Hi: I heard on the news do to the fires, some Calif. campgrounds are closing till further notice. They did not say which ones. Mike...
Hikin Jim: I told Doc if the meet is canceled my wife and I will camp at Wild Cow Campground 6,200 ft. elv. a beautiful little known campground about 6 miles north of Hulalapi Mountain Park on the same mountain. Plenty of space with restrooms and tables but no water. The park is too well traveled for us. Wild Cow is very scenic and secluded, about one and a half hours east of Needles.
Generally it will be campgrounds in the San Gabriel Mountains, but there may be some isolated campground closures elsewhere. Best to call the local ranger staton for status. Wow. Didn't now about that one. Sounds really nice. 6200 feet? Is it forested like the campground at Hualapai Mtn Park?
Yes, with a verity of trees including pine; more scenic than the park. Rarely other campers, no stove restriction. Mike...
Oh, wait, that was supposed to be a not a . I'm sure there would be a lot of joy and laughter there, but please don't think I was laughing at the idea. God forbid. I really enjoy the outdoors (think about why a man from Los Angeles might know about Hualapai Mtn Park).
Hi Jim: There could be lots of reasons. A simple conclusion would be that Doc mentioned that the spot was near Kingman. A Google of Kingman campgrounds would bring up the park. Enlighten us as to the reason. Mike...
A) because I like such things and b) because I've camped there -- which is why I know it has trees. The trees are almost all conifers (at least at my site), long needled ones, probably Ponderosa pinus ponderosa, but they could be Apache Pine pinus Arizonicus. Don't quote me on that last Latin name. When I was there I took a hike. I can't remember the names, but I went XC between two peaks without a topo map. I should know better than that. Going down the south (IIRC) face, it was quite steep, mostly class 3, and I had to drop down a cliff at one point. Quite a bit of scrub oaks. The peak I traversed to was SE of the first peak and had some kind of electronic equipment on it. I don't think I summited on that one; I think there was a fence. On the way down, I came back to the dirt road. There was a metal gate (in 1999 anyway) blocking the way to Hualapai Mtn with a rather stern warning on it (something about "you can't come in here; there's government stuff here"). Two men came walking up from behind the gate about then. I asked them about the sign, and they just laughed. They said that they hiked there all the time and that the sign was really old (cold war?). I may have come back on the road; I can't remember exactly, but I remember there was a Boy Scout camp somewhere in there. To be honest though, I did look it up on the internet, but only to verify the spelling of Hualapai. Turns out I remembered how to spell it (a rare event as I have aged). Hualapai Mtn Park, for an Angeleno, is a good place to stop for the night en route to Flagstaff, Sedona, and the like. That trip, I was on my way to Mingus Mountain. I got off early from work, and drove to Kingman, and then to Hualapai, making it just as darkness was starting to fall. Had to sleep out; it was just too darn hot in my bivvy sack. That whole corridor along Interstate 40 has some interesting stuff along it, particularly Flagstaff and the San Franciso Mtns. I got my car stuck in volcanic cinders when I visited, I think Sunset Crater. I think there were indian ruins if you drove on a sort of loop connected to the main road at both ends. Wukapti I think. No offense to anyone south of the Canyon, but I think the North Rim is spectacular. Aspens and such. Reminds me of Colorado or something. If any of you are ever going across the US, I highly recommend Interstate 40 over Interstate 10. Much nicer in my opinion. The side trip down 89A to Sedona is worth it. There's a vista point that overlooks lower Oak Creek Canyon that's really a worthy spot to stop. The road down from there is really windy and narrow. I don't think you'd want to take an RV or trailer down it. Anyway, enough rambling from me. AZ, UT, NM, and CO are really cool places. Make sure they're on your itinerary.
Hi Jim: You have discovered a long held secret. The north rim of the Grand Canyon is much more beautiful than the south but thankfully also much less visited. Don't tell anybody. I have been to Buckhorn in the past and the Hualapai area is just as beautiful especially Wild Cow. Mike...
Oops Just let the cat out of the bag, now didn't I? Um, I meant a grand canyon, not the Grand Canyon. Mike: Well, don't worry about it too much. That old Depression era road (89A?) up from the Vermillion Cliffs area is a tough drive. Crowds won't be rushing up that one.
Hi all: If an alternate campground that will allow liquid fuel stoves can't be found in time locally you are all welcome to our special place in Arizona. It is about 4 hours farther than Buckhorn from the L.A. area. Mike...
It's been about a year since I visited, but there still has not been a CA Stove Gathering #2. How about The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest? Go past Big Pine and turn right. It's at about 11,000 feet on the East side of the Owens Valley with spectacular views of the entire Sierra Nevada range to the west, Beautiful drive-in campgrounds and the oldest living things on Earth.
nice to see you back Gary hope your keeping well mate,have a word with one of the mods they might be able to reactivate your membership as you are coming up as a newbie
Welcome to the forum Gary. Coincendently there is a member called Prime Us (without the dash) also in Summerland, also called Gary - different email address though.
Hi Gary: Does the Big Pine Campground allow liquid fuel stoves? My wife and I have camped there when fuel was not an issue. It is a beautiful spot with awesome views but not a heavy forest like Buckhorn. The meet is secluded for September 23-27 just weeks away. We are in sort of a holding pattern till Doc gets home from his gig this weekend. There is still no definitive news about Buckhorn but it looks grim. Even if it does survive I am sure liquid fuel stoves won't be allowed this soon after the fire. Hope you will come wherever we decide to camp. Mike...
What kind of idiot would go away for a year and forget his password? This kind. I tried to sign-up and then register as before but wound up having to improvise; it's a recurring theme. I had to look up Buckhorn, it could be charcoal-activated given the recent high temperatures, but it's closer (to me) than the Bristlecones. I've never been somewhere that didn't allow liquid fuel stoves, but it's been decades since I camped in an improved campground, I don't know about the Ancient Bristlecone campgrounds, but there really isn't much danger of brushfires there, not much brush, which is one reason that the bristlecone pines can live for 4000 years; if lightning hits a tree, there's no fuel to spread it to other trees. Another beautiful, and closer, campground is near Whitney Portal. At the store there you can buy a pancake the size of a manhole cover. I'll try to attend wherever it's held.
Today's LA Times(9/8/9 page A4) talks about fires cropping up near Pleasant View Ridge and north of Mt. Waterman due to some increasing wind. This is BAD. Buckhorn is on the northern side of Waterman, about 2/3 of the way up the slope. Pleasant View if I recall is actually well East of Buckhorn. So we are surrounded at least, if not over run. Hopefully since Waterman is rather large, the fires will stay well north of Buckhorn, but there is no further news. I talked with a ranger today and she did not know if the fire had actually gone thru Buckhorn but all of Angeles National Forest is closed at this time til it is safe. from webpage... >>>The Station Fire Closure Area consists of all National Forest System lands within the Angeles National Forest south and east of California State Route 14 and California State Route 138. "BULLSEYE" For further information about the closure or fires currently burning on the Angeles, contact the Fire Information Center at 626-821-6700.
On the bright side. IF Buckhorn survives the fire, it will be EMPTY if and when we camp there until the public finds out which could be at least one or two seasons. Hope it works, Jim Henderson
