first meeting

thanks to those who came out to the foothills learning center last night for our first meeting. we're looking forward to working with everyone to preserve access and to put a face on responsible dog owners.

more to come, but we are looking for a web designer, so if you or someone you know can help, please contact me at idswissy@yahoo.com

wrong!

i thought about it after my post yesterday, and sure enough i was wrong about a sign into the reserve from camel's back. it's just sort of hard to see because it's so low.

not sure what the answer is to having things easy to see and not being obtrusive.

this open full of poop bag was laying by the trail on chickadee ridge. in my experience, most people do that trail as a loop, so i would be surprised if it was there to pick up on the way out.


here's the deal- there is no one coming after us to pick up. i've had people ask why parks doesn't just hire more people to pick up dog poop. the answer is- because it's our responsibility!

if we own dogs, we clean up after them. it's part of owning a dog, like exercise and training and feeding them. i get mad when i see dog poop in my front yard, on the sidewalk, on the street or by the trails. i clean up after my dogs and expect everyone else to do the same.

very few of us were toting bags and picking up poop 15 years ago. it didn't seem to matter so much because there weren't as many people. i used to take tara (who had zero recall, got into a rattlesnake mousing in the owyhees, chased deer on the south fork and disappeared for an hour or two- and who lived the second half of her life on leash because of those things) to military reserve because we never saw anyone else there and i didn't need to worry as much if she didn't come right back.

it was clearly dangerous (and scary) not to have better control. it was hard to admit that she really needed to stay on leash or tied up, but she was unpredictable. not wanting to go down that road again, things are different with halle and echo. we're conscious of being polite trail companions and keep working on getting better at it.

guess i felt the need to tell that story because i know how hard and scary it is to have an unpredictable dog. loved her to death, but it was safer for all of us to keep her leashed. she taught me a lot though, and i'm a better dog owner now.

signs

since enforcement will be starting soon ($25 fine, plus court costs= around $100) for both leash and poop violations, and people said that what is on leash was confusing, thought we'd check it out this morning.

here's what i noticed: we probably need on leash trail signs coming into the reserve from Camel's Back on 10th St and from the parking lot on 9th. Ditto into the trees toward the pond from the lower parking lot across from Owl's Roost, and entering the upper parking lot from Kestrel. Dogs should be leashed in all parking lots always, but it isn't always clear where off leash starts after that. so there should probably be off leash trail signs about 50 yards out of the lots where the trails are off leash.

i hope to have time to photoshop a map so it's easier to see what i'm talking about. i also think that a map at the trail heads with on leash trails clearly marked- maybe in red- would be helpful.

it would also be helpful to post what the fines for non compliance are. I know we don't want signs up all over, but a little bit might go a long way.

we met 2 runners and 3 groups walking with dogs this morning, everyone cordial and well behaved. dogs leashed where they should be, checked to see if it was OK to let them approach, etc.


saw 2 owls in the grove- have to go back with the big camera- this pic isn't so good. it was lovely and peaceful there this morning, hearing the mourning doves and other birds singing. editorial note- i wouldn't be comfortable in there by myself in the morning, which is where dogs come in for a lot of women who exercise by themselves.









the flowers continue to bloom. yellow one is desert parsley of some sort, next a bachelor button. i always wonder if these are here from some old farmstead, or if birds brought them and now they just keep reseeding. don't think it's a wildflower, but i could be wrong- if anyone knows, let me know.





next, my favorite- i don't know why exactly- buckwheat just starting to show. and a mystery plant which i have tentatively identified as a thread stalk locoweed, but i could be way off....

here's to another day started off right.

5000 homes

seems like conserving what we have in the foothills is a much bigger issue than dogs or mountain bikes. i am no expert and am not a biologist, but i have been researching the effects of dogs on wildlife online. what i have gleaned is that, aside from chasing, digging and random unsupervised hunting (which is behavior that no responsible dog owner would allow) the biggest issue is that dog scent changes wildlife behavior. animals who are prey of canids (coyote, fox, etc.) will move farther off the trails. how much of a problem this is depends on what sort of habitat is available.

i wonder how much impact 5000 more homes in the foothills has on habitat? i wonder how many dog owners would vote for another levy?




on to this morning's jaunt. i don't want this to be the poop report, so suffice it to say that there were at least 15 piles between heron and the pond coming in from 10th. right on the trail between 2 trash cans & bag dispensers.

bitterbrush is blooming- and fragrant. the arrowleaf balsamroot is still going strong, and these little purple guys- i think that they are brodiaea- are popping up. meadowlarks and redwing blackbirds singing.

