Lake Arrowhead

August 1st, 2007 by gerirex

This summer we tried something new for our annual camping trip. We rented a cabin in Lake Arrowhead, California. Lake Arrowhead is a couple hours south east from Ventura. I found a unique old cabin that stood out amongst the many new condos and homes that surround the lake.

Boulder Crest Cabin, built in the 1920’s, was charming and rustic, the perfect choice for a quiet relaxing couple days up in the mountains.

Day 1 - Wednesday, August 1, 2007

We arrived at the cabin at 3:30pm, a bit late since check-in was at 2:00pm. We had trouble finding the cabin. After driving around the lake a few times, we headed to a market and grabbed a detailed map which included the narrow streets that entangled the lakes neighborhoods . I Google mapped the directions before heading to the lake, but the directions stopped at the zip code. I thought it would be easy enough to find our way, but the Lake has grown incredibly since I’ve last been there , some 22 years ago. Old houses mixed with huge luxury homes and gated communities with private entrances made it seem as if we were in a city near the beach rather than in a National Forest.

As we made our way up the correct street, I knew immediately after seeing a stone chimney we had finally found our vacation destination. I was nervous as I had my first look inside the cabin. A sudden rush of fear came over me as we all made our way through the living room and kitchen. Seeing how old the house was with the squeaky wooded floors and rickety old windows, I thought my three months of planning was all in vain. I had spent more than I originally planned and discovering that their was no shower in one of the two bathrooms, my fear grew. Guilt and regret began to overwhelm me as Jase and I headed out onto the deck. It was then that all my fears melted away. At that moment the cabin was worth it. The deck was huge and included a grill and plenty of outdoor furniture. But, the view of the lake and surrounding mountains was spectacular.

As we unpacked the car and began settling in, I understood. The cabin’s rustic charm matched the beauty of the maintains and lake. You felt as if you were on a camping trip and not at some resort that, frankly, one can find anywhere in any given town.

Soon after our friend Gil from Los Angeles joined us. He has never been to the local mountains since arriving from France just over one year ago. We decided to spend the first night down in the village to check out the shops and grab some dinner.

We ended the evening relaxing on the cabins deck enjoying the warm night and stars, while Jacob and Jordan lazily played their guitar and bass.

Day 2 - Thursday, August 2, 2007

We woke up early to hike the Pacific Coast Trail. The trail starts in Mexico and ends in Canada! Unfortunately, a fire hit the area in 2004 and much of forest had burned leaving the trail exposed to direct sunlight. It was to hot, so we decided to hike along the creek which cut through the canyon. We boulder hopped and took our time to thoroughly explore the creek. At every turn the scenery changed and became more exciting. We hiked for about two miles and discovered a small waterfall with a swimming hole at its bottom.

That evening we walked around the lake and found a nice spot to watch the sunset. On a dare, Jordan jumped in the lake.

Day 3 - Friday, August 3, 2007

We headed up to Big Bear http://www.bigbear.com/ to hike along the Pacific Coast Trail once again. The fire luckily had not reached Big Bear so there was plenty of shade trees. The picturesque forest was breathtaking and made us feel as if we were on the set of Bonanza. We hiked about 7 miles before heading down to the lake for a quick dip and, afterwards, a beer at the Big Bear Mountain Brewery. (Note: beer was mediocre at best.)

Day 4 - Saturday, August 4, 2007