What a terrific hiking year this has been for us, and more to come as we look forward to the '08 Getaway in Red Rock Canyon and a bountiful spring hike schedule to enjoy. Our club is now up to 500 members, both permanent residents and seasonal visitors. 

 

We are actively involved in giving back to the trails community. Under Rich and Vera Pringle's leadership, we sponsored two very successful work parties at White Water Preserve and Big Morongo Preserve.  We also worked side by side with Coachella Valley Hiking Club to offer hundreds of people a chance to Hike for Hope. And we work with all trail user clubs in the valley in the Desert Trails Coalition to assure our voice is heard by politicians when it comes to trail access concerns. And we thought we were "just" a hiking club!

 

Here's something else we've done this year—the Board assessed our financial situation and decided we had enough funds to make fairly significant contributions to places we hike in, so this month, checks will be going out to Friends of the Desert Mountains, Coachella Valley Preserve, Wildlands Conservancy, Joshua Tree National Park Association, the Anza Borrego Foundation, San Jacinto State Park Natural History Association, Big Morongo Preserve, and Mojave Desert Land Trust. A total of $4800 is being donated. The money came from accumulated reserves from membership dues and tee shirt sales. The board has done a good job in keeping expenses very low.

 

Our club runs so well because of the enthusiastic volunteers who step up to help where needed. This year the board welcomed Verna Rutledge who is our new Treasurer and Membership Coordinator. New hike leaders have also joined the ranks—please welcome Brian and Chris Metcalfe, Judie Mitchell, and Kim Glasgow. If you think you'd like to be a hike leader, there are two main qualifications per Rich and Vera, our hike leader coordinators—you have to love hiking and love people. Give a Pringle a jingle if you think you might like to try. 

 

Thanks to the advent of GPS, we're able to work on improving the reliability of our information about hike length and elevation gain so we can provide more accurate information to our members—a long term goal and an ongoing effort.

 

This is a year when we've all felt the pain of losing Rick Bruner's friendship. But it also marks a year when our club has matured to become more than a club—it’s a community of people who care about each other, it's a place where we not only hike with friends, and socialize at our well organized and well attended monthly socials, but where we also nurture one another through the tougher times. This is my last year as president, and it feels like a good time to pass the baton after three years to my fellow board member, the ever so capable Christy Anderson. I hope you will cheer her on, as you have cheered me, when she takes up the presidency in the fall.

 

Happy Hiking,

Jane Udall, President