I’m not sure if something can be both timely and 26 years old, but this might be. In 1991, I spent three weeks or so in South Korea, participating in a joint naval exercise — US and Republic of Korea. A while back, I finally digitized video of my visit to Korea, which includes one of the first activities — a visit to the “Joint Security Area” at the DMZ. Below is a relatively short (for me) video, 7:31, of that part of my time there.
That introductory photo is me at the main gate of the Army base at Yongsan, in Seoul, where much of the “war gaming” aspect of the exercise took place.
The Navy contingent to which I was assigned, being the Navy of course, was “billeted” in the Seoul Hilton. That said, we were advised to eat only on base and at the hotel because there was an outbreak of cholera. I did get out and sightsee, beyond the DMZ, but that’s another, much longer :), video soon to come.
While I was in Korea, there was something of a kerfuffle in the former Soviet Union — an attempted coup by hard-liners against Boris Yeltsin. Tanks around the Parliament building, etc. That set off the North Koreans a bit, and there were reports of exchanges of gunfire along the DMZ. I thought, “Great, three weeks in Korea and now is when the war breaks out again.” Feelings something like that may be pretty common in Korea these days.
Unreal, huh? Actually, it is unreal. It’s a composite of two images — the night sky and Borrego Badlands.
Last Friday, I was invited to join a small group going out to Font’s Point, a promontory in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, to view and photograph the night sky, which features the Milky Way at this time of year.
Leading the excursion were Kati and Ernie Cowan, both professional photographers, among other things (Ernie is president of the Anza-Borrego Foundation [ABF] as well). Also along was Sara Husby, recently named executive director of ABF. A Chicago native, this was Sara’s first trip to Font’s Point, which, along with the night sky, helps explain her enthusiastic response to the scene. 🙂
Below is a short (~2 minutes) video from the excursion. In it, you’ll see both of the scenes in the composite and, as you can tell from the scene highlighted in the video link, an exquisite image of the Milky Way.
(Sorry, sometimes I can’t help myself.) Over several years, in all the times I’d visited Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, I had never seen the sheep for which the park is partly named (“lamb” in Spanish is borrego). I first saw a few sheep in March, from afar, as I posted then. In June, on my way home from a board meeting, I saw a ewe atop a crest in the park. Again, from afar.
On Sunday, I joined volunteers helping in the 44th annual Sheep Count at the park. Several dozen volunteers went out to 20 different sites in the park for 2 1/2 days to find and count sheep to help monitor the park’s herd of this endangered subspecies – the Peninsular Desert Bighorn Sheep. Many hiked out each morning to their site, but others backpacked out and stayed at their remote site from Thursday night to Sunday midday. Some sites required hikes of up to six hours to reach them.
The three volunteers I joined had hiked out in the park, observing sheep, on both the Friday and Saturday before, for 10 hours each day. I was the dilettante, coming in for the final day, and a half-day at that.
Our location was Borrego Palm Canyon, 1st Grove. The set of palm trees in the center, rear, is the first of three palm groves in the canyon. There were sheep-counters at the second and third groves as well, hours further into the canyon and with no trail.
It took about 45 minutes to hike into the canyon. I was glad that I had a guide with me, because, for periods of time, it was unclear to me where the “trail” was. I had never been out here, though it is the most popular trail in the park, because it is so “easy.” I had a rather naive notion of what an “easy” trail would be like. I was lugging a camp chair, camera equipment (including a tripod), a few containers of water, and more. As you’ll see in the video (of course there’s a video), the trail was at times not flat. (According to my iPhone, for the day, I walked 4.2 miles, taking 12,119 steps, and climbed 13 floors. For some of you, that approaches a normal day. For me, it was very much an outlier. It was in the 80s when we went in around 6:30 am and about 105 coming out midday.)
I was told there was no guarantee that I would see any sheep. Several groups of volunteers indeed reported no sightings for the entire weekend. But I hit the jackpot. Not only 15-18 sheep, but some quite close.
