At a mile high, Idyllwild, California is a "A Manzanita Lover's Dream !!"

Manzanita lovers from all over come to this primo place to hike the mountain trails covered with this wondrous and magnificent plant.  No botany information in this blog, just lots of great looking Manzanitas, with their red bark, shiny green leaves, and pink flowers when in bloom.  Morey, being one of those Manzanita Lovers, was overly ecstatic. (But will they grow in New Jersey?)



Having traveled to Idyllwild four years ago on a day hike, we decided to camp for a few nights at the Idyllwild County Park, and spend some more time in this forested mountainous area.  On arrival, there was no gate attendant, so we drove down the narrow, winding, camp road.   Checking out the sites (and we had reserved a site based on the internet ), we discovered that very few campsites would fit our motorhome.  Further, our chosen site looked great, but had no driveway that we could negotiate with our RV.  With lots of help and direction from Ruthie, we did squeeze in to a nearby campsite.

This time, we were joined by our friends, Ray & Ann.  They also had some "fun" setting up camp with their motorhome.  Then we all set out hiking; on the trails, nice, although the trails are poorly maintained.  As mentioned earlier, lots of Manzanitas and great views of the San Jacinto Mountains.  Included in our hiking was a stop at a surprisingly nice visitor center where the local plants and animals were displayed.




And what we remembered the best, was the ice cream on our walk through the town of Idyllwild.  So we had to walk to town this trip as well.  Good news, it was good as remembered.

Almost forgot to mention.  To add to our feelings about this somewhat run-down county park,
a CalFire truck arrived and parked just down the road from our campsite.  Out walked a dozen "fire fighters" wearing uniforms that said, "California House of Corrections", oops these are inmates.  At least there was one sheriff to watch over the workers.

Should we worry that the inmates were equipped with chainsaws................
For the three days we were camped, they were there cutting down dead trees.  A great service, but a little uncomforting.