Home > Things > July 7-8, 2001
We celebrated the weekend following the Fourth of July at Lake Arrowhead, high up in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was cloudy and dark when we arrived, but cleared the following day.

Lake Arrowhead is probably a nice enough place for local residents, but doesn't offer much for visitors. The lake is entirely private. The only spot where the public can approach the shore is a shopping mall.

National Forest surrounds the lake and includes hiking trails.


We enjoyed a meal at the Chef's Inn and Tavern in the nearby town of Cedar Glen. The building was built in the late 1800s and doesn't appear to have changed much since. Most of the guests were locals.

Many of the patrons drinking in the ground floor tavern ignored the two musicians playing keyboard and saxophone -- "hell, we hear 'em every night" --- but enough people got up and danced to make the evening festive.

Chef's Inn and Tavern

We drove further up into the mountains to see Big Bear Lake. Big Bear was beautiful and uncrowded.

On the way back from Big Bear, we were delighted to discover the Heaps Peak Arboretum, an easy walk through a 60-acre preserve established and maintained by volunteers, now officially adopted by the Forest Service.
The Arboretum's handy, clearly-written pamphlet...
...described local plants...
This storybook view of the rare Giant Sequoia allows us to look closely at these majestic trees, able to live up to 3200 years! Sequoia trees represent the largest tree by volume in the world.

These trees were planted in 1930. Observe the feathery appearance of Sequoia's foliage, much different from the flattened spray of the Incense Cedar. Without any fire of animal disturbance, these Sequoia cones may remain unopened on the tree for 20 years.

These trees have played a significant role for all in the movement of conservation and the understanding of forest ecology.


Sequoia

Manzanita
Perhaps the most distinctive shrub in the mountains is the Manzanita, with its twisted branches and peeling red bark. Thick leathery leaves and pink or white clusters of urn-shaped flowers blooming in late winter and early spring are also characteristic.

In Spanish, manzanita means little apple, alluding to the small reddish berries, which are an important food for forest animals. Manzanita berries were also eaten raw or ground and cooked by Native Americans.

...and features.
Early morning and evening provide wonderful opportunities to view the wild animals visiting this spring. Bear, deer, bobcat, coyote, fox, squirrel, birds and a host of other animals rely on this spring for water.

Sit down and enjoy the sights and sounds around you. A spring is a very unique habitat, so it is extremely important that we do not disturb it.


Horseshoe Spring

Stooping Tree
Can you tell the story of 'stooping tree'? Was it a giant who used this tree as a resting place...perhaps an older neighboring tree lost its balance, falling onto stooping tree...most likely, snow load caused this tree to bend into place.

As you walk along, try to look for clues that tell you a story. Some stumps reveal the natural occurence of fire in the arboretum. Other stumps are the result of forest thinning, when foresters create space to give trees more room to grow.

If you want to know stooping tree's real name, smell to discover what pine it is.

[It was a Jeffrey pine -- the bark smelled of vanilla.]


black bear

bobcat
The prints of many animals native to the area were stamped into a concrete walkway.

raven

raccoon
We saw many creatures.

Steller's Jay

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Western Scrub Jay
 
Finally, we watched Fourth of July fireworks from the balcony of the bed-and-breakfast. The lights on the lake you see in the pictures are hundreds of boats -- a sight as pretty as the fireworks themselves.