program (30 min)
10. Accept verbal Committee Reports (10 min)
a. Bay Trail Advisory
b. Bay Area Ridge Trail Council
c. Los Gatos Creek Trail
d. Coyote Creek Master Plan
e. Trails Committee
f. Coyote Valley Specific Plan
g. Funding Committee
11. Informal roundtable / announcements (5 min)
12. Adjourn to the next regular meeting – Wed 4 May 2005 at 6:30.
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Let's see - should I weed the garden and plant new stuff in the yard tomorrow, or should I go to Pinnacles?
So I weeded the garden and went to Quicksilver instead of going to Pinnacles. Sigh.
The wildflowers were really quite something!
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I saw another thread in this "West and Southwest" forum that had a happy announcement from Boulder CO, where COadmin had successfully got Boulder to reverse their ban on caching. You might want to read it, and contact him for any information he could share.
Good luck - if I can help in any way, let me know.
...Sam
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FYI if you've never been - the map shows roads approaching from both the West (via 101) and from the East (via 25). They do not meet. Most of the services and interesting stuff is on the East side, so be sure to approach the park from that side - via Hollister, if I recall.
You can hike from one side to the other via a number of trails - some rather strenuous, as I recall.
Let's see - should I weed the garden and plant new stuff in the yard tomorrow, or should I go to Pinnacles? Hmm. wunderground.com says Saturday is the better day of the weekend.
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There's a Yahoo group here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siliconvalleygeocachers/
...but it's not used very much.
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Do you know how MANY pubs you'd have to drive past in order to go 30 miles in Ireland?
I can see a man making it past one...or two...or three...but have a heart, man!
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Different county; different rules. I don't know what the situation is in San Mateo County. My previous comments were about Santa Clara County Parks, just to be clear.
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I'd be VERY interested in details of specific examples of signs like that!
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I'm glad you gents made it to the training! Sorry again that I couldn't come this time.
The "trailer-o-tools" is also the centerpiece of the Trail Days, like the one at Quicksilver next month. The activities you described are pretty much what we'll do then as well.
Sign me up - either Calero or Uvas sound good - though, to be honest, I don't recall ever going to Uvas! Hmm....
How often do we need to maintain the chosen trail? Once a season, once a month, once a quarter? Never mind ... WoW says monthly above...
In other SC County Park related news ... I've been researching the ordinances that govern the Parks. Recently some folks have posted online and said things in meetings along the lines of, "if you go off trail you can be cited". I wanted to see if there was any legal basis for claims like that.
Bear in mind that I'm not a lawyer, and that if you're doing something truly destructive or dangerous I'm sure LE can find something to charge you with if they want. But, for what it's worth....
There is NOTHING that I can find in the ordinances governing the Parks that says hikers have to stay on trail.
There IS specific language in the law saying that BIKERS have to stay on trail.
There IS specific language in the law saying that HORSES have to stay on trail.
But hikers, going off trail, isn't specifically described as either an "infraction" or a "misdemeanor".
The County Parks website does ask hikers, as a matter of "etiquette", to stay on trail. And there are certainly good reasons for that. But as for hiking off trail being illegal...I, for one, can't find it.
(Edited to add: There is plenty of authority in the ordinances allowing various areas to be closed. If you see a sign or a note on a map or on the county park website indicating that an area is closed - they mean it.)
Wonder what the similar laws/rules are for the various open-space districts?
Naturally, we want to engage with the powers-that-be on a constructive and friendly basis, not a "nyah nyah you can't stop me" basis. But I think it's useful to know what the existing laws are - and what they are not.
....Sam
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Super! Thanks very much - I wish I could be there.
Please wear your geocaching shirts (geo-flair?), and take a digital picture! I'm sure we can make good public-relations use of it...
...Sam
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This is a reminder that Saturday, March 19, from 9am-12noon is our annual Adopt-A-Trail training. We will be meeting at the Archery Range Parking Lot at Santa Teresa Park.
Nuts, I didn't know about that one!
Unfortunately I can't make it - the kids have a dance tournament in San Mateo that morning.
So cachers can find the event, it's basically at Robin Hood's Neighborhood Cache
Cachecrashers (and everyone): Please see if you can come help out at this one: Trail Days: Almaden Quicksilver
We really want to make a "splash" by having a huge cacher turnout - let's show the parks folk that geocachers are good to have around!
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FYI, a great collection of local maps, all calibrated so you can plot cache locations on them with ExpertGPS, are here:
Boulter's calibrated map collection
He's got a Quicksilver map in there that might come in handy.
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I was just up there last weekend and really enjoyed Deadmans Creek Trail Cache near Washoe Lake:
About 1 mile round trip from the trailhead. Nice view of the lake and mountains. When we did it there were budding green trees at the bottom and lots of snow at the top.
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does anyone have any good winter cache suggestions for the Echo Lakes area (already found the one 'winter' cache there, but no others) or the Carson Pass area?
I was just up there last weekend (Carson City / South Lake).
Caches down low near Carson City are being found once a week; ones higher haven't been found since October. There's no snow at Carson; at lake level there's still quite a lot.
We had a really good time at this one - half done in springtime with butterflies and budding trees, and half done on several feet of snow:
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Sorry for 3 posts in a row - but if you haven't looked at the description of the product on Amazon, you should. Hilarious!
Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx and Compass
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
I just posted this comment on the forums at thegba.net.
Marky quickly pointed me to how to turn the compass off - hold down the PAGE key for a while. I'll try that tomorrow and see if it helps. But the compass seems like a real source of concern on this unit. Any other suggestions for what I should try?
Thanks, ...Sam