2 runners, one mountain biker, one woman with off leash dog in the on leash area. she did leash up right away when i asked her not to let him run up to us.

another beautiful morning!

impact

it was a beautiful morning. i wanted to check out scott's trail to see what was deemed dog worthy, but can't get up there til may 15 when the gate is opened, so we parked at the upper hull's lot instead. to get there from this lot would be about a 2 mile on leash hike on primarily single track trail.

we met mostly bikers, and everyone was very nice and thanked us for getting the dogs off the trail, compliments on how well behaved they were being. not one biker gave us right of way on the trail, as is the correct etiquette. no big, because i find it easier to get off & let them pass. my husband, who mountain bikes, mentioned it. i was just happy that everyone was pleasant.

this is how the parking lot looked when we came out close to noon. i don't see how there can be this much activity without impact. every single user changes something. i think that part of the reason dog owners get so upset is that we feel singled out as the source of most problems.





















my husband, the mountain bike rider, pointed out the trail braiding here clearly caused by bike. i have a hard time comprehending how my dogs running a random loop (this pic was not taken on a ridge to rivers trail, it was out on blm land off of the highway) causes more impact. it would seem to take many feet traveling the same trail to create a path. i understand there is wildlife concern, but they are not chasing, hunting or digging- they are just running.

regardless, all of us- hikers with and without dogs, people with strollers and kids who go off trail to check stuff out, people on bikes, people on horses, sheep and cattle moving through- change something. it makes more sense to me for us to work together to find the right balance.

today's pack out included 2 beer bottles, 3 beer cans (pretty old & rusty) and our poop. this trail is cleaner- except for the sheep & deer tidbits we were continually calling the dogs off of. need to get the packs on the dogs so they can help haul out trash.

one last thing- polecat trail does not allow dogs. i wonder if that is presented as an alternative to people who don't want to deal with dogs when they hike or bike? Probably lots of folks who would like to know about that option.

corrals

beautiful morning. picked up some poop by the parking lot. i never can figure out how it is that people come out for exercise, but don't walk back to the trash can from this close and just be done with it. again, all right near the trail.












here's the ziplock at the end of our hike- 3 bags from us, a coke can, and misc poop picked up from really close to the parking lot. i will say this is better than i have seen it up there, but still not great.


cows are out. these guys are behind the gate that leads to hard guy. i saw a few more scattered on the hills off of corrals trail. we leashed up to go by just in case, but it appears that neither of my pups, both of whose breeds have been used for herding, have much interest in cattle. thank goodness!


trail braiding question. not sure how many dogs it would take to walk this path over how long a period of time to make the secondary trail. not the way my dogs usually travel- they will go off the trail to smell something, maybe run a loop, but the only time they trot right next the trail is when there is already a path like this there.









lots of stuff blooming and getting ready to. can't remember what this first one is called. the lupine are getting ready to explode- the hillside should be covered later this week. saw some larkspur farther back, and this white blooming shrub which may or may not be syringa. didn't seem quite fragrant enough.

met karen & robin with their 3 dogs. they called them back because one is noisy & scares people (sounds like echo)- much appreciated. the dogs were all very good.

saw 3 mt bikers riding with 2 dogs, and quite a few other groups. everyone was nice & polite and good about sharing the trail. except for the woman who just had to fly by the 3 mt bikers on the hill by hard guy- cutting off me & the dogs from coming up hill & startling the other riders.

new name

looking for a different name for the group, to avoid confusion. we aren't a city agency, not connected with the official ridge to rivers folks.

send us your ideas (idswissy@yahoo.com ) and if we pick your name, you get a 6x6 print of halle-