3rd county in California solo-camped. (SHOW ON MAP)
1st time camping at a California State Beach
1st time being “nearby” a restricted access, military location.
1st time camping 2 nights.
1st time making hot meals for dinner and hot coffee for breakfast.
1st time camping in the mud…. (it won’t be the last)
I arrived Wednesday March 15th, at San Clemente State Beach. It was established in 1937. The campsites are located right in the town of San Clemente and has been one of the most popular beaches in California. The mile long beach stretches between the ocean surf and the foot of a steep bluff.
I had made my reservations back in January. I did this because I knew it was a popular destination, so I wanted to make sure I got in. Unfortunately, there have been several “atmospheric rivers” since I chose those dates.
So far, the 2022-2023 rain season, through March, ranks as L.A.’s wettest in 18 years, and 13th wettest in the 146 years that rainfall records have been kept. Ugh!!
So of course, the weather was my biggest enemy on this trip. The day I arrived it rained 1.6 inches. I timed it so I didn’t start setting up my tent until the rain had stopped, around 2pm. But, the damage had already been done…. It was a muddy mess.
After setting up my tent, I was soaked; and I still hadn’t eaten yet. I setup my new camp stove, poured a glass of wine and made dinner….. beef stew…. It was hot, and pretty good actually. I was so grateful for a hot meal. A cold sandwich wouldn’t have done the trick.
I bought a 10 liter “jerry can” and it worked out great…. It was a perfect size for me…. Not too big/heavy when full of water…. Not too small, I had more than enough water for everything for 48 hrs.
Before falling asleep, exhausted…. I heard teenage girls squealing, giggling, laughing, yelling, and singing. The next-door campsite had a family in a big tent. Apparently, teenage girls make a lot of noise, for no real reason. Thankfully, they settled down by around 9pm. As a male/only-child, I am bewildered by teenage girls. I’m not sure they are in my same species.
It rained a bit during the first night (which was not in the forecast)… so I woke up to 3 things being wet: my riding pants, wheelchair, and bike. Not a good start. Ok Ok, I can hear your groans all the way from here…. “Why didn’t I do a better job of planning for the worst case?” Short answer?… I am inexperienced… and I focused on setup/logistics without thinking about the wet weather. Rookie mistake…. Won’t happen again.
My plan for Thursday was to ride my bike north from the campground, along the beach. I looked on the map and saw a trail next to the ocean, alongside the railroad tracks.
My mistake was not realizing the name of the trail was “San Clemente Pedestrian Beach Trail”. I got a lot of dirty looks from the locals who were out walking their dogs. I didn’t figure out why, until I got home and looked at the map more carefully.
I ended up at San Clemente Pier, which is also “closed” to bicycle traffic. I then rode my bike to the end of the pier, because… well, “in for a penny, in for a pound”.
And I got this gorgeous picture looking back where I had just ridden from:
When I rode on it, the pier was 95 years-old (built in 1928) and built by the town’s founder Ole Hansen. The Santa Fe Railroad stopped at the pier since the very beginning, the underpass built in 1927 as a way for train visitors to get to the waterfront. The wooden, 1,200-foot-long pier has a storied past, including being used by rum smugglers who traveled from Mexico and Canada, waiting in the dark of night before making their way to a trap door beneath the pier where they could offload the illegal booty.
From the pier, I rode through downtown San Clemente, looped around and ended up back at my campground, with only 4 miles on my trip odometer. This was nowhere close to the miles I had hoped for. So, I decided to explore. I ended up on a dedicated, paved bike trail that led me several miles south.
I was richly rewarded for my explorations. I saw things I never anticipated. The views were spectacular. It made the previous day’s misery fade into the distant past… eventually to be forgotten in dementia.
San Onofre is Spanish for “St. Onuphrius”. He lived as a hermit in the desert of Upper Egypt in the 4th or 5th centuries. He devoted himself to prayer in the harsh environment of extreme heat and cold, with little to eat and drink, surrounded by all sorts of dangerous animals and robbers. True… look it up.
So, I have been riding for several miles, and I see this wide concrete road headed towards to ocean. I think to myself, “This would be a cool place to go”. I get half-way to the end, and a military helicopter starts circling above me. I panic, turn around and go back up to the bike trail.
Back in a safe pace, I watch the helicopter perform several maneuvers, practicing rescue operations by lowering someone down to the ground on a cable. If you look carefully, you will see the helicopter in the picture below.
It’s possible that I was being tracked by a Marine holding a machine-gun riding in the helicopter which likely came from nearby Camp Pendleton. I can neither confirm nor deny my presence on restricted U.S. government property.
The next picture is the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The plant was shut down in 2013 after defects were found in replacement steam generators; it is currently in the process of decommissioning. Wow…. I don’t ride my bike 500 feet away from a nuclear power plant everyday!!!
I needed to head back to the campsite, because my friend Tony wanted to come visit me in the afternoon. By then, the sun came out and it was a picture-postcard afternoon.
I left for home the next day… sore, stinky, and satisfied… doesn’t get any better!!!!
Lessons Learned: “MUD-CAMPING” is not fun, testing legal limits is exciting… (WARNING to KIDS: don’t do as I do!)
Ranking of this Trip: #1 Most personally challenging… so far
I READ THIS NEWS ARTICLE A FEW WEEKS AFTERWARDS (I rode my bike within 1/2 mile from this!!) An F-35B Just Touched Down On The Old Pacific Coast Highway. BY J AMES DEBOER | PUBLISHED AUG 2, 2023. The Marines just landed an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter on an old 50-foot-wide highway in Southern California, refueled and rearmed, and took back off again. The old road used to be part of the Pacific Coast Highway and provided the perfect challenge for all of those involved. It has power lines and ditches to the west and active train tracks a few yards to the east. The road is no stranger to Marine aviators. Known as VSTOL-101, it served for many years as a practice landing site for Marine Harriers.
