Palomar Maountain

We went on what is likely to be our last camping trip in California this last weekend -- certainly the last one for a while. We had never been to Palomar Mountain before and we had been told that was beautiful. I would say that beautiful doesn't do it justice.

We arrived at the park about dusk, and the roads were very quiet. We started to descend into the camping area through a windy road that was lined with oaks that gave the effect of a natural tunnel of brown and green. About half-way in, we were greeted and stopped by 6 deer that appeared to be out for their evening walk. We stopped the car and got watched as they tried to decide if crossing in front of us was safe or not. It was a really great moment.

Shortly after we reach the site and met-up with our camping partners, the Loys. Always a blast to spend time with them and we quickly fell into the comfort of old friends. We cooked, we played, we hiked, we fished, and had an awesome time.

We were able to take a field-trip up to the Observatory as well. Palomar's 200" telescope is something to behold for anyone who appreciates the frontier elements of science. You walk into this gigantic white dome structure which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Inside is the very 50's-ish feel of gigantic metal parts of old mainframe-looking computers -- it's almost like a time capsule of mid-century science.

Highly recommend the trip for anyone thinking about San Diego area camping.