The Wildlands Conservancy, Pt. 1: Bluff Lake Reserve

I love visiting Wildland Conservancy reserves for a number of