The sheep didn’t start to appear until close to 8 am. The volunteers said they actually seemed to be late sleepers. We had seen hikers in the early morning draw a blank in terms of sheep sightings. Ewes, I was told, usually appeared first and rams followed. This screen capture profiles a solitary ewe near the top of the hillside, but there are several rams below her. I did not see the rams at the time and could discern them only when I watched the video. As you might expect, the sheep blend rather well into their environment.
In one instance, I could have been a YouTube hero . . . and a likely patient in the hospital, if I was lucky. Standing on the trail with another volunteer, we heard sounds from around a curve. My companion said, “Those are not human.” Suddenly, what were hoofsteps were quicker and louder and a ram charged around the corner of the trail, heading right at me. I can still see the headlights of that approaching train, but only in my mind’s eye. I lowered the video camera and jumped off the trail. The ram veered off as well.
Palm Canyon is much more “verdant” than in previous years, because of the above-average rainfall. Hard to imagine, but many of the boulders strewn about the canyon floor had been carried there by massive floods, from centuries, eons ago.
The sheep drink out of rivulets of water that come down from the palm grove (inside view, at left). First Grove contains a pool of water, but the sheep avoid the grove as it provides cover for potential predators, i.e., mountain lions. The sheep seem rather oblivious to people. They are used to them in this canyon, because of its popularity. And there is the thought they realize mountain lions avoid humans, so it is better to be out and about when humans are as well.
This video is less formal than the one I prepared for the Anza-Borrego Foundation. That one contains a bit more on what the counters do and the scientific aspect of the project. I hope you enjoy this view of the sheep and their world. (I recommend watching on your device with the biggest screen, not a phone.)
Yesterday, Flag Day, I was privileged to be among those attending a training evolution and demonstration of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) concept. It took place on “the beach” at Camp Pendleton.
The event was part of Camp Pendleton’s celebration this year of its 75th anniversary and members of the community were invited to watch and learn more about the Marines and the base. I was there as a member of the local council of the Navy League, along with members of other councils.
In simple terms, MAGTF involves Navy and Marine forces — air, ground, and sea — in a coordinated amphibious operation. Navy ships bring materiel and personnel to the area, land Marines and their equipment and supplies, supported by Navy and Marine aircraft.
Medium howitzer
The event was much less whiz-bang than similar demonstrations at the annual airshow (a video of that portion of the 2014 airshow is at the end of this post), but the scale and kinds of equipment were quite different. The Camp Pendleton evolution involved Navy ships, amphibious craft, and an actual amphibious landing on an awesome stretch of sand and waves.
Here’s a video (7:00) of highlights.
The presentation also included briefings on the base itself. Camp Pendleton covers more than 125,000 acres, or just over 195 square miles. Its coastline (17.5 miles) is about the same length as New Hampshire’s. The base goes 10+ miles inland. Because of its size and location, Camp Pendleton is the only military facility in the US that allows for large-scale operations combining air, sea, and ground forces. Jet aircraft, for example, are nearly unrestricted in their operations over this area.
There are about 40,000 active duty Marines, and some Navy sailors, at Camp Pendleton on any given day. Combining family members and civilian employees, the base population on a workday is about 80,000. (Also using the base commissary, exchange, etc., are many of the approximately 80,000 retired military who live within a 50-mile radius. Including me.)
There are signs on I-5, which goes north-south up the coastline here, that say “Camp Pendleton — Preserving California’s precious resources.” That, of course, is not the purpose of Camp Pendleton, but it is the result in many cases. Without Camp Pendleton, there would be little open space between LA and San Diego. As one approaches the end of Camp Pendleton in either direction on I-5, the visual demarcation between it and San Clemente to the north or Oceanside to the south is dramatic and striking.
Just looking at the beach in the video, you can see that, with the exception of amphibious vehicles :), it’s pretty pristine. No condos lining the bluffs, etc. Camp Pendleton’s mix of beaches, bluffs, mesas, canyons, and mountains, along with the only free-flowing river in Southern California (Santa Margarita), allows one to see what this region would look like, absent several million people.
