We were in need of a camping getaway and our choices were to go West and hit the ocean, North and hit rain, East and hit snow, or South and do the deserts again. South it was. It took several weeks of computer exploring to find something new having been to that area several times. There was also a problem of weather so reserving a place well ahead of time really not doable… even though California makes it almost mandatory to do so. Plus it's parks are overly expensive compared to surrounding states.

 

Old caboose at the San Lorenzo County Park

Day 1. On Monday we took off, and as we prefer not to drive hours non stop we decided to break it up with a small hike at the San Lorenzo County Park in King City. It wasn’t highly rated and we didn’t expect much but it was a leg stretcher. To our amazement the park was a museum of old buildings and farming implements which were fascinating to read about. Afterwards we took a short one mile perimeter hike before continuing South. Our destination was Morro Bay and the wonderful little park of Montana de Oro just south of town. It’s one of the few parks which still has first come first serve and there were plenty of places left. We didn’t have enough time to take one of the scenic mountain hikes but did manage the shorter and wonderful ocean bluff trail with it's rocky wave sculpted shoreline.

 

The Montana de Oro coastline about 500 feet from our campground.

 

Day 2. Our first destination was Solvang which we hadn't seen for about 50 years. Well it really hadn't changed that much but seemed a bit bigger than we remember. Having been to Denmark, we'd guess this wouldn't pass for the real thing but would fit well into one of Walt Disney theme parks. Nevertheless we enjoyed an hour stroll though the dozen or so blocks of curio shops and restaurants. Of course what is a visit to Denmark without sampling some pastry. For $7 I got a huge custard éclair and haven't felt so sugar logged since my last outing on Halloween as a kid. Mimi said I looked a little green. In 50 years from now we'll have to visit again. On to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden a half hour south through quaint well landscaped neighborhoods. Parking was a challenge in this narrow hillside lot but the effort and the steep entry cost was worth this sublime well maintained garden and it's multi zoned biome areas ranging from redwood forests to desert canyons. We had planned a few more small stops like The Funk Zone, an eclectic home grown neighborhood the but as usual, there wasn't enough time for everything so we headed for one of several campground options right on the coast. The good news was there were spots available and it had an amazing view of the ocean and setting sun. The bad was being a state park you had to reserve ahead of time, it wasn't cheap, and there was no shoreline, only rip-rap to protect our parking spot from washing into the ocean. But we finally secured a place and enjoyed the evening.

 

Campers lined up for a mile at the Rincon Parkway Campground just south of Santa Barbara.

 

Day 3. We got an early start as today we faced our biggest challenge - Los Angeles traffic. We took a short and somewhat disappointing hike to fill in time just north of the Getty Villa Museum which we had never seen before (not the Getty Center near hwy 405). About 9:30 we headed to the museum and took a tour of this re-creation of a grand villa from Herculaneum and buried by Vesuvius around 97AD. While they proudly state entry is free, parking was a mandatory $25. The museum size and scattered artworks were impressive, but the building itself had a more modern feel than something from antiquity due to the materials used and the sparse landscaping. After about two hours we rushed to leave to get ahead of traffic. That was wishful thinking. Rush hour use to be from 5 to 9 and 3 to 6. Now it's 5 to 11:45 and 12:15 to 6 it seems. But we did manage to get to Mimi's brothers house eventually averaging a not to shabby 30 mph. After settling in we had a tour of his amazing garden finished off with a wonderful home cooked meal much of it from the fruits he had grown. The interior gardens of the Getty Villa Museum.

 

Day 4. Another fairly early start towards Anza Borrego. We stopped about half way down for fuel and a leg stretcher at another surprise, a nice little county park buried in the middle of the suburbs. Then the long drive from Temecula to our destination in Southern Anza Borrego and the Mountain Palm Loop Trail which got great reviews. About three we reached the trailhead and found it to be a typical desert trail. Sandy with scattered rocks and strange plants set among unique geologic formations with pristine desert air and not a sound except our footsteps softly crunching on the rocky sand. Every so often we'd see variations on our native birds or lizards or insects going about their business as we slowly approached giant fan palms in the distance. These are the only native California palms and can grow to 75 feet. They provide food and and shelter for dozens of insects and animals including big horn sheep, coyotes, foxes etc. We had intended a 3 mile loop hike but once again being short of time headed back to our camper and then south a mile to a local campground set right among the rocks in this surreal landscape for a pleasant evening meal as we watched the sun slowly sink behind the mountains.

The California Palm or Washingtonia filifera.

 

Day 5. We had decided to spend another day in this park as it's not only one of California's largest, but one of the most unique with unlimited hiking and best of all, free camping! Our first hike was north of us to the Cactus Loop Trail we had taken years before. It was on a southern facing slope with well made trails among some of the best succulent specimens in the park. Mimi was in heaven on this roughly mile long hike as it wound among the various Chollas, Beavertails, Hedgehog, Barrel and fish-hook cactus to name a few. And all the while watching the sun slowly rise and color the immense desert floor below which stretched from the Volcan mountains to the Salton Sea. We love slot canyons and just east of us there were three we hadn't visited. After a mile long washboard road we arrived at the parking lot and found the only level place was a few feet from the cliff's edge to Mimi's chagrin. It was a maze of tracks to the trailhead and without some directions from others it would have been difficult to find. Once in the slot we were a bit disappointed as the walls were mostly mud, low, and wide apart. But as we descended the canyon got higher and firmer and narrower. Unfortunately just as things were starting to look really interesting a huge drop ended our hike as we were too old, too cautious, and too tired for rock scrambling. By this time it was late afternoon and time to head for our campground in the northern end of the park at the end of a large mesa overlooking the Salton sea and the distant Eagle Mountains of Joshua Tree National Park. Did I mention we had about a level acre to ourselves and it was all free?

