The one thing we really like is remote locations with the place to ourself. Well since we were headed to the local mountains this was going to be hard to accomplish. I mean anything an hour from Orange County can't be all that remote right? well guess again.
Remote camping in the San Bernardino National Forest - Undevleoped Camping is camping outside of "developed" sites. This means that there are no toilets, water or electricity. Basically what we always deal with, but for some that's something they really need to know ahead of time. One example of undeveloped camping in SBNF is Yellow Post Sites.
Yellow post sites are remote forest camping locations. They are indentified by the presence of a hollow metal post next to a fire pit at each campsite. There are 19 yellow post in or near the canyons north of Lytle Creek. These 19 remote sites offer isolated scenic locations ideal for tent or car camping away from the crowds. Each site is usually located beneath mature trees that provide plenty of shade from the sun. Most of these sites involve driving a 4 wheel drive vehicle to get to them. Also, you will need a forest adventure pass and a campfire permit for these locations.
You can view these sites on myjeeprocks.com. Fishpoet has done a great job of creating a listing with gps coords, photos and a general map of the area.
From reading Fishpoets posts and viewing the photos he took, we wanted to get as far away from the crowds as possible, yet still have a great view. Yellow Post 18 looked like the hot ticket. It was at 6,000 feet, up a technical rocky trail, and you can very easily miss the turn off. It was perfect to keep the riff/raff out.
We shoved off early from work and arrived up at the trail head around 5pm. Talking to our friend Linda on the HAM radio, she let us know that the trail was harder than we thought and took much longer than we thought to get up. Not being discouraged we proceeded on our way.
All the way heading up the trail, just before camp a bear crossed in front of the truck. I'd say he crossed our path about 1/4 mile from camp somewhere inbetween YP17 and YP18. He was about as big as i am , if i were to get down on all fours. I wish i had the camera ready but who would of known. We were only 2 hours into our adventure and we already saw a bear you usually have to drive 6-8 hours to see in the Sierras. We were excited.
Once arrived at camp and all setup we started relaxing and making dinner.
While drinking a ice cold drink and grilling some chicken, i noticed something moving in the bushes.
The deer didn't even flinch. I shot photos of it, we laughed and starred at it and it acted like we didn't exist. It was amazing. So 3 hours into our trip and we had already saw a deer and a bear in the wild. I was stoked.
We continued to grill and enjoy our night.
After a nice dinner we wrapped up our night by burning more wood than we ever could of imagined. Someone had left some big tree limbs and we burned half at a time. Linda proceeded to chop up the wood and then play caveman with a few pieces. It made for some awesome night photos.
Yosh relaxing after a long week at the office
Do you see a dog in this photo? I think it may be a australian ghost dog!
After way too many campfire drinks, we hit the sack and i knew i'd be exhausted in the morning.
The morning came and i had to go down to meet some friends of ours driving in from the high desert. It takes about an hour to get down the trail to the pavement. From there it takes a good 30 mins to get to the highway. Next time im not doing this. It's too long of a drive, but at this point we had no other choice because it's what we agreed too.
After meeting up with James and Sylvia we headed back up to camp. James followed my lines and did great for an open diff rig with 31" tires.
Once back at camp, i had something to eat for breakfast and hopped into the PETT to take a shower with the ZODI. Afterwards i felt recharged and new man. Everyone was relaxing and a few of us dozed off in our chairs.
Dixie had it rough.
Sylvia enjoying the view from camp.
You can actually see the Cajon Pass and the high desert from camp.
James and i played some horseshoes.
How the heck do you break a horseshoe in half? I mean really?
After a bit it was that time to fire up the grills and get started on the tri tip competition we always have.
I did a simple BBQ/soy sauce marinade and James did a Peppercorn Bourbon marinade.
Both were terrific, but there can only be one winner. James won this go around.
Cool flame captured going around my piece of meat.
After dinner, we tossed some big logs on the fire and relaxed the night away.
Yosh and Dixie enjoying the fire
Linda and Pepper doing the same.
The bar was fully stocked.
James and Sylvia enjoying being away from the grind.
I ended up going to bed really early Saturday night. I think i partied too hard Friday night with Linda. I was running on fumes, so after this point i can't tell you what happened. I think everyone headed for bed not shortly after me. In the morning we took our time getting out of camp and then headed back down the mountain.
Coming through the creek.
Thanks to everyone for a good time close to home.
Photos: Dave Druck and James Chatary