Pacific pocket mouse
That ecosystem includes more than 1,000 species of plants, fish, and animals. Eighteen of those species are endangered and there are several that exist only on the base. The colonel who headed up the event said the road we used to walk to the observation bluff could not be improved, because it would disturb the habitat of the Pacific pocket mouse, which is endangered. Indeed, the Marines were not allowed to remove a large piece of twisted metal from the area because the mice had made it part of their habitat.
Below is the video of the MAGTF display at the 2014 airshow at Marines Corps Air Station, Miramar. (Years ago, when it was a Naval Air Station, it was the location for Top Gun, the aviation training program as well as the movie.) Action starts at the 1:09 mark.
It’s a somewhat contrived name, combining two Spanish words, to represent “refuge by the sea.” Asilomar (a-SIL-o-mar), in reality, is also a beautiful, historic place on the Monterey Peninsula where I was fortunate to spend a few days in mid-April.
I attended a conference sponsored by California State Parks, held at the Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds, which is a state parks facility, in Pacific Grove, just south of Monterey. People attending represented the State Parks office and those non-profit associations that are the official partners of state parks. As vice president of the board of the Anza-Borrego Foundation (ABF), partner of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, I was among them. Whoda thunk it? (I was only there because ABF did not then have an executive director in place . . . and I had the time.)
But it’s the place, not the conference, on which I want to focus here. And by place, I refer both to the grounds and buildings of the Conference Center as well as the State Beach. The coastline of and sea around the Monterey Peninsula are as awesome as you would expect, but you may be unfamiliar with Asilomar’s historic element.
Julia Morgan
Familiar with the name Julia Morgan? Or American Craftsman style of architecture? Or the Arts and Crafts Movement? Asilomar is a blend of the three. Julia Morgan is well known in California as one of the foremost architects of the first half of the 20th Century. I urge you to do more research online about her and her work. Her name is familiar to me, as she worked on the design of several buildings/structures on the UC Berkeley campus, where I worked for a dozen years, and in the Berkeley/Oakland area.
A Berkeley graduate (1894) in engineering, Morgan became the first woman to become a licensed architect in California in 1904. Through her work at Berkeley, Morgan became known to Phoebe Apperson Hearst, principal patron of the Berkeley campus. Hearst was also a patron of the YWCA, which was seeking land for a campground. With Hearst’s assistance, the YWCA received a donation of 30 acres in Pacific Grove in 1913. Morgan was asked by Hearst to design the camp grounds and buildings.
Morgan used a style blending elements of the Arts and Crafts Movement and American Craftsman style, emphasizing nature, the qualities of the land, and local materials. As you’ll see in the video at the end (13:38), the buildings are generally strongly horizontal, with wood and stone predominating.
There are lots of windows and interiors feature exposed beams instead of ceilings. Just about every original building features a large stone fireplace, not only for heat but as a place to gather.
Three original main buildings surround a campus circle. They are Crocker Dining Hall, representing sustenance; Hearst Hall, offering a place for social activities; and Dodge Chapel, for spiritual uplift. Other buildings provided for recreation and served as residences for campers and counselors. The state has since expanded the facilities to enable more conference attendees. The newer buildings are in similar style and rooms are somewhat spare – no telephones or televisions. There is wi-fi.
Morgan worked on Asilomar for 15 years, finishing in 1928. She had many more projects going on and to do. In all, she designed more than 700 buildings in California. In 1919, Phoebe Apperson Hearst’s son, Willam Randolph Hearst, selected Morgan to do up a little thing called La Cuesta Encantada, better known now as Hearst Castle. She designed and worked on that project for nearly 30 years.
The State of California purchased the YWCA property in 1956, less than a year before Morgan’s death. In 1987, Asilomar was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture and in the context of Morgan’s career. Just three years ago, in 2014, the American Institute of Architects awarded its Gold Medal to Julia Morgan, the first woman to be so honored . . . belatedly.
