Search for Fall

There is no fall in San Diego.  Sure, the shadows get a little longer, the days a little shorter, but tropical / desert landscape continues on the same.  Soooo, we decided to take a few days to live among the trees up in mile high Idyllwild. about a two hour drive northeast.

 Idyllwild is in the forest on the southwest slope of the San Jacinto Mountains.  Yes!  Some turning leaves, thanks to many native Black Oaks, and planted maples.

One must be prepared to brake for Sasquatch in these parts.

Lily Rock rose up behind our cabin.  We took one bike ride -  the steep roads, however, lowered the fun factor.

Lily Rock, also called Tahquitz Rock, has a roughly thousand foot face, and is a symbol of Idyllwild.  Tahquitz Peak is higher (8,750 ft.), and hidden by Lily Rock in this picture.  The next day, we hiked to the top of the peak.

 

For you, Nick!  We didn't expect to see snow in town from last week's storm, but there it was!

 

 This was our cabin, cozy, and isolated among the trees.

Our cabin with glowing stove and Halloween lights.

Tuesday, we spent most of the day hiking the Devil's Slide Trail, a 3,000 foot gain to the top of Tahquitz Peak.  There was more snow the higher we climbed. 

 

We found a great view spot for lunch.  It was almost warm in the exposed areas.

 

 Resting after lunch and enjoying the view.

Rabbit tracks, we think.  We met a couple from Carlsbad who turned around ahead of us because they thought they were seeing lion tracks.  When they showed them to us, we were sure they were dog or coyote tracks.  They resumed their hike to the top.

 

The snow began to get hard and icy where it had been packed down, which made things a little dicey near the top.

 

 

The nob in the middle of the photo is the top of Lily Rock.  The bare granite to the right is Suicide Rock.  Idyllwild is between the two and a little further down the valley.

 

 The lookout tower has been restored by volunteers but is no longer in service.



 This summer the Mountain Fire burned the whole southeast side of the mountain.  Idyllwild was evacuated for several days and around 30,000 acres were burned.

 





The inside of the lookout tower has a green motif.

 

It's a wonder one of us didn't land on his arse going back down.

 

The rocks, trees, and snow reminded us of the Sierras.

 







 After a soak in the spa we went out to Cafe Aroma for fine dining and music by a jazz trio composed of music instructors from the local arts academy.  The base player had played with Miles Davis.

 

 Gail updates our journal.

At night from the spa we heard screech owls, saw a shooting star, and enjoyed the full moon.  During the day we were entertained by chipmunks, squirrels, and Stellar Jays.

 

Gail added her magic touches to our little deck.

On Wednesday, we left the cabin with the goal of checking out Fulmor Lake a few miles up Highway 243.



 





At a roadside vista point we spotted what I think is a Banded Rock Lizard.

 

We had Fulmor Lake to ourselves since it was closed due to the government shutdown.  Shhh! Don't tell anyone we sneaked in!

 

 

 Halloween starts early for us.

We named our wild man pumpkin Hubert (French pronunciation) after the owner of the Cafe Aroma who chatted briefly with us. 

 

Hubert, lording over the cabin.

 

Dinner!  Gail's tortellini soup was complimented by a fine Temecula 2011 Wiens Family Cellar sangiovese - excellent pairings all around!

 



Our cabin property had this amazing tire swing cut from one tire!

 





 22 deer have been stationed around Idyllwild, each one painted by a different artist.

 

 

On the way home we stopped at a metal sculptor's (Dore Capitani) sculpture garden.  Wouldn't you like this in your front yard? It was actually made by another artist.

 

Continuing the metal theme, we stopped at The Vail Lake Resort where Ricardo Breceda makes his huge, amazing metal sculptures. You might remember seeing pictures I posted last year of his sculptures in the Anza- Borrego Desert.  These are outside of Temecula.

 

There is a Zombie festival going on there this weekend.

 

Well, it's back home for us, and the kitties are oh so glad.