Battle Of The Bump & Grind

Hikers continue to question the need to protect an animal many have never even seen near Palm Desert’s “Bump and Grind” trail.
Hikers are more common than Bighorn sheep there. Sightings are few.

But one hiker was surprised recently to seethree of the endangered animals walking across the trail during her daily hike.

Melissa Labayog shot cellphone video of her encounter showing a male, a female and their offspring all walking along the rocky mountainside.

Labayog said, “I looked over and a bunch of people were pointing and I looked up, and there was a male sheep over there.”

The Mirage trail is more commonly known as the “Bump and Grind.” Hikers say it’s a great place for family-friendly exercise and scenic views.

Labayog was near the top, near a half-mile stretch of trail gated off by the state to protect the Bighorn.

Many hikers question the state agency’s justification for the closure.

Duke Gregory of Palm Desert said, “I’ve been hiking this for 25 years. I’ve never seen a sheep.”

Tammy Placencia of Palm Desert said, “There are tens of thousands of acres behind that. So it felt a little unnecessary.”

Jim DeForge with the Bighorn Institute in Palm Desert says it’s not hikers at the top of the “Bump and Grind” that are the problem.

The now-closed trail dead-ends directly into a highly sensitive lambing area. DeForge said, “There have been Bighorn sheep born right up there this year. And unfortunately some people over the years have gone beyond where it stops and gone to the top. That’s what where they do run into direct conflict with ewes trying to isolate and give birth.”

DeForge says Bighorn survival rates near the trail are lower than in other areas where people don’t come in contact with the animals. So he believes the protections are warranted. “If you start to get them habituated they start to lose their sharpness and a predator avoidance,” DeForge added.

The state is now considering fines for those who enter the closed trail as lawmakers and hikers are advancing efforts to reopen the entire trail.

State Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, viewed Labayog’s video. He said it didn’t sway him from supporting AB 880 to reopen the trail.

Nestande said, “The data says the sheep have done well. It also says your not in view of the lambing area at the top of the ‘Bump and Grind,’ which was the reason for the closure.”

Labayog’s sheep encounter also surprised her because the animals weren’t afraid of the hikers. She said, “After seeing that sheep and the female they just didn’t seem bothered at all.”

DeForge wasn’t surprised. He said, “They know they can outrun those primates so they probably weren’t totally alarmed.”

The Bighorn Institute’s own fact sheet says Bighorn are most comfortable getting above a perceived threat. Bighorn sheep may seem curious or unaffected by the disturbance.

DeForge says the only way for a wild sheep population to thrive is to remain wild in every sense.

He says he would still support a plan to allow hikers on the entire trail again, but with heavy fines for anyone caught beyond the trail’s end.

DeForge says that plan was in the works before hikers sued to regain trail access.