With my wife ripping up the town for Pride weekend with her friends, I was the caretaker of my 4-year old son Forest for the weekend. Hearing that some climbing pirate types were convening in the high country, it was excuse enough to go camping with my son in the mountains.
After claiming a walk-in site on the upper loop of Crystal Lake (so frustrating the road there is closed, but at least they let you walk in) we headed to the lake. Forest was very excited about this, and quickly began wading in the sun-warmed water, along with close friend duo 'Monster Trucky' and 'Monster Trucker'
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There were other families doing the same thing, and never one to be shy of strangers, Forest happily joined them in their wet reverie.
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The mood was festive and playful, with dancing and merriment abounding in the warm afternoon mountain sun. Once the super soakers came out, Forest and took full advantage with his new friends. I think my son shows promise as a mountain pirate!
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In a change of dry clothes, we stopped by the wonderful crystal lake cafe for one of their signature big ice cream sundays.
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Back at the campsite, Forest set up camp for his trusted companions, including 'tiny baby kitten' who joined us for the night.
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Hearing the distinct sound of another young child, Forest ran over to the neighboring campsite and made a brand new friend in fellow 4-year-old Isaac, and Fo and Isaac spent nearly an hour bouncing on air mattresses in Isaac's tent, while parents were given a chance to set up their respective campsites.
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What more needs to be said? No camping trip is complete without a few toasted marshmallows.
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We shared a cot underneath the stars, as is my preference for SoCal camping. I had never tried this with Forest before, but he did great, drifting off to sleep to our favorite show Battlebots, and sleeping better than I did through even when a bear wandered through our campsite, pushing over the neighboring campsite's water cooler dumping ice all over the ground before running off to the sound of everyone yelling BEAR! BEAR!
And the night sky was brilliant, I saw numerous shooting stars.
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The next morning after breaking camp, we hiked further up to crash the obscured Eis Piraten camp at breakfast time. Forest hiked further and higher into the mountains then he ever had before, but thats what you gotta do to track this crew down.
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And when we did find this band of bike-packing pirates, none had woken up yet other than jfr, but slowly and surely they emerged from their minimalist sleep systems, groggy before their coffees. Forest had been VERY excited to finally meet daddy's hiking friends, so sporting his polar bear fleece jacket in the crisp mountain morning air, he was not at all shy in getting to quickly know all of the ice pirates in quick succession. (No matter that they were all barely awake!)
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Fo was adamant that he join the climbing team to "find the big rock" putting on the backpack and trying to get on a bike of his own.
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He gave Taco some tips on his bike set-up, complimenting the large tires. "You can bike in the sand when you go to the playground!"
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Then the crew were off to "find the big rock" and myself and Fo hiked back down as the sun rapidly became hot again.
jeko1034 brings up some meaningful points about perceptions surrounding variations in outdoor terrain. I for one have never met a mountain range I didn't love. Every mountain or even square foot of natural land is a joy to me, and I love the unique character found in every mountain range I have had the privilege of exploring. The San Gabriels are unequivocally no exception. This ragged and pulverized towering mass of plutonic rock we Angelenos have in our collective backyard offers immersive adventures along serrated ridges and hides innumerable secrets in its boulder-filled canyons. Ripped along the San Andreas fault, earthquakes have indeed shattered the rock, making the cracks in the cliffs all the more mysterious, enigmatic, and enticing to a certain kind of explorer. The more time I spend exploring the varied landscapes of the San Gabriels, the more people and adventures I discover that surprise and delight me. It is a place that is really beginning to feel like home.