Camping in the San Jacinto Mountains

I love being outdoors, and sometimes, to maximize your outdoors time, you go camping. Now, when it comes to camping, I'm not quite a glamper, but I'm definitely not hardcore. 



But Ross and I have some camping gear, and we enjoy an occasional overnight camping trip. We have been trying to go camping for awhile now, but Ross's schedule doesn't really allow it... until now! His "golden weekend." 

He's like an animal set loose in his natural habitat. Lovin' him some forest.

What was particularly fun about this trip was that it was into unknown territory. I did a fair amount of research and scouting for a good campsite, and it turned out great. We were up in the San Jacinto mountains, which has a very different terrain, even from what I have experienced in southern California. I still had the opportunity to teach Ross about the trees though, my dad would be proud. :D 

We picked a cozy little campsite and bought some wood. We walked down the road into town to buy some essentials for breakfast the next day (aka the eggs spilled all over the ice in the cooler and we wanted new eggs). Then we got to work building a fire and eating some food. 

I really love camping food. I know I sounds crazy, but there is something comforting about eating your dinner out of tin foil that was just nestled in some coals. But really, I am just a sucker for dessert. One of my all time favorite camp foods are these little sammich pies my dad would make for us growing up. You butter some bread and put it in this cast iron device, put some pie filling in-between, then stick it in the coals to get nice and toasty. Mmm. 

It was fun to introduce Ross to a family tradition. That pie-maker is actually my grandpa's! We enjoyed the nice break from the warmer temperatures at lower elevations, but it got chilly pretty quick and we headed to bed. To wake up in the morning like this. 

Pretty much looking like a homeless person. I was freezing cold, and in a moment of glamping inspired weakness, I drank my morning hot chocolate in the car with the heater on, Ross laughing at me through the window.  We packed up camp and set out for a hike. There are some pretty intense hikes in the area, which were definitely  not for us, but we settled on one that would be challenging and fun, called Devil's Slide. 

You need to have a permit to be in the area for hikes, even small hikes. It's free, but you have to have it so they can track down your body when you don't come back. I'm not joking folks, the San Jacinto Mountains have been on one of those "I Shouldn't Be Alive..." truTV shows. 

It was a pretty hike, interesting vegetation and climbs very rapidly. Up, Up, Up! The hike climbs about 2,200 feet!



I love this picture of Ross, King of the Mountain. Also, I love my wardrobe change. the shade was really cool, the sun was pretty toasty, and hiking warmed me up too, so I had a hard time staying comfortable.



The views were very scenic and about 2.5 miles later we made it to this clearing area called Saddleback Junction. The perfect flat spot for lunch.



I was pretty tired but I figured the descent would be easier. My ankles had a different idea though. I hate feeling like a decrepit old lady when I hike, but next time I should probably wrap my little chicken ankles or something, the rocky trail wasn't helping much.



See Ross poking out from under the rock?

We passed many people on the trail, turns out that day was actually a free National Forest pass day, so maybe that motivated people to get out. One couple had a dog with his own little pack. It was pretty adorable, the dog followed us a little bit, guess he wanted to be our buddy.



Can you blame him? Look how awesome we look. After we finished the hike, we wandered into the town of Idylwild. It's a small-scale version of Big Bear. It has cute little shops and restaurants. The sky look pretty threatening but that didn't stop us from having a little fun.



My favorite part of maybe the whole trip (second to the dessert sammich) was CHOCOLATE COVERED CHEESECAKE. For only $5 we got a huge slice of cheesecake, dipped in chocolate and rolled in our topping of choice. We opted for crushed pecan pralines because duh sugar.



It was amazing. I want a whole cheesecake of them in my belly.

It started sprinkling a little, we got some mexican food and free cupcakes, and I used one of the world's sketchiest bathrooms (oddly enough dirtier than a campsite bathroom). Then we headed home.

While we were winding our way down the mountain I could tell that the sunset was going to be beautiful.



Then we turned the corner and bam!

This doesn't capture it, but man, that valley floor, mountain road, and beautiful clouds get me! It was a satisfying ending to a really fun weekend.