Arroyo Saldao:: Anza Borrego State Park

The sign that marks the campground is easy to miss so keep your eye out

This post is very, very overdue.

Justin: If I had to describe Anza Borrego in one word it would be rugged; its dry, windy, hot in the day and cold at night. But with all its ruggedness comes some of the most  amazing scenery we have laid eyes on. This place has an other-worldly feel to it.

Most campgrounds we've been to have signs that tell us the specific areas we can camp, but in Anza Borrego the signs tell you the specific areas you can't camp. That makes just about the whole park your campground.

We stayed at Arrayo Saldo, one of Anza's primitive campgrounds. Primitive meaning there is nothing except a vault toilet, so bring all that you need. The campground is set among some small hills in the badlands in the north-eastern part of the park. There is a small network of roads among the hills with places to camp along them that offer some protection from the wind, but on windy nights there's no escaping it.

This trip killed our 17 year old tent, she just couldn't handle the wind in her old age. RIP dear tent, you were good to us!

I will never forget little JW waking up at 3am to our tent caving in on us with a stern look on his face pointing up at the tent and saying, "No! No! No! Shhhhh". It made the situation laughable, for at least a moment.

A very important thing to bring is a metal container for a fire. The rangers are very strict about this. Also, a table that is big enough for your group makes cooking a whole lot easier. Something to provide a little shade during the day is key if you have little ones, we tried to get out and explore in the car during the hottest part of the day so JW was not in the hot sun. Having an all-wheel drive vehicle is good, but something with high clearance and 4-wheel drive will allow you to really explore the park. Our AWD Subaru Forester did great on the sandy road out to Fonts Point, but the sand was deep--we were sliding all over the place and I have a feeling if we had stopped we would have gotten stuck. Most of the dirt roads have patches of sand, and some follow washes of deep sand for long stretches, so be careful if your in a 2-wheel drive vehicle.

There is a lot to explore in Anza. From thousands-of-year-old  Native American sites to mind blowing wild flowers, some of the best slot canyons in Califorina to the only Calcite mine in America, the biggest curved trestle bridge ever built and that's not all of it. We plan to explore this place for years to come.

These next few pictures were taken in the campground

Amanda: This trip was truly rugged.

The desert can be brutal with the strong sun and the dry wind. When we got there we all huddled in a small piece of shade. Then later that night it got cold, the wind picked up and didn't stop ALL NIGHT. I was  awake for most of the night, and so was JW. He has been sleeping better at home and I had high hopes for him sleeping well on this trip, but the wind made it impossible. We have a really old tall tent that was practically sideways, and it was making violently wiping and flapping sounds all night. JW didn't stand a chance. He woke up at least every hour and because of the noise I just laid there staring at the slanted walls of the tent feeling terrible that I put my baby through a rough camping trip. Bitter sweetly we decided to retire our tent after this trip. I wanted to burn it and leave in it the desert, but maybe I'm too dramatic.

The vault toilets were nice and new. A friend of ours who had just come back from the bathrooms was really freaked out by what he called a very "pissed off" snake that hissed loud and angry every time the door was opened. Looking for any excitement we decided we should all go check it out. I (Justin) ended up being the one sent into the restroom with an axe (I was forced to carry it for protection, but I would never kill a wild animal!).  I opened the door very slowly and peaked my head in and saw no snake, I was confused. As the door was closing quickly we heard the HISS! The HISS got us going again, things were getting exciting! But one in our group had the bright realization "uh, I think it's the sound of the bottom of the door brushing along the floor."    "....."   He was right.

Sign telling the sites overlooking Font's Point

The highlight of our trip was Font's Point. We never knew a mini Grand Canyon existed in Anza Borrego! Justin found directions and we made our way down a four-mile SAND road to get there.  The sand was so thick that 4-wheel drive was recommended. The best we had was our AWD Subaru. The Smiths piled in our Subaru with us and we flew at a consistent 35mph the whole way, without slowing down a pinch, to insure we didn't get stuck. Justin drove white knuckled the whole way. ... and I may or may not have been  holding my breath the whole way.

The drive was an adventure and completely worth it. When we got to the  edge of the bluff and looked down into the badlands we were all in awe.

Frazier Mills :: Mountain Home State Forest

We finally made it out to Frazier Mills and it was well worth the wait. We went the Thursday before Labor Day weekend and we stayed till Saturday, hoping to beat some of the holiday crowds.  To our surprise, on Thursday night only 3 or 4 out of the 46 sites were occupied. The campground is spread out so we really felt alone. It was one of those rare quiet nights, the only sound was coming from the small nearby creek. So rarely we do experience quietness on this level that it was a little jarring, a little unsettling. But it was so lovely at the same time. Not only was it quiet but it was pitch black dark because the thick Sequoia canopy, we felt hemmed in by the thick darkness that surrounded our fire.

Friday night was a different story, a lot of people showed up, and a few really loved their music and wanted to share it with the rest of the campground late into the night.  We have learned that camping in busy spots, or on busy weekends, usually means we're going to enjoy the beat of music to our fire. (We really DON'T understand what posses a person to play LOUD music while camping?!?!) Luckily, the site we picked didn't have any close neighbors, so even though we could hear the people across the creek we couldn't see anyone and we still felt secluded. Unfortunately we were "hearing" them well past 2am! Such bad camping etiquette..

Back in June when we were first trying to make it out this way we read that all campgrounds in Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest were free to the public. But as of August 1, 2011 there is a $15 fee to camp at all the campgrounds. At first we were bummed about the fee, but in talking with the camp host at Frazier Mills it might be a good thing after all. The camp host, who has been camping at Frazier Mills since the 60's, said that the place was becoming a spot where people knew they could party all night because no fee meant that there was no one patrolling the campground. With a little more regulation the campground is less of a "free for all" - which is good for us, a camping family.

The camp host, Dave, is really a friendly guy. He knows tons about the forest and the area, and he even gave us a map of the area which was really helpful. He told us about a spring that had really good water and, I kid you not, it is the best water we have ever tasted. And on top of that great piece of knowledge he told us where to pick wild blackberries - a magical experience to say the least.

The camp host, Dave, and his wife. Great people. (Don't ask about the confederate flag... we don't know the story!)

This is Greg, one of our neighbors on Thursday night. He is part of a nomadic religious family who strives to promote peace and love between humanity, the environment and God. It was a treat meeting him.

The best kitchen.

Everyone we met here was really friendly and the majority of people we met had been coming here for years, even decades. Since learning about Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest I have asked people if they've heard about it, and no one has!  And by talking to people who have been coming for years it seems to have been over looked by the crowds, who are drawn just north to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National parks. The people we met on this trip were really great people. The campground has a real friendly vibe, even when it got busier everyone stilled waved and said "hi" and it was real easy to start a conversation with fellow campers. 

The campground itself is broken up into three loops. The "E" loop is the loudest and most crowded loop. The "D" loop has the best campsite separation. And the "B" loop has some great sites, but definitely not as secluded as the "D" loop. We stayed in the "D" loop and found a really nice spot right on the creek with no other sites near by, perfect for little JW who can get a little loud in the middle of the night.  The campground is scatted with Giant Sequoias, with just as many huge fallen giant stumps. Some of the best Sequoia viewing is right there in the campground.  One of those trees IN the campground is the Nero Tree (below). It's a hollowed out HUGE stump that you can crawl into.

There is a lot to do in the area , but didn't do everything while we were there, so we are excited to return and explore some more! We've truly found a gem!

Another spot we liked tucked in the trees next to a small creek, site D1

Our site, D6, looking up from the creek.

This amazing stump marks the entrance to the campground

Dirty, dirty JW. He had a dirt mustache and dirt in his eyebrows. These days he isn't liking the confines of his pack and play. He prefers to get out and crawl around in the dirt. I think we are going to have to start bringing a bath tub.

JW and Justin inside the Nero stump. You have to crawl through that hole to get it!

Inside the Nero Stump

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A great shot of our campsite, it had a pretty mean slope but the sleeping area was perfectly flat. No neighbors within sight!

To get to Frazier Mills Campground:
From LA area take the 5 North
99  East towards Bakersfield
Take the 190 East toward Porterville
Pass through Porterville and Sringville
and make a left on top Balch Park Road
(look for a sign to "Mountain Home State Forest")
It's about 22 miles till you get to the campground.

Guffy visit and Blue Ridge Redux :: Angeles National Forest

We went camping with a bunch of friends for Cam's birthday last weekend AND a meteor shower! (Although the full moon didn't make for good meteor watching, but it did make for a good excuse to go camping with friends.)

We were thinking about taking everyone to Guffy Campground (3 miles past Blue Ridge on the same dirt road) but we thought Blue Ridge suit our purposes, plus no one else had been there.

We visited Guffy to check it out and take some photos. Guffy is still on our list of campgrounds to stay at... so hopefully we can share more on it later. For now, here some photos:

Guffy sits at 8,300 feet in the Angeles National Forest, near Mt High Ski resort

The trees in the campground are a little sparser than in Blue Ridge

There were more people there than we expected for a Friday morning. We thought for sure it would be empty!

View looking toward the campground.

view from Guffy campground

The views on the dirt road to Guffy are amazing!

Our Blue Ridge Redux:

Camping with a friend with as much energy as our friend Casey means lots of fun games (and drinking starts around 1pm!).  We jumped off a stump (which caused me to rip my pants!), kicked off a tree, climbed a tree (a little too high if you ask me), played hat toss, and played around on some ski lifts, .. Good times were had, we look forward to these trips with friends!

A huge site at Blue Ridge that accommodated our 6 tents

JW and Abel on the ski lifts

Poor JW was just getting over an ear infection when we took him camping again - on top of that he was teething. He puts up with our shenanigans, love him.

Night sky watching

It almost looks fake!

Blue Jay campground :: Cleveland National Forest

(Amanda:) We decided to try something new this weekend - we have never been to the Cleveland National Forest, in fact, I had never heard of the "Cleveland National Forest!"

I would like to report that this trip wasn't all peachy-keen, it had it's bumps and we almost left at one point! But everything worked out in the end and we are very glad that we stayed here. The campground isn't at a very high elevation so it's pretty warm during the day (in the summer of course, might be better in the fall or winter). On top of that Justin wasn't too excited about the site we choose at first. I could see him shifting and feeling uncomfortable. Maybe the uncomfortableness had something to do with the ba-jillion flies that were hovering around our faces and flying in our ears. They were driving us mad!

Well, we decided to stay for the night despite these things and we were glad we did. We ended up finding a better spot. It was a short walk-in site with a nice view into a little valley. That really put Justin at ease. And as soon as the sun went down the flies went away and the weather was nice.

The road to the campground

We went for a little hike, put JW to bed (very easily this time!) and had a campfire dinner, it was great. Although that night was kind of rough with JW, he was up A LOT. I was really frustrated until we realized the next day that JW was sick ... he eventually had a fever of 104.8! We had to take him to the hospital and found out he had an ear infection, poor baby.

We caught this guy walking through our campsite... creepy, YES!

(Justin:) This weekend Amanda had a photo shoot with some friends in Laguna. So, we deiced to camp some where out that way and after a short internet search (done the night before) we found Blue Jay campground in the Cleveland National Forest. We've never camped in the Cleveland National Forest and we're grateful to get the chance to explore her a bit. The Cleveland National Forest is large (460,000 acres) and reaches from the Lake Elsinore area to about 20 miles from the Mexican border, offering a wide variety of terrain. The mountains here are not big compared with other Southern Californian ranges but are of decent size. Monument peak is the highest point at 6,721 feet and the lowest the El Captain Dam area at 651 feet.

A view of Lake Elsinore on our ride home on the Ortega HWY

We took Ortega Highway to the Northern Part of the Forest near the town of Lake Elsinore to Blue Jay. She sits at an elevation of 3,400 feet on top of a small ridge amongst rolling mountains of chaparral. Not nearly as awe-inspiring as Blue Ridge but beautiful in it's own way. At Blue Ridge the beauty is big, a 1,000 foot canyon separates the campground from three of the biggest mountains in Southern Californian. At Blue Jay the beauty is small, found in the details of the chaparral (see photos below).

We eventually ended up at one of the campsites that was along the southern end over looking a small valley. I might reiterate what Amanda suggested about coming here in the winter or fall, it is hot on a summer day, but somewhat pleasant in the shade if your the type of person who doesn't mind a little heat. I did want to leave at one point, right before we paid the $20 to stay the night (I guess charging $20 to stay is better then closing the place as many other of our great State Parks are doing). The heat, the flies and my headache were making me a little uncomfortable to say the least. Don't think about sitting down and reading a book in this campground unless you don't mind flies buzzing around your head in constant succession! Yet, we decided to stay and switching sites made all the difference, looking out over the hazy rolling mountainsides covered in chaparral was down right magical during sunset and as the sun set the heat and flies disappeared.

Our walk-in site, #13

Our camp site was one of the six or seven walk-in sites. We're learning to always give the walk-in sites a good look before you choose because they're often some of the best in the campground, usually a little further away from everyone else and most often with better scenery - well worth the extra walk with all your stuff. Keeping that walk in mind has also helped us to slim down our load, making the trip easier and anything that makes camping easier makes us happy campers.

In the morning we awoke to the sound of bees humming along with the birds chirping. Bees love the oak trees and as soon as it started getting light in the early morning they were hard at work in the trees, it was a beautiful sound. The bird watching was great for my ritual morning walk with JW, as much as I hate getting out of bed before the sun rises I'm grateful for being woken up, I don't believe there is a more magical time to take a walk through a campground. We cooked a great breakfast over the fire and packed up and got out before the flies and heat returned. Our first trip to the Cleveland National Forest was a little rough (I guess that's what you get when you plan a trip in less then an hour) but a fine adventure nonetheless. The USDA web site on the Cleveland National Forest is a great place for all the general info you will need, here's the page for Blue Jay Campground.

Found this sign and thought it would be good info to share. Oaks are some of our favorite trees and we hate to see something killing them. Here is the USDA page on the Gold-spotted Oak borer that is killing the Oaks in the Cleveland Forest.

Here are the little beauties we found in the chaparral on our hike: