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Thursday, November 12, 2020

FROM OUR TRIP TO MT. BALDY ON HALLOWEEN

 Getting back to some photos from Halloween.   Being that Mt. Baldy is in a different mountain range than we are, their plants and trees are somewhat different than we have in our area.  All this is dependent on the soil and angle and topography of the area and so much more i have no idea about. 

What I love as we drive along are what is called the "Our Lord's Candle" or "Yucca Wipplei" .  These are the cactus looking plants you see in the photos.  I haven't seen them anywhere in our mountains.

I won't go into describing the various places we stopped at as it's only of interest to me but what we went up to do that day changed as the amount of cars along the road told us the trails behind the old Ice House that burned down years ago, were going to be crowded with people.  

Anyway it was a beautiful day and our next trip out that will take at least an hour  and a half or more to get to is either going to be Palm Springs area and up to the high desert out there or back to Baldy.  

During the winter we like to go places we won't go in summer when the temps are high.

In the past we usually always stopped at the Mt. Baldy Restaurant but sometimes we would stop in at the Buckthorn (pictured at the bottom of the post).  An older couple owned the place - the big building in the center was where they served food, drinks and the woman would entertain the crowds with her singing.  One time we went up there and her husband invited us in to the building on the left which was his place to sit and drink - he had a smaller bar in there and I think this was like his "man" cave.   We enjoyed many nice times up at Baldy - great memories.

(sis - i think you'll enjoy seeing these and hope we can both go back some day to hike behind the Ice House).



















Sunday, November 8, 2020

THE DAY BEFORE IT SNOWED WE WERE UP AT BIG BEAR LAKE

 Standfield Marsh is a wildlife and waterfowl preserve and if the area gets enough snow and rain it will be filled with water in the winter, spring and summer months.  Usually by fall the water has evaporated and just a  small amount around this little island in the middle still remains.   It's weird to think that just a few months ago in summer helicopters were coming by to scoop water out of the marsh to fight a fire somewhere in Big Bear Valley.

So before we got there the other day I said I wanted to walk out to the island and Mike said, there will probably be some water  left  and your shoes will get wet. Sure enough there was.   

I had Mike take photos of me so I could prove I almost walked on to the island.  (as if it's some far off island, lol)   The bottom two photos  are when it was almost full - when it's full it goes on both sides of the footbridge.  

So I'm in blue and I am standing at the edge of the water.  He zoomed up some because he couldn't see me at all if he hadn't.  

All of this to say I always feel so good as soon as we drive in to Big Bear.  Maybe I'm meant to live here for awhile.   There are a lot more options to hike and walk around here that aren't all up and down hills. 













Saturday, November 7, 2020

FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON

Started this morning - should be a lot more as it can snow until Monday.  I kind of hope it's more for the higher altitudes.  

The one tree has its' branches hanging down from the weight of the snow - but really there isn't that much snow but it does this almost every time it snows. The first ones were taken after it had snowed for an hour.













Friday, November 6, 2020

THIS HOUSE - ... I LOVE THIS HOUSE ...

 This house is just down the road a couple blocks.    I keep forgetting to get photos of it when the roof is covered in snow.  I will do it this weekend.  



Thursday, November 5, 2020

TO KEEP ALL THE CRAZY PRE AND POST ELECTION STUFF OUT OF OUR MINDS

 We have been going out a lot and enjoying this beautiful fall season here in the mountains.

The other day we went to a different mountain range about an hour away from here, Mt. Baldy.  We use to go here often in the early 2000's to 2010 once our kids were older and we had grandkids.  We would take the grandkids up to play and hike when they were little.  Back then where we lived it would only take us about a half hour to get there.

Yesterday was another trip to Big Bear for more walking but for now I'll post some of Mt. Baldy.  These were mainly taken near the little village where the few neighborhoods are up there.  Higher up it is cabin dotted here and there but this is a small village near the Mt. Baldy Lodge and restaurant.