The environment in which this historic facility is located is breath-taking. That’s in the video below – not just visually, but aurally. The views are spectacular and the sound is a roar. You’ll see shorebirds, sand dunes, plant life (somewhat surprisingly similar to the desert) and crashing waves that seem always turned up to 11 in volume. (Weather conditions changed over the three days I was there, and the video is not linear in time. So you’ll see different conditions at different times.)
Getting to and from Asilomar wasn’t easy, but it brought me to a part of California to which I had never been – the western side of the Central Valley, west of Bakersfield. I still get surprised by California’s scale and the size of its emptiness, its wildness. This map gives some geographical context and the highlighted area (approximate) is offered in more detail.
Not that there’s much to detail. You’ll see how open and “empty” this expanse is. What would “normally” take about seven hours driving (440 miles each way, just about the same as Boston-Washington, DC) took me nine hours in each direction, because of LA traffic.
Again, though, some amazing views, surprising roadside installations, and the site of the last scene of a 1950s movie icon.
I’ve spent more time than usual out in the desert, enjoying a wildflower bloom that is the best in more than a decade and, in a small way, helping out with serving the large numbers of visitors. I’ve posted earlier about it and have some more to share.
The weekend of April 1, I was in Borrego Springs for an Anza-Borrego Foundation board meeting and to celebrate ABF’s 50th anniversary. I arrived on March 31 and stayed the night, having my first opportunity to see the dark sky without a full moon to “interfere.” This is a shot from around 9 pm. I hope to return in the summer when the Milky Way is visible.
The morning of April 1, ABF President Ernie Cowan – noted birder, outdoorsman, photographer, and writer – took me out to Plum Canyon for flowers and to Tamarisk Grove to see a nocturnal bird of prey, which was still up but a bit secluded. Here’s a brief (< 3 minutes) video of the morning.
Okay, hedline’s a bit overstated. Local alumni from BC and Notre Dame got together last Saturday to shoot paintballs at each other. What better place than Camp Pendleton?
The six gents on the left were the Eagles contingent and the equal number (counting a young woman) on the right were the Domers.
As no one had had this experience before, we chose “paintball lite,” aimed at kids and adult beginners. The guns are smaller, lighter, less powerful; the paintballs themselves smaller; the result . . . no bruises. Except maybe to pride. Yes, we felt somewhat sheepish seeing so many others, including kids, go with the full-bore paintball. Maybe next time.
Here’s a short (<4 minutes) video of some of the action.
You may notice that the ND contingent was a little on the young side. We had not been aware they had promoted the event among those in their “young alumni” section. With the exception of a graduate of 2009, the others were all 2013 or 2014. That’s like . . . yesterday! BC’s contingent featured mostly guys in their late 30s and one ancient alum.
I survived. And flourished at the post-event get-together in Oceanside.
These kids from Notre Dame are alright! We’re friends until September 16, when the Eagles and Fighting Irish meet again on the gridiron in Chestnut Hill.
Spent a couple of days recently again out in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, leading a group of local BC alumni on a tour March 18 and later, on Friday, to help out serving all the visitors coming to the Park for the best wildflower blooms this century – a “flowergeddon.”
This is a brief video of some of the highlights of the tour with BC alumni.
We spent the morning traipsing about and got together for lunch at a Borrego Springs roadhouse.
Seated, l-r: Bill McDonald ’68, Mike Scott, Mary Ann Scott ’75, Lissa Tsu ’00, Brian Tsu ’00; standing, l-r: Mary Berube ’80, Ray Berube ’78, Jania Andreotti ’85, Pat Ahern ’11, Meryl Evangelista.
Returning last week to help out, I was chagrined when a visitor arrived at my wildflower info table and said he was already fully satisfied with his visit, because he had seen bighorn sheep. Hmmmph! In all the times I had been out to the desert, I had not seen the sheep for whom the Park is partially named (borrego in Spanish means lamb). He mentioned he had seen them while he was driving down the Montezuma grade, a dramatic ride (to which Larry Kenah, Ed Hattauer, and others can attest) from 4,000-feet elevation to the desert floor, switchback road all the way.
