Dear Members, Donors and Friends,
January 2023 was off to a busy start at the Reserve: Very low tides and king tides. Rainfall and trail erosion in the Extension. Closed trails and flooded parking lots.
We were fortunate that we did not sustain more extensive damage in the main Reserve. And we’re grateful for the hard work of the maintenance crew, park staff and volunteers who ensured that trails were reopened as soon as it was safe to do so.
We are quickly approaching the Centennial Celebration of the historic Lodge at Torrey Pines. Please mark your calendars for April 8, 10 am to 2 pm for a day of celebration. Following a very special opening ceremony with local dignitaries, we will offer guided tours of the Lodge and its surroundings. Educational booths will also be open for all.
Last but not least, dear members and donors, if you haven’t already done so, please submit your ballots for the 2023/24 TPC Board of Directors election.
We hope to see you later this month at the TPC Annual Meeting! Until then, we will see you on the trails.
Sincerely,
-Your Torrey Pines Conservancy
TPC's 73rd Annual Meeting
The Conservancy’s 73rd Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday, February 26, 2023, from 2 pm to 4 pm.
We are thrilled to announce this year’s speaker: Shawna Anderson, Executive Director of the San Dieguito River Park JPA. In her talk “Our Neighbor: The Coast to Crest Trail” Shawna will update us on the trail, the marsh and many other exciting projects happening at our neighbor, the San Dieguito River Park.
The annual meeting is a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow members and donors, get the latest updates about the Reserve and a glimpse into its future. All members and donors welcome! Space is limited.
Location! Location! Location!
by Judy Schulman, Torrey Pines Docent Society Historian
This is the second in a series of articles by Judy Schulman about Torrey Pines Lodge. We will be celebrating its 100th anniversary on April 8, 2023. This article was first published in the Docent Newsletter February 2023.
Have you ever wondered why the Lodge is not down at the beach or on one of the other elevated mesas in the park? If you have, then you are in good company. Ellen Browning Scripps and Guy Fleming were also concerned about the location of the Lodge. After Ellen Browning Scripps hired architects to design the Lodge, the next concern was where it should be located. She hired the Los Angeles firm of Ralph Cornell (landscape architect) and Theodore Payne (horticulturist) to determine just that. It was part of a management plan for the park that they provided in April 1922.
When I was a new docent, I was told that the Lodge was built where it is now because it was the first flat mesa that would give southbound cars a place to rest at the summit. This would prevent engines from overheating. Cars going north wouldn’t need such a stop.
State Park Historian (now retired) Alex Bevil, in his 1998 report that placed the Lodge on the National Register of Historic Places, stated: After consulting with Fleming, Cornell and Payne agreed that the new refectory [dining hall] building must not compromise the preserve’s aesthetic value just for the sake of public convenience. Its design, placement, and construction should have a minimal effect on the surrounding environment. All three agreed that care should be given to save and incorporate as much of the native plant material on site as possible. Cornell suggested that the refectory [restaurant] be located on a terrace overlook adjacent to the crest of Torrey Pines Grade. The building would be a welcome sight for motorists driving up the winding road.
In a May 3, 1922 letter to J.C. Harper (Ellen Browning Scripps’s lawyer), Cornell and Payne stated: The plan of the refectory is only a suggestion and will probably be greatly changed by the architect… A building so planned and placed would have its back to the prevailing winds and form a sheltered entrance which might be very attractively treated for public use.
[…]
Next month: Groundbreaking News!
"Torrey Pines-The Birth of San Diego's Environmental Movement"
“Torrey Pines —The Birth of San Diego’s Environmental Movement” with Bill Evarts. Hosted in partnership with the San Diego Natural History Museum in the NAT’s? Subaru Giant Screen Theatre. Bill Evarts, professional landscape photographer and author of “Torrey Pines, Landscape & Legacy,” presents his iconic book’s evocative photographic images of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, often taken from locations never accessible to the public. Mr. Evarts, a native San Diegan who grew up in La Jolla, is the grandson of Clinton Abbott, Director of the San Diego Society of Natural History from 1922 to 1946. He will examine the role the Society and his grandfather played in saving Torrey Pines and other public lands in San Diego. The Society’s interest in the pines dates back to 1883 when Charles Parry, the first European to recognize the trees as unique, recounted his discovery of Pinus torreyana to Society members, and the Society immediately launched plans to protect the groves. Book signing after. Tuesday, May 2, 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Meet the Surf Zone
On a recent stroll near the mouth of the lagoon, one could see an unfamiliar sight: A pink hue in the ocean. The reason for this unusual occurrence? Scripps scientists used a harmless pink dye to research the processes that take place when small-scale plumes of freshwater meet the surf zone — as happens to be the case at the Los Peñasquitos lagoon mouth.
A Tree Like No Other
Peter Jensen, longtime TPC Director and former President and John Durant, photographer and former TPC Director, are the co-curators of a new exhibit at the La Jolla Historical Society. The exhibit combines conservation, nature, science, history, and art. It’s a wonderful inspiration (and reminder!) that as Peter Jensen puts it … “maybe this reserve, at least locally, was the springboard to this notion that we can save these beautiful places for future generations.”
This is an exhibit you will not want to miss!
Opens Saturday and runs through May 28. Noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
La Jolla Historical Society Wisteria Cottage Gallery, 780 Prospect St., La Jolla
