September 8th: Big Bear Lake

Given Craig and I could not get into Canada for a trip on Guppy, Craig, Karen and I planned a trip to Big Bear Lake California. I was not familiar with Big Bear Lake but Matt and Wendy had just spent time there and recommended it. 

Mountain Munchies

We arrived at Big Bear Lake before our lodging was ready and it was pouring down rain. A good thing for the forest. We decided to check out the restaurant Matt had suggested, Mountain Munchies. We had a great lunch and took our time to relax. We went to the store to pick up groceries and snacks, even though we had brought plenty, and spent the rest of the day enjoying our beautiful lodging.

Craig & Karen

Front porch

We stayed in Karen's niece's rental cottage which was very nice.

Living room

My bedroom

Craig & Karen's Bedroom

We arrived Monday. We knew the fires at Lake Tahoe were very bad, but that was 2 hours from us. I checked the status of the fires and saw a bulletin that all state forest trails would close Tuesday at midnight. Big Bear Lake is located in the San Bernadino State Forest. We had planned to hike to Castle Rock, a very scenic hike ending at an elevation of 7,300 ft. on Wednesday. I used the state's chat option to ask if we could still hike Tuesday. I received a response that all state forest trails were closed because all available staff personnel and firefighters were reassigned to fight the Lake Tahoe fire. There would be no staff to handle any other problems, especially another fire.

We were disappointed but we still had access to the lake and surrounding town. Tuesday morning, we headed into town to check out some of the stores. Craig ran into a couple park rangers and told them of our disappointment. After talking with them he learned we could still hike until midnight. Great! We went back to our lodging and prepared for our 2 mile hike to Castle Rock with an elevation of 7,300 feet.

Castle Rock

 Here are some pictures.

Craig by a massive tree

Craig went ahead so I could get a picture to show the immensity of everything.

Path marker

There were rectangular pillars filled with rocks marking the path. It was very helpful because it wasn't much of a path.

It was a beautiful day and the view just kept improving.

We got to the base of the final part of Castle Rock and Craig looked up and decided he'd had enough. I looked at the rocks and said I'd keep going but would stop if it felt dangerous. He volunteered to stay below and get a picture.

Steve 10 feet from
the top of Castle Rock

When I was about ten feet from the very top I was worn out, (7300 feet and no air!) and it looked dangerous to continue. Our rule was no injuries on this trip so I stopped. The view was incredible

On the way down we saw a wonderful view of the entire area. 

The boat was very comfortable and fun

The next day we took a narrated boat tour of the lake. The weather was again very cooperative and the ride and narrator were excellent.  Big Bear Lake History

Craig and Karen.
It was a little breezy!

Craig was on the ball and asked the captain which way the boat would cruise around the lake. Turned out they had the chairs all facing one direction for the best view, and we had front row seats.

The captain/narrator informed us that houses on the lake ranged $500,000 to $11 million. We saw Roy Rogers and Dale Evans House as well as Mel Blanc's. There were many other rich and famous owners pointed out.

The house built on and around the boulders are particularly incredible 

The next day we went to the Alpine Zoo. It was better than we expected. All the animals were rescued. They even had 2 snow leopards. They had some type of genetic disorder so they were removed from the natural habitat. Here is a link to the animals we saw. Alpine Zoo Animals

It was a great trip!