Great Day for a Hike in Grand Terrace

The Blue Mountain hike welcomes community members only once a year and on Saturday March 8th, members of the community took advantage of the annual opportunity as they made the three-mile round trip hike up the mountain. The Foundation of Grand Terrace and Friends of Blue Mountain open the trail, which is private property, to the public once a year. At the entrance, Boy Scout Troop 40 of Grand Terrace passed out waivers to people planning to climb the mountain. The Sierra Club, Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District, Friends of the Blue Mountain, and the Leo Club from Grand Terrace High School were some of the organizations present with booths lined up at the bottom of the trail, on hand to distribute information about their organization and to show support of the event. There was a large turnout from the community; couples, families, friends, and neighbors all came to hike, some even bringing their furry friends. Lynn Bagget, a local resident from Riverside and member of the Southern California Llama Association brought her llamas, Fergis O Rusky and Iggy Pop to hike and greet hikers with an unusual photo opp. One of the hikers, Jennifer Haffenden said, “our friend recommended this hike, and since it’s only open for a one-day event, it’s good for the community and the weather is perfect.” Avid and beginner hikers made the climb on Saturday. Brian Felix, a local Grand Terrace resident said, “I go hiking quite a bit, and for my wife and kids, they complain, but they have a great time.” He said, “this has become an annual tradition, and we look forward to it and the whole family comes up.” He brought his wife-Nicole, son-Nathan, and daughter-Linda, and encouraged the neighbors to come too.” At the top of the mountain, people stopped to take pictures on top of a rock, get water from Grand Terrace Citizen on Patrol volunteer Joe Borrielli, who handed out water bottles to people. After reaching the top, Grand Terrace resident Yenet Gaeta said, “I’ve never been up here so I wanted to go, it’s a good family outing.” She brought her two daughters, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law. When asked if the hike was hard, she replied, “it was, just because it’s steeper, and with the two girls, it was double the workout.” Her thoughts on the future of Blue Mountain, “I think it would be great to open it up to the public year round, I’d recommend that to people who haven’t been, to come and experience the hike.” Felix supported this idea, “I wish they would open this mountain all the time, and it would be our own backyard hiking.” He also he was, “thankful to all the volunteers and the city for opening it up and for allowing us to come up here, and to the volunteers here, there were so many people involved in this.” At the bottom of the hill, Flo Elliot, a volunteer with the Friends of Blue Mountain sold t-shirts for, “bragging rights to show people you finished the hike.” Joe Nerio, a member of the Board of Directors on the Friends of Blue Mountain has been a member of the organization for three years. He said Blue Mountain is, “private property and we are trying to acquire the property from the homeowners to make it into a park, the purpose of the foundation is to generate interest in Blue Mountain to eventually open a park for residents”. As people left the park, they left with a donut in hand or a Blue Mountain t-shirt. The countdown begins for next year's annual Blue Mountain hike.