From: http://www.pe.com/localnews/hemet/stories/PE_News_Local_H_hglider02.225abfb.html

Path to the Sky

Club campaigns for recreational area

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, July 1, 2006

By KENNY KLEIN
The Press-Enterprise

SAN JACINTO - A gentle breeze, no noise, only the feel of air rushing past and a spectacular view of the San Jacinto Valley.

DeeAnn Bradley / The Press-Enterprise

Scotty Farnsworth, of Thousand Palms, soars from North Mountain, which the Soboba Flyers, a hang-gliding and para-gliding club, want to make into a recreational area.

For several years, more than 30 hang gliders and para-gliders have walked a half-mile up a dirt trail on North Mountain Road northeast of Mt. San Jacinto College to soar with the birds.

"It's peaceful," said San Jacinto resident and para-glider Darrel Wood, 69. "It's like floating. Everyone should have this opportunity if they want it."

In the next few weeks, Wood and other members of the Soboba Flyers, a hang-gliding and para-gliding club with members who come from as far away as San Diego County, plan to approach city, county, state and federal officials for help to make North Mountain a recreational area.

The group, which has already received support from a private property owner, also will talk with hiking, running, biking, horseback riding groups and San Bernardino County Supervisor Jeff Stone for help in building a public-access road on North Mountain.

Roger Morgan, who owns about 200 acres on North Mountain, said he's in favor of recreational uses such as para-gliding and hang gliding.

"Environmentally, para-gliding and hang gliding are clean sports with no adverse impacts," Morgan said.

"North Mountain is a treasure for the city and county and is regarded as one of the best places around for this sport."

Throughout the years, one of the main problems has been access, Morgan said. Many of the roads that lead to the top of the mountain come very close to the restricted land of the Soboba Indian Reservation -- but others do not.

"If we can open the door many people will be able to enjoy it," Morgan said. "If you have the best in the world and don't capitalize on it, you are making a mistake."

San Jacinto City Councilman Ken Shaw said the city's parks sub-committee would be happy to listen to the Soboba Flyers about their proposal to develop recreational uses in the city area of North Mountain. Shaw also said city officials would be pleased to direct residents interested in North Mountain to other agencies for advice.

Hemet resident Phil Broesamle, a Soboba Flyers member, said the idea is to develop a dirt road that reaches the top of North Mountain, which is 1,600 feet tall. There are many options for access, including an existing road that goes through the old Lockheed property off Lamb Canyon.

In the past, access to sections of North Mountain were unavailable because the flyers and others had to travel through parts of the Soboba Reservation, which is off limits and gated.

"Here we are growing by leaps and bounds and we have this beautiful mountain that has been sitting here all these years," said Broesamle, 53. "You go to any other area, and a mountain like that has hiking or recreational trials."

Broesamle, who has been paragliding off the mountain since 1991, also taught his two sons, Christopher, 34, and Trevor, 31, the sport there.

On a recent Saturday, members of the Soboba Flyers took off from a dirt area on the mountain, which also has a few benches and a small flag. The area can be seen by motorists traveling on Soboba Road, which borders North Mountain.

The journey begins at about 500 feet up the mountain and can last between one and two hours at speeds of 25 mph. They land softly in the sand of the San Jacinto Riverbed, with the permission of a private owner, Wood said.

The Soboba Flyers and others have experienced troubles with illegal off-roading, trespassers, dumping and gun play in the San Jacinto Riverbed near San Jacinto.

More than 100 residents from San Jacinto to Valle Vista recently held meetings with county and law-enforcement officials to express concerns about safety in the riverbed.

In response, law-enforcement officials promised extra enforcement for residents living along and near the riverbed, including deputies patrolling on ATVs and issuing trespassing tickets.

County flood-control officials have also made fixing vandalized gates to restrict access in certain trouble areas a priority. In March, the Soboba Indians hired additional deputies to also patrol sections of the riverbed.

For Wood and others, not seeing off-road vehicles race through the riverbed is a welcome sight during landings.

"We are happy that sheriff's deputies got control of the riverbed so nobody got hurt or even worse," Wood said.

Reach Kenny Klein at 951-763-3466 or kklein@PE.com