 

Camper next to an Ocotillo, one of the few that doesn't store water but uses it for growth only.

Cactus Loop Trail.

 

'The Slot'. Well, you have to name a slot canyon something.

The trail getting narrower... and more interesting.

 

Our free BLM campground.

 

View of the Santa Rosa Mountains from our camper in the morning.

 

 

A nicer section of the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve.

Day 6 After another leisurely breakfast and a short walk around our 'campground' we headed north to Cabot's Pueblo Museum where in 1913 Cabot Yerxa was one of the founding residents of this area after digging two wells for water and discovering a hot mineral spring in the process. This discovery helped give rise to the town of Desert Hot Springs. Cabot was a colorful man who had some extraordinary world adventures but finally re-settled here in the 30's. A few years later at age 58 he started on his Hopi inspired home out of collected building materials and surround it with artistic artifacts. It struck me as being about half way between an antique shop and a Good Will with Robinson Crusoe being the house architect. Today it would be a building departments nightmare, but the grounds were peaceful and bucolic with several mature trees among tasteful desert landscaping. Next it was lunch and a stop at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve where there were several trails that got good reviews. The park had long board walks through a semi riparian landscape dotted with Tamarisks, Cottonwoods and Willows. Unfortunately a big storm hit a year or so earlier and left much of the forest a tangled deadwood masses which closed many of  the trails. Still we enjoyed the hike. As it was late afternoon we headed for the only RV campground of the trip as we needed to dump and get water. But we had been here before and it was a spacious, serene, and inexpensive park all by itself with grand views of the desert below.

 

Cabot's Pueblo Museum: 5000 sq. ft, 35 rooms, 150 windows and 65 doors.

 

Day 7 This morning we headed to Joshua Tree and one of the most desolate desert homesteads we have ever visited, Keys Ranch. It was settled by Bill Keys in 1910, occupied until 1960, and is now a park museum. This was a man who went from a 120 square foot house on a 160 acre desert homestead plot, to building a thriving farm - ranch - goldmine - stampmill business out of collected parts. While never wealthy, they did manage to have basic comforts and raised 7 kids until the owners died and  the ranch was sold to the state. What really made the tour was the ranger and his oft humorous tales of the family's adventures. We had planned a few more hikes but it was getting late with many miles to our next stop, the semi ghost towns of Johannesburg and Randsburg. As we approached them we saw lots of flags and Trump signs so knew what kind of country we were getting into. Randsburgh is an interesting old mining town about half occupied and lists many of it's buildings as historic. The main street holds mostly antique shops, a bar or two, a convenience store, welding shop and a few other businesses all in various states of repair (or decay). Residents seem to be fond of their pickup trucks, atv's, trailers and bars. We also took a quick look at the Atolia Mining camp, once prolific but now reduced to graffiti covered sheet metal rusting away. After that it was on to one of our favorite parks, Red Rock Canyon, where we were hoping for a spot. Here too we were suppose to reserve ahead of time but managed to get a somewhat level spot in this geologically amazing desert park anyway.

The Spizzerinctum in Randsburg. Not sure they fulfilled their name.

 

Part of Key's ranch. Where everything was found or traded and nothing was thrown away.

 

One of the many colorful cliffs on the Hagen Trail.

Day 8 This morning we took a walk along the Hagen Trail in the park under gray hazy skies. In spite of that the ravines and washes held a number of blooming flowers and the hills were interesting in their strange wind sculpted muted colors. In times past we'd drive the 8 hours from Red Rock Canyon to home, but decided a few years ago that was too much of a grind. So found Millerton Lake just north of Fresno a delightful half way point and very low key being only about 20 percent occupied this time of year. Plus everything was green and the temperatures mild. Lucky for us the boating crowd hadn't arrive yet, so we had no problems finding a place. The few 'campers' who were here were big rig RV'ers staying in the hook up sites on an asphalt slab cheek to jowl. So we had our choice of smaller dispersed non hookup sites with great views of the lake and lots of privacy. It was just us and about 100 ground squirrels. After settling in we geared up for a hike on the North Shore Trail. Last time it was unbelievably lush with amazing views. This time they weed whacked the trail and it lost part of it's appeal. None the less we had a great hike until Mimi slipped and fractured her wrist. We made a temporary splint and attempted to enjoy the rest of the evening. Mimi was a real trooper and in spite of the pain she was in we still had a good time, though not without some concern.

 

On the North Shore Trail overlooking Millerton Lake.

 

Day 9 As it was over a three hour drive home we decided to stop briefly at downtown Merced which claimed to have a walk-able historic downtown area. It fell a little short of it's goal with lot of empty stores but we felt the city was moving in the right direction. We got home about noon and it was the usual rush to empty the camper. As we often say "Nice to go and nice to come back again". Great trip overall in spite of a few problems.