Pam & Duffy's Wanderings

Friday, March 4

Good luck finding this campground on the map!

Today we left Borrego Springs somewhat reluctantly – it was beautiful there. But, it was time to move on. California's Salton Sea was calling.

Duffy found a series of small lakes on the map in the Southern California Birding Guide we brought along. An Imperial County park and campground called Wiest Lake was the southern-most of the small lakes on the map. Actually finding it was a challenge. Even “Nuvi,” or “Miss Direction” as we refer to our GPS, couldn't find the park. After driving in circles for a while, we came upon little Wiest Lake.

Hardly anyone was in the park. The weather had warmed up to the low- to mid-80s, signaling the end of winter in the southwest, so maybe many snowbirds had gone home. The other campers included a couple from Salt Lake City, avid bicyclists both, the husband of which discovered the park while on a Bicycle Adventures ride from San Diego to Florida several years ago. Also in the park was a trailer with a U.S. Government plate that we were told was being used by a “coyote hunter” (of the four-legged variety) hired by the county. The government employee, we were told, sleeps all day and hunts at night...or whatever.

This small county park was neatly trimmed and managed by several maintenance employees and two rangers, incredible in these times of government layoffs and park closures. One of the rangers told Duffy they are very proud of their park, but do not advertise, which keeps the good campers coming back and the bad eggs out. I don't know how the campground is kept open with so few people coming through, except that everyday there were locals fishing the lake.

We tried setting up camp in a spot on the lower level of Wiest Lake Campground under a eucalyptus tree where the hookups were better aligned for our small trailer's electric, fresh water, gray and black water connections, but the gravel was so soft that the trailer slid backwards off it's blocks as we tried to disconnect. It was not easy to raise the trailer hitch high enough to get back on the van's ball hitch. Once we did, we chose to move up on the hill where the utilities were spaced for a very large RV. The best part about this choice was the great view of this pond-sized lake from this higher elevation, where the next morning we saw groups of white pelicans and double-crested cormorants – a real gift.

We learn all sorts of things from other campers. The bicyclists told us about a do-nut shop in Calpatria, the nearest small town, where the purchase of a cup of coffee came with a free do-nut selected from a wide variety of yummy looking goodies. Duffy really scored by getting to eat both his and mine - seventh heaven. We also learned from the “bicycle couple” about a portable WiFi hub in the form of a USB WiFi drive provided by Virgin Mobile and purchased at Walmart. Buy the USB drive (one time purchase) and a 3g card for $20 that provides 30 days of WiFi use or 50 hours, whichever comes first. Sounded intriguing. I'll let you know if we give it a try.

That's all for now. Until next time, Pam