A hour or so later, I was driving up the Montezuma grad heading home when I noticed a number of cars pulled to the side of the road and people looking up into the hillside. Borrego? I joined them and, for my first time, saw the bighorn sheep. I immediately regretted that I had not brought my Nikon camera or Sony camcorder to capture the images. What you see is what my iPhone caught, grainy because of the sheep’s distance from me. When I get better images, I will provide.
This one sheep was captured taking a pose majestically on a rock. Two others later joined the first and, rather than try for a photo I knew would also be blurry, I just enjoyed their perambling.
To my left, I saw another borrego and then a companion to the first. They’re on the ridgeline.
I had the pleasure Saturday to visit an oasis in the badlands of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Anza-Borrego Foundation sponsored a tour for members of the ABF’s Century Circle, major donors to the foundation, and I was able to join the tour.
In a caravan of four-wheel-drive vehicles, the two dozen+ participants first visited 17 Palms Oasis, 15-20 miles east of “downtown” Borrego Springs, near the eastern edge of the park. This is a naturally occurring collection of California fan palms, the only palm tree native to the western United States. The name is based on the number of palm trees present, though that number has fluctuated through the years. At least a couple of people counted 18 palms. Other oases in the park are called 5 Palms and Una Palma.
The palms exist there because conditions permit it. They are close to a wash, so water from occasional and sometimes heavy rains can nourish them. Water as well exists in aquifers beneath them.
The “desert mailbox” at 17 Palms
These oases are the proverbial water holes that sustain animal life and, in years and millenia past, humans. Attracting travelers, the oasis also was a variant of a post office. A “desert mailbox” has been located at 17 Palms since the late 1800s. People could leave letters and messages in it, requesting that someone passing through carry it to its destination or to a closer “desert mailbox.” The current such mailbox, wedged between two palms, holds journals in which visitors to the oasis can leave comments and thoughts.
Later, we moved on to Vista del Malpais. “Mailpais” is Spanish for “badland.” From this vantage point, one can look out for miles over the badlands. Here are two such views.
Of course, even near the badlands, there can be vegetation. These ocotillos were at Vista del Malpais.
There are expectations for a great desert wildflower season in the spring. Crossing our fingers!
8 South from the green toward the tee. Goodyear blimp at upper left.
Last week, Wednesday-Sunday, I was a marshal at the Farmers Insurance Open, the PGA tournament at Torrey Pines Golf Course. This was my fifth year as marshal, and second as hole captain. Some of you may recall that last year’s tournament was a bit hellish, with a strong storm on Sunday requiring suspension of play and a Monday finish without spectators for safety reasons. As the photo above attests, the weather this year was much kinder. Indeed, it was Chamber of Commerce-quality — sunny and in the 70s on the weekend.
(I should point out that the title of this post has no relation to my play of golf. I might achieve par on a hole or two, but the closest I’ve ever come to “par for the course” was an 86 and that was long ago.)
I was assigned to the par-3 8th hole on the North Course, Wednesday-Friday. Last year, I was on #17 North, which is the same hole. ?? The North Course was redesigned last year by Tom Weiskopf and, in the process, the nines were switched. So hole #1 became hole #10, etc., thus #17 became #8. On the weekend, I served on #8 South, also a par 3.
Those of you who are golf fans likely know that this year’s tournament featured the return to the field of one Tiger Woods. He played in Wednesday’s pro-am, where amateurs pay big bucks to play alongside the professionals. Wednesday is also the day when cameras are permitted.
The photo above is of the green on 7 North. Tiger, center, is about to putt. Another feature of the pro-am is occasional opportunities for food. Par-3s are especially popular for those, because there is frequent backup of players, hence more time for food. We had a vendor who provided fish tacos. Many gave them praise, but we worker bees were not permitted to indulge. At right, Tiger gives an autograph to a young man, whose dad worked at the stand. The kid, named Isaiah, just about got every player’s autograph.
Jason Day was in the “super group” with Tiger and Dustin Johnson on Friday.
Golf fans also know that Tiger did not make the cut and didn’t play on the weekend, much to the chagrin of tournament sponsors. Tiger brings eyeballs to the broadcasts and feet to the course, all adding up to money. That might seem crass, but all profits from this tournament go to local charities, and his absence, as well as that of several other big-name players who failed to make the cut, hurt. He is far less a player than he once was, but he remains the most popular figure in the field.
The vast majority of players in the field attract a quite small number of fans who walk along the course with them. The two most common questions tournament marshals receive are “Where’s Tiger?” and “Where’s Phil (Mickelson)?” The answer always is “Look for the crowds.” Below was the scene as Tiger left the 8th tee during the pro-am, when attendance overall was the smallest.
For those who enjoy the scenery as much as, if not more than, the golf, 8 North was nice. This was the scene in late afternoon.
Hole captain is essentially an administrative position. You provide information to the marshals assigned to your hole, manage their individual assignments, call in lunch orders, request transportation when the round’s over, keep track of who shows up, etc. I lucked out this year with four gentlemen I had not met before, of whom three had not marshaled before. Each was different as a person, of course, but all were dependable, hard-working, and amiable.
In the obligatory, it seems, small-world department, one marshal, Steve Orenberg, had moved to La Jolla just last summer, from Boston’s North End. Even smaller world, he had grown up in Brookline, where younger daughter Julia and I lived 2000-08, and had gone to the Devotion School in Brookline, same primary school Julia attended.
Me, flanked by Steve Orenberg, left, and Gene Carswell. My “hole captain” uniform requires black pants and wide-brim hat (I would prefer the ball cap).The classic hole marker for 8 South
I mentioned the nice views from 8 North, the tee of which may be the highest point on the course. Spending the weekend on 8 South was equally nice in terms of view (photo at top of post), and better in terms of warmth. I had told my newbie marshals that the environment on the South Course, compared to the North, was not unlike the difference between Little Italy, the mecca for young professionals in San Diego, and Fallbrook, where I live, which is more “horse country.” The South Course has the corporate tents and “watering holes” and, as a consequence, the crowds.
8 South was adjacent to the 19th hole, sponsored by Grey Goose. Each morning, at 9:30, the doors of that facility would swing open and a crowd of viewers, with drinks in hand, would come out to the stands to watch the golfers. While somewhat raucous at times, the crowd was generally well-behaved. Often the most noise came when people betting on which color bib worn by the caddies stepped on the green first were encouraging their choices. “Come on, Red!” “Hurry up, Blue.” “Yay, White!” I could see handfuls of cash being exchanged. As you might guess, the noise increased as the day wore on.
Below is an aerial view of #8 South. It’s just a photo of what they showed on TV. Tee is at lower left.
The biggest name left in the tournament on the weekend was Phil Mickelson, who lives in nearby Rancho Santa Fe. He ended up tied for 14th. Late in the final round, it appeared likely the tournament would require a playoff, as several players were tied for the lead and others one stroke back. But Jon Rahm, a 22-year-old graduate of Arizona State, from Spain, shot a 30 on the back nine, finishing with a 60-foot putt for an eagle on #18, to break it open and win by three strokes. It was his first title and he is the youngest to win the Farmers. I was driving home at the time, and watched it later on TV. Still pretty exciting.
Here’s a three-minute collection of final round highlights, and it includes scenes from #8 South.
Just so you know the players were not the only ones active on the course, the “Health” app on my phone tracked my movements. (I only learned about its presence on my phone a short time ago.) Over the five days, I walked a total of 41,957 steps over a distance of 16.7 miles and the equivalent of 42 stories. That is substantially above my normal pace of activity. Time for a rest!
