Day Trips

A day trip to the high desert took us along Abiel Barron Memorial Highway past the Mormon Rocks that welcomes travelers to the Mojave Desert.  Mormon Rocks are striking sandstone formations riddled with small holes and caves; home of the owl, lizard, and pack rat.  In the cliffs one might see white-throated swifts, hawks, and ravens.  The sandstone was pushed up by a sub-fault of the San Andreas fault.  Older maps call these the Rock Candy Mountains.  Another legend calls the rocks "Chanting Rocks" as when the wind blows across the portholes it can sound like low chanting or singing.

Legend has it that the rocks were named for the Mormon pioneers who in 1851 camped here after their descent from the Cajon Pass.  The pioneers had to disassemble their wagons at the mountain crests and carry them down the mountain as the terrain was too rugged.  They stopped here at these rocks to reassemble their wagons to continue their westward journey.  Strange they would camp here as water was 1 mile away.  This prominent rock formation in the pass is near Sullivan Curve where the Mormon trail, BNSF and Union Pacific railways merge.

Cajon Pass at 3,777 feet is a mountain pass located in the Mojave Desert between the San Barnardino Mts. and the San Gabrial Mts. in Southern California and is at the head of Horse Thief Canyon.  In July of 2015 motorists ran for their lives as flames from a wildfire scorched, burned, and melted vehicles here after being boxed in by stopped traffic.  High winds and bad weather frequently CLOSE the Cajon Pass.

Wrightwood is a winter resort town where Mountain High Ski Resort is located with something for all.  Before the Spanish, there were the people of the Shoshoean origin... Gabrielinos to the south, Fernandinos to the west, and Serrano along the mountain top ridges to the east.  These nomads roamed this area and adjoining desert lands.  Mormons, ranchers, and miners settled next.  Then came the two Wright brothers who obtained 2/3's of the valley.  Thus, Wrightwood got its name.  This area was a cattle ranch and apple orchard.

We also drove to Inspiration point with a view and a half.  Even with the haze...it was beautiful.

The winding trip to Big Bear, or "Pine Place" as it was called by the Serrano Indians, was full of switchbacks.  It has four seasons, an alpine forest, and a freshwater lake called Big Bear Lake.  Discovered in 1845 the mountains (at that time) were full of grizzly bears and other wildlife.  This brought hunters and trappers and later gold mining initiating Southern California's largest gold rush.  The area later became a booming resort for outdoor winter sports.  Big Bear has been the location for many movies, shows, or commercials with actors such as...Elvis Presley, Shirley Temple, John Wayne, Dennis Quaid, Eddie Murphy, and Nicholas Cage to mention a few.

Nearby is Lake Gregory with a unique beginning.  Developed in the 1930's, it filled in three days by torrential rains in 1938.

Folk were skiing down the slopes of Big Bear below.  From our distance, they looked like ants.

                                             Beautiful homes and mountain retreats.

Blue Jay Village is noted for its Stellar Jays that populate the mountains.

 

A village lady visited the lake with feed and goodies for the various birds and animals.

Heaps Peak Arboretum was a stretch-your-legs stop.  Here we walked the labeled arboretum catching these lizzies sunning on a stump.

A little further along our trip at 5,106 feet was Lake Arrowhead built to supply water to down-the-hill citrus groves.
Several wall murals adorned the quaint shops.

The Arrowhead Queen paddlewheel boat gives guided tours of the lake.

There is only one house on the lake that is said to have a boat garage under the house and was once ??? owned by actor Tom Selleck.  Another lakeside house abandoned their cliff stairs in favor of a funicular that went from the beach straight up the hillside to the house.  A funicular is a tram-like vehicle on rails where the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.  A cliff railway.
One shop had some unique working art (below).

 

The now CLOSED Santaland (at left) brought back reindeer memories for J.

Last, but not least, was Silverwood Lake SRA where we found the Mesa Campground.  For years, the Serrano Indians (mountain people) lived in this area.  They hunted and gathered nuts, berries, and roots.  Their round shaped homes were of willow frames covered in brush or tule reeds and tied with various fibers or rawhide.  Several of these Indian settlements are recalled today by modern towns that bear their names...Yucaipa and Cucamonga.  They were noted for their pottery and woven baskets.  Hard labor and diseases dwindled their population.

Silverwood Lake was named for the man who supported the State Water Project...helping to bring water to southern California. Beginning as rain and snowmelt from the Feather River Basin, the water flows thru Lake Oroville and into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta , joining the 444-mile California Aqueduct to later be pumped up over 3,000 feet to fill Silverwood Lake.  Now that's a haul!

Until next time...take care...be safe. See you by the campfire.