San Diego is better outside

Circus Vargas, Cleveland National Forest. tourmaline mines, Guadalupe Island, long hike with Marines, San Diego's landscape

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Publish Date

Oct. 14, 2018

As the column climbs and drops along the hot hills of the Borrego Badlands, there is little chatter among the troops. (Robert Burroughs)

Larry Gill: “Some places we have a lot of room, but here it took hours to park everyone.” (Jim Coit)

With the greatest of ease

Larry’s worst accident occurred when he hit the net wrong. It was two and a half years ago in East St. Louis. “The platform wasn’t positioned quite right and during one of the tricks I hit it with my rear end. I was doing a two-and-a-half somersault like Sarah does, being caught by the legs. When I came out of the turn I was out of position and I lost track of exactly where my body was."

By Jeannette DeWyze, Feb. 21, 1980 Read full article

Dennis Orbus: “When it snows, these guys on three-wheeled trail bikes want to go everywhere.” (Jim Coit)

The Cleveland National Forest is no wilderness

Man first appeared in the area perhaps as long as twenty thousand years ago, but the only known tribes in recent history were the Diegueno and the star-worshipping Luiseno. The former tribe traveled in and around the Laguna and Cuyamaca mountains, while the latter lived further north in the Palomar Mountains;

Lean days on the gem ledge

Ramona has a few other mines besides the Little Three: the ABC, the Hercules, the Surprise. All of them lie off a line that slices through San Diego County, along which gleam most of the local deposits of gems and minerals. That line runs straight along the Elsinore fault. The southern tip cuts into Mexico, where there is spodumene, some garnets, possibly beryl.

By Jeannette DeWyze, Feb. 14, 1980 Read full article

Rumors abound about Guadalupe’s future, but very likely it will continue to slowly deteriorate. (Bill Everett)

Death of an island

“There’s not another island off the Pacific coast of North America, including Alaska, that ever evolved five of its own bird species.” points out Bill Everett, a local ornithological consultant and former president of the San Diego Audubon Society. “It’s like a little Galapagos, right in our back yard."

By Gordon Smith, July 10, 1980 Read full article

Ron Pekarek: “We can no longer play God and dominate the land the way Louis X!V ordered Le Notre to do." (David Covey)

Who is re-making the look of San Diego?

He is observing the pedestrians crossing the street that leads to the parking area on the mole. The people are walking north from the shoreline path to the promenade designed for bicycles. Five out of seven of them make this switch, veering to the right. “I wonder why the northbound pedestrians consistently cross over at this point."

By Jeff Smith, Nov. 20, 1980 Read full article

Lt. Col Sullivan: “Our mobility has been our feet." (Robert Burroughs)

One hundred miles from Salton Sea to Pendleton

He’s now helping the corpsmen try to cool down two soldiers laid out beside the road. They’re both semiconscious and writhing, and the highway patrolman has gotten into the fray by hauling out a five-gallon jug of water and dousing them. Doc Bennett pulls their boots and socks off, sending puffs of foot powder into the stifling afternoon air. Water is poured on their feet. They both vomit.

By Neal Matthews, May 28, 1981 Read full article