2023-01: Lake Perris State Recreational Area

Milestones

1st time to go solo-camping (SHOW ON MAP)
/ 2nd time biking/camping along the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail (SHOW THE 1ST)

Here’s the drive from my house…. pretty easy!

I arrived Monday 23^rd, late in the afternoon. My tent wasn’t perfectly aligned, but I got setup before dark…. Which was important. It was a little windy, so it was quite a struggle to attach the rainfly. Also, I mistakenly pointed my head downhill. I had to turn around in the middle of the night.

It was 38F at 6:30am, when I woke up. I brought thermal underwear, on the advice of a good friend, who is a bike-packer. There were small bits of ice on the outside of my tent. I was actually pretty comfortable most of the night, except when I had to pee (twice!!). Indoor toilets are a modern miracle.
3 times, I heard coyotes howling in the nighttime. When one started, then others would join in. It seemed like there were 100’s of them all around me. It was probably 6 coyotes and a Pomeranian.
A husband and wife had a massive motor home parked near me. It had an automatic gas-heater that started up every 30 minutes…. All night long…. I got used to it after a while. They were from Montreal, Canada (“Eh”). They watched me break camp in the morning. It must have been “quite a site to see”. The husband, Michel, came out and we talked for a little while… nice guy.
My next step was to ride my bike completely around the lake. So, I started out thinking it was going to be straightforward. Why is it never straightforward when you think it will be?

I expected to be able to ride my bike over the top of the damn. The gate was locked!!!!! I had to go down the side of the damn-hill, ride through rocky/gravel for about a MILE along the damn-bottom, then climb up the damn-hill on the other side, just to arrive at the top of the damn on the other end. In great relief, I took this picture.

After relishing my victory over the damn-obstacle (hey…. that’s technically what it was…. I’m not cursing), I continued along the bike path. Unexpectedly, I stumbled across a sign I recognized along the bike trail that surrounds the lake. This is the same sign I came across on my bike trip through Tucson, Arizona in 2022.

I rode 13.2 miles ….. loaded my bike back into my car, and drove 1 hr home. I was so exhausted !!!!!
Lessons Learned: I can do this.
Ranking of this Trip: #1 Overall…. Because it’s my first solo-camping-adventure.