Orange County Recreation

With a roar of a burner, the rainbow-colored balloon rose from a grassy park in Laguna Beach and floated over Aliso Canyon, sending a deer scampering through the thick underbrush. From their perch in a straw basket, the five passengers could see the blue-gray peaks of Saddleback Mountain to the east and the deepening blush of the setting sun on the ocean to the west.

With a roar of a burner, the rainbow-colored balloon rose from a grassy park in Laguna Beach and floated over Aliso Canyon, sending a deer scampering through the thick underbrush. From their perch in a straw basket, the five passengers could see the blue-gray peaks of Saddleback Mountain to the east and the deepening blush of the setting sun on the ocean to the west.

The ordered housing tracts of Mission Viejo are worlds apart from the low-income housing developments of Los Angeles. Many suburbanites, in fact, made their way south to such planned communities in order to get away from urban ills. But these vastly different environments pose a common problem for young people. In both, youngsters may lack places to go in their free time. Without appropriate facilities at hand, they can drift into trouble.

The ordered housing tracts of Mission Viejo are worlds apart from the low-income housing developments of Los Angeles. Many suburbanites, in fact, made their way south to such planned communities in order to get away from urban ills. But these vastly different environments pose a common problem for young people. In both, youngsters may lack places to go in their free time. Without appropriate facilities at hand, they can drift into trouble.

The sunny weather on Mother's Day brought heavy crowds to most Orange County recreation areas and almost forced rangers at Irvine Park in Orange to close the facility, authorities said. Despite morning drizzles, thousands streamed into Irvine Park in the afternoon, filling most of the park's 1,900 parking spaces, said Ranger Darrell Bennett. "We got the rush right after church, about 1 p.m.," Bennett said. Other than parking, no major problems were reported.

From health clubs to tennis clubs, Orange County recreation has long centered on the club concept. Its latest incarnation is an equestrian club in which the only requirement for membership is a desire to ride. The organization, known simply as "The Club," has two locations, with four horses at the Orange County Fairgrounds Equestrian Center in Costa Mesa and 10 at Sycamore Trails in San Juan Capistrano. A third location, at Hidden Valley Ranch in Brea, will open next month.

On most days, the news is not especially good for toads. Humans step on them, often maiming or crushing them. Or, big RVs rumble over them with the same inevitable result. Or, one more stream is closed, diverted, cemented or deepened--all of which makes a toad's survival in its natural habitat a major challenge. In short, try to remember the last time you read something about which a toad could truly rejoice. That all changed this week when the U.S.

The freeways on this television show are not filled with high-speed, derring-do chases. Rather, they are filled with stop-and-go traffic. The police on this TV show don't exchange gunfire with desperate criminals. Rather, they sit at home, chatting with their wives. The mega-rich on this TV show don't blather about who's sleeping around with whom. Rather, they intone portentously about land development. For this TV show is a look at life in Orange County.

Your Oct. 12 article on the Times Orange County Poll on open space was very revealing. The Sierra Club has had two heavily attended public information meetings on the remaining open space in South County, focusing on the land in the southeast corner of the county between Caspers Wilderness Park and San Clemente. As Pete DeSimone of the Audubon Society said in the article, this land is pristine and beautiful enough for a national park. It is owned mainly by the Rancho Mission Viejo Co. and has been the subject of an on-again, off-again Natural Communities Conservation Program negotiation (mainly off again)

Tom Maloney is losing his battle with trespassers on wheels. Too many mountain bikers at Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park in south Orange County flout the law by riding unauthorized trails, or cutting their own, damaging some of the county park's most environmentally sensitive areas. And Maloney--the park's only ranger--admits he can't do much about it.

Tom Maloney is losing his battle with poachers on wheels. Too many mountain bikers at Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park in south Orange County flout the law by riding unauthorized trails or cutting their own, damaging some of the park's most environmentally sensitive areas. And Maloney--the park's only ranger--admits he can't do much about it. Thrill-seeking mountain bikers shun the wide, rolling fire roads as too boring and, instead, force their own paths through the pristine wilderness.