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Saturday morning trail work, May 12

Carlsbad Oaks North and Palomar Forum Business Park trails -- An overcast May gray day did not deter volunteers from contributing over 110 hours of volunteer service at this event or the Solana Ranch girl scout troops 1106 and 1386 from accomplishing great things on the trails. The scouts teamed with city trail volunteers to remove weeds, repair erosion, replenish the trails with decomposed granite, install trail signage and do litter patrol. The highlight of the morning for some was seeing a rattlesnake in the wild for the first time: three rattle snake sightings were reported along the trails during this volunteer effort.  

Lake Calavera Trail clean up, April 28

Over 150 volunteers participated and lent a hand at the Lake Calavera Preserve this find Saturday morning, including two large community service groups. The annual Mormon Helping Hands Day of Service work and the Rotarian Day of Service work came together at Lake Calavera to assist city trail volunteers in completing several projects that made a huge impact as only such a large number of volunteers can. The preserve improvements provided by volunteers at this event included:

• Over 120 feet of wood post n rail fencing installed to close unauthorized trails
• 180 native species planted in a five-acre habitat restoration site
• 1/4 mile of weeds cleared along two trails
• Restoration of the trail surface at the south end of the dam below Mt. Calavera
• Refurbishment of an informational kiosk
• Litter pick up
• Removal of 500 linear feet of orange plastic construction fence and silt fence

Special thanks to Habitat Restoration Sciences for their staff's training and oversight of the volunteers planting the native species and also for donating water, tools, equipment and soil amendments to ensure that the plantings are off to a great start.

Carlsbad Coastal Walk, April 26

In celebration of National Landscape Architecture month, the San Diego Chapter of the American Society of Architects hosted 4 free walks on Thursday, April 26, to highlight how the profession is key to designing healthy communities. A walk in Carlsbad was hosted by Mark Steyaert, Park Development Manager, and Liz Ketabian, Park Planner who oversees the Citywide Trails Program. Approximately 25 walkers participated in this event highlighting trails within the vicinity of The Crossings golf course, including, Veteran's Park, LEGOLAND, Armada Drive, and the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Discovery Center. Guest speakers on the walk included Kurt Carlson and Emily Henning Hubbard, Landscape Architects from KTU + A (Golf Course project); Richard Apel, Landscape Project Manager for LEGOLAND; Bob Wilkinson, President of Wilkinson Design Group (Discovery Nature Center); Mike Sweesy, Senior Habitat Restoration Specialist of DUDEK Engineering + Environmental (The Crossings Golf Course); and Mary & Richard James, trail volunteers for Veteran’s Park and the golf course trails.

The walk route provided an inside look at the role Landscape Architects have had in creating some of Carlsbad’s unique outdoor recreational areas ranging from habitat restoration and preservation, to trails and world renowned destinations enjoyed by tourists and local residents alike.

Saturday Trail School, April 21

New trail volunteers learned all about the city’s trails in a full morning training session and luncheon with a presentation on native habitat by Rosanne Humphrey, Land Steward for the city’s Habitat Management Plan. The new Trail Talk videos were premiered, featuring volunteers on Carlsbad’s trails. An afternoon outdoor class at Hosp Grove followed lunch. This outdoor field session was led by seasoned trail volunteers Gary Hill and Gary Nessim.

The city is thankful for the many great local businesses that helped to sponsor and support Trail School including:  Pete’s Coffee and Tea, Trader Joes, Starbuck’s, Chili’s, Brueggers Bagels, American Express, Corner Bakery, Apple, REI and Which Which Sandwich Café.  Special thanks also to Nicole Buchan, Trail Volunteer Assistant and the Harding Center graphics team for preparing all the great hand-outs for the volunteers who attended.