Paso Picacho Campground

Our last camping trip in October got cut short by a family emergency so in February we decided it was time to redeem ourselves.  Our go to campground is closed for the winter so we found Paso Picacho Campground in Cuyamaca State Park south of Julian that is open on a first come first serve basis year round (note you need reservations April-October). We drove out on a Saturday morning, took about an hour and 15 minutes from the coast. It was a great, quiet little campground.  I swore I'd remember this but I'm not sure if it's correct, I think we chose site number 34.  It had a great peek view of a meadow down below where we saw tons of white tail deer and amazing views of Stonewall Peak across the road.  However the best (to us, most private) sites looked like they were at the back of the campground but that area was closed for some reason.

Site #34?

View of Stonewall Peak

We had hiked Stonewall Peak before so we decided to do Cuyamaca Peak, out the back side of the campground.  It's a longer hike with a steady incline, I think about 6 miles round trip.  We ended up taking the fire road the entire way up because we couldn't find another path that we were sure went where we wanted to go. The lower half of the hike was through the still burnt out trees of the fires that swept through this area a few years ago, kind of eerie looking at times but beautiful.  Once we got up a little higher the greenery started filling in.

Happy Hikers

Almost to the top, looking west

Husband face

This is definitely a campsite we'll come back to.  We also want to try Green Valley Campground right down the road, it has a little stream running through it but it closed in the "winter." Julian is about 10 minutes up the road if you want your apple pie fix.

Sycamore Canyon Camping

Husband face and I have been trying to find more places semi-locally to camp so we can do more little weekend getaways.  Our go to spot is closed in the winter so this past weekend we ventured up the coast to the Malibu area.  We had made a reservation at Sycamore Canyon Campground in Point Mugu State Park.  We chose this campground over Malibu Creek State Park because the layout of the campground online looked like it afforded more privacy.  Boy were we wrong.  This campground allows you to make a reservation but not for a specific spot.  It is a small campground and the sites are packed in as tightly as possible.  There is no privacy whatsoever except for one site.  Lucky people that we are we scored that site (#10).  It's at the back of the campground right by the trailhead and it's tiny, only room for one or two small tents.  Perfect for husband face and I, we didn't really want to watch our neighboring campers kid's temper tantrums. If we hadn't gotten this site we honestly probably wouldn't have stayed at this campground, we would have forfeited our $53 (jeez that's pricey for camping) and moved on.

Campsite #10, thank the lucky stars we got it.

Now for the reason this campground was worth it.  The trail head I mentioned above leads to a variety of hikes.  We chose to go with the Scenic Trail because...well I like scenery.  We also happened to score the best weather you could ask for in February, a balmy 75 degrees.  I think the Scenic Trail is 2.7 miles or so but we kept wandering whenever we'd see a little path shooting off to the side, well worth it. There's a good list of hikes in Point Mugu State Park here.

Babe Alert

The scenic path

Me atop the scenic peak

Pretty typical

Looking north up the coast

The other positive of this campground is that it's right across the 1 from the beach.  And unlike a lot of campgrounds further south it is not right one the 1 so you don't get the road noise.  After our hike we ventured down to the beach for sunset (hiding our beers of course because for some dumb reason alcohol is now allowed on beaches in California). It was not too shabby a sunset

Back-lit sunset photo

Sun setting by the Channel Islands

After sunset we went back to camp and proceeded to drink to much by the campfire and do dumb things like take pictures of husband face's knife against the fire and say things like "That's a hell of an elk." At least we make ourselves laugh.

Lake Arrowhead Camping

Back in September (my last month of unemployment) husband-face and I took one last summer camping trip up near Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernadino Mountains.  We stayed at Dogwood Campground.  The setting was beautiful and the campground was huge but all of the sites were very close together so you didn't have much privacy.  We ended up hanging out with our neighbors and playing drinking games both nights. When we go back up we'll probably try to find a campground that's a little quieter as this place had screaming kids everywhere.  The neighbors to our other side had so many people and were so incredibly loud that it made for a not particularly peaceful camping experience.  But I guess that's what you get when you car camp, and I am not the backpacking type.

We did a couple of hikes in an attempt to find water to swim in (it was HOT). Our first attempt to find the waterfall at Heart Rock was fruitless as there was no water running (though we did find Heart Rock).  So we too a drive and found our way to Aztec Falls.  The water was low but it was running.  When it is rushing and the water levels are higher it's apparently a great cliff jump. We will definitely go back here and make a day of it with a picnic at the swimming hole next year.

Palomar Camping Scrapped

I posted recently about throwing axes in the woods while drinking. Those shenanigans were part of a group camping trip to Palomar Mountain.  On top of throwing axes the trip included far too much gear (including a camping kitchen), nearly getting eaten by a mountain lion, 4 dogs, a bottle of Jameson, lots of beer and lots of Bellinis.  I might be exaggerating a little bit about the mountain line, it was only a bobcat.  But when you THINK it's a mountain lion it's really effing scary. All that combined made for some great photo ops.  Palomar Camping scrapped:

We're cheesy: The Girls & The Dogs on a log

Sketch Savvy sketch:

The Camping Crew

Camping Pups

in the forest

Chicks Throwing Axes

Boucher Lookout

Throwing axes

Carlsbad Camping-Scrapped

For Valentines Day husband-face and I got a campsite at the campground near our house, Carlsbad Campgrounds.  As much as I love the beach I have to say that camping at coastal Southern California campgrounds pretty much sucks.  It's loud (the 101 is right behind you, as well as the train tracks) and expensive ($50/night for one of the oceanfront sites). To top that off all the sites are squished next to your neighbors so you have no privacy.  When you get up north it's a bit more serene.  Only shot a couple of photos from that day, here are my faves.

Little Sailboat-My Mind Eye Be Amazing

Camp on the Coast-American Crafts Campy Trails

Axe Throwing? Sure, why not

Last weekend husband-face and I took a trip up to our favorite local(ish) camp spot, Observatory Campground on Palomar Mountain.  For $15/night you get a great spot in the forest. At night the stars are amazing and there are plenty of spots to hike around during the day.  We went up with 3 other couples and, as often happens with our group of friends, hijinx ensued.  About 3 beers in husband-face decided he wanted to throw axes at trees, lumberjack style.  It was a boy thing for about half an hour and then the girls joined in.  These photos are going to make for some excellent scrap pages...

A successful throw

Girls getting in on the axe throwing action

Not really sure what's going on here

Husband face, throwing not one but two axes, such a babe