1/4 Hidden View Campground on Hensley Lake, near Raymond, CA

The holidays and family visits are over, so I am back on the road and beginning to blog again.  I am headed south and then east to warmer places in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico over the next three months, so will try to post more regularly.  

This is one of my favorite campground.  Not much to do here, other than walking and doing some kayaking if you have your own equipment--no rentals here.  The important thing to me is that it is scenic and almost always mostly empty.  During the four days I spent here, there were only about 4-8 other camper units, and most were spread out, so the place was very quiet.  

Why is this place not more busy? Probably mostly because the lake level in the past has been very low, so boating and swimming has not been very good in the past.  When I first started coming here about 11 years ago, the Corps of Engineers had drained the reservoir to repair the outtake tower. Right after that, California had that big drought, so for a few years it was just a puddle.  It is also quite a ways off the 99 freeway that goes north and south on the east side of the California southern valley. 

However, for me it was perfect, as I don't boat, fish, swim, or kayak, and I like a quiet place.  Here are some photos of the drive to the campground and some of the campsites.  There is about a 20 mile drive from CA99 to Hensley Lake, passing a lot of nut and fruit tree plantations on the way.  As you get closer into the foothills of the Sierras, however, it becomes more hilly and rocky, so most of the land is just pasture for cattle.  

As you can see, not much traffic.

A glimpse of snow-covered mountains in the distance.

Grasslands are intermingled with scrub and a few trees.  It is hot here in the summer, by the way. 

My campsite.  About half of the sites here have electric and a few have water.  The rest are mainly for tents, but nearly all have great views.

I had this site for one day when I first arrived, but then switched to Site 31, which was more level and less of a chance of rolling down a steep incline if my brakes failed.  I did put a couple of my wheel chocks out, just in case.  Made me sleep better.  The covered picnic table was down a set of stairs, but directly in front of the site was a very steep slope, and those tiny cement bumpers would not have stopped much of anything from rolling downhill.

I don't know why these exposed rocks were so smooth.  I don't think the glaciers came this far south, but these rocks were certainly very old and very dense. 

The lake is slowly filling after the recent rains, but it is still only 20% of what they call "full pool."  It was 75% of full pool last summer so the rangers said the campground was a lot busier. 

There are three boat launch ramps around this lake.  The biggest one, on the campground side of the lake is sticking out of the water, so the few boaters have to use the one shown here across the lake.

You can see where the water should be if the lake were full.  Interesting houses on the slope also.

A view of the mountains in the distance.

My rig is on the top level on the left, but you can see how curvy the road is with two rigs on a lower level. 

This site is a bit dull, but it is very long.  It would be hard to put your slides out in this site, however.

Recent rains have caused the grass to get green in several areas around the campground.

My last view of the distant Sierras as I drive out.

 

 

12/18 Weird "Smoke" on Highway I-5, "The Grapevine" section of Interstate

Interstate highway I-5 heads north through a scenic mountain area between the town of Santa Clarita, which is northwest of Los Angeles, and the small town of Grapevine, California.  In fact, that stretch of highway is often called "The Grapevine" and has a reputation for being a bit scary to drive because of the curves and the steepness as it goes over Tejon Pass at a bit over 4,000 feet. 

My day today started out in sunny and reasonably warm San Diego.  As I was driving down the part of the highway after the Tejon Pass and just before the mountains gave way to the flatlands of the California Central Valley, I saw some strange-looking smoke in the distance.   

Since I was stuck a few years on a more southerly section of I-5 by a forest fire, I was a little concerned when I saw the "smoke" in the distance.  I grabbed my camera out of my front console and took a series of photos out of my front window as I was driving.  This did not look good, especially since there are no side roads in this section of highway to use to escape as I did from the previous forest fire highway backup and closure.

 

 

The closer I got, the more smoke I saw.  Not good. 

 

 

At this point, the road and sky is completely covered with smoke.  

 

 

Not getting any better, but I could see the valley in the distance. 

 

 

Almost out of the mountains.

 

 

Whew!  As I got into the valley, I realized that what I thought was smoke, was just weather.  Obviously, the valley and parts south of the Grapevine were just having a cloudy, potentially rainy day! 

 

 

Nice to just see clouds instead of a big fire that could have blocked the highway!  However, I will miss the sunshine and warm weather of southern California that I have enjoyed for the past two weeks. 

 Note: I will be visiting with family for the next few days, so will most likely not be posting until after the first of 2025.  Happy Holidays and New Year to all my readers!

12/18 Sweetwater Summit Regional Campground, Bonita, CA

This is one of several San Diego County Regional Parks.  I have been here before and enjoyed the large paved sites, full hookups, and reasonable prices.  I was here about 10 days ago, but returned last night for just one night so I could drop a friend off at the airport early in the morning.  It was a little cooler here than in Borrego Springs, but pleasantly warm during the day, regardless.  

Here are a couple examples of the RV sites in this park:

 

 

One of the interesting things about this campground is that it is on the top of a hill, which was slightly leveled at the top to give nearly all the newer campsites a great view.  Here is an empty site showing the view in the distance.

And a few more views.  These views are really interesting after dark when everything in the distance is lit up.

Looking across a small valley to another section of the hilltop campground. 

 

 

I really like roadrunners, but like a lot of land-based birds, they do not pose for photos well, so this one is a little blurred as he ran past me. 

 

 

He/she did eventually stand still to check me out, so I was able to get this better photo.  Luckily my camera has an excellent telephoto function.

 

 

And a desert cottontail who came out just at dusk. Bunnies do not pose for cameras, either, so you have to take a lot of photos to get one good one. 

I am not sure, but I don't believe it is a good idea to raise your vehicle on leveling jacks so high that your wheels are off the ground.

 

 

12/17 Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego, CA

Cabrillo National Monument is located on Point Loma, the point of land that wraps around and protects San Diego's port, which contains major military operations and international shipping. 

At the very tip of Point Loma, is an historic lighthouse, visitor center, and some of the best views of the San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean.  It is one of my favorite places, and I like to visit it whenever I am in the area.  There are several places to just sit and enjoy the views, especially on a sunny and pleasant day, as today was!

Here is the visitor center.  Make sure you stop here and learn about the history of this national monument and the surrounding area.

 

 

A view of the tip of Point Loma, showing the places you can visit here.  These include not only the high center of the peninsula but the tide pools along the ocean and the lighthouse down there. 

 

 

A view of the naval airfield and downtown San Diego. 

Interesting ship, but I have no idea which one it is.  More views of the naval station below.

This is a statue of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo who landed at San Diego Bay in 1542.

 

 

The next three photos show the historic lighthouse:

 

 

Following are some views of the Pacific Ocean side of the national monument.   There is another lighthouse, tide pools, and walkable beach areas.

 

 

On the way back to San Diego, I took some photos of the military cemetery.  What a view from there!

On the way to our campground, we stopped for pizza.  I could not resist taking a photo of this apparently very overloaded car.  Is this all stuff heading to be recycled?