I feel fortunate. Here in So Cal, we’re opening up. My wife and I enjoyed a 2 night camping trip in our beloved San Bernardino National Forest a couple weeks ago. We camped in a beautiful, forested campground at ~7,200 feet in elevation, spending Sunday and Monday nights with only a few other campers several sites away. The solitude was rewarding. We hiked into the San Gorgonio Wilderness, crowned by 11,500 foot Mount San Gorgonio. We saw a few wildflowers, and as usual enjoyed excellent birdwatching. We enjoyed some homebrew and other intoxicants.
Though it was a great trip, it was also one of sadness. Within sight of our camp was the burn scar from a human caused wildfire that in 2015 destroyed vast swaths of the northern and eastern parts of the San Gorgonio Wilderness. On the drive up to our camp, we got to see the destruction of the southern and western portions of said wilderness, the result of a wildfire in 2020 that was caused by a gender reveal party. Sometimes people suck!
We’ll be going back, staying in the same campsite, for a Monday and Tuesday night stay in a few weeks. Looking to enjoy more of the same.