Next Level Camping is what I was looking for when I discovered you could rent fire lookouts. I’d been a member of the Forest Fire Lookout Association for years because I lived close to the Butler Peak Fire Lookout while up in Big Bear, and thought that I’d eventually be able to volunteer at the lookout. Solitude is always a draw for me, and the forest is my church. So going up to the steeple seemed like a pretty cool idea.
Category Archives: Interesting Places
Visitors Reminded to Plan and Be Prepared for the Outdoors
California State Parks News Release, Borrego Springs – California Department of Parks and Recreation encourages visitors exploring state parks during the wildflower season to properly plan and prepare for their trips. Thanks to this year’s rain, many state parks are experiencing wildflower blooms.
This is especially the case at the 650,000 acre Anza-Borrego (Anza-Borrego) Desert State Park which is experiencing the most dramatic bloom in nearly 20 years. With the flowers, come the large crowds. Knowledge of the area, weather, limitations of your body and enjoying the outdoors safely with everyone can help to ensure an enjoyable trip.
Below is some helpful information for wildflower enthusiasts:
Arcata Community Forest Environmental Services Director Mark Andre has discovered a hidden cabin deep in a remote section of the forest. Not just some tear-down thing thrown together with locally-sourced refuse and detritus, but a real cabin made with a frame built on a concrete block foundation with a real roof and even a porch with a wooden awning. Windows, a locked entry, and a tidy interior – complete with bed, kitchen and even a library make up the 8 x 12 building. It’s covered outside with tarps, black lasting sheeting, and “concealing forest duff” do make the cabin difficult to see if you’re more than a few feet away from it.
All of the materials and furniture had to be carried to the site. It’s a work made to last for awhile.
When you visit an OC Park, you’re greeted by Park Rangers and members of the Ranger Reserves. They’re special group of men and women who serve our county and help visitors enjoy our beautiful spaces. One aspect of the Park Ranger uniform is the unique badge that identifies the individual.
Throughout the history of the Orange County Ranger program, there has only been on official department issued badge. It is a gold-tone solid-back “pinched” shield with a reverse blue ribbon cloisonne across the top with the words “PARK RANGER” in raised letters. Below that, the county seal appears in reverse cloisonne, and a reverse blue ribbon with the words “PARKS – BEACHES” below that. There is a small raised square to engrave the badge number. If the number is proceeded by an “R” the badge was issued to a Reserve Park Ranger. The back of the badge is hallmarked “Entenmann-Rovin.”
I dearly love the State of California; it is one of the most picturesque places in all of the world, with many varied and extraordinary landscapes and vistas. It truly does have something for everyone.
I grew up, primarily, at the beach. I saw many a sunset. Oddly, though, I’ve never really cared for ’em. I’ve never found them particularly romantic. Maybe I’ve seen too many of them, or maybe I just don’t like to throw anything away. And that’s what a sunset is. Sunset is the end of a friendship you had with the day. It’s – as I’ve written before – “the part of the relationship where all the little things you thought were cute grate on you like fingers down a chalkboard and you can’t wait for it to be over so you can go back inside.”
Personally, I believe I’ve got the soul of a cowboy. To this day I love all the great westerns; the panoramas, the wide open spaces. And – even though two of my most favorite cowboy films (Silverado and Tombstone) weren’t filmed there – I’ve had a deep and abiding love for the Sierra Nevadas. I love Yosemite, Kings Canyon, the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails, Death Valley and Mount Whitney. Being alone in the open cathedrals made of forests, rock, light, water, and stone makes me feel at peace within the magnificent machine built by our great Creator. I am a solitary wayfarer experiencing a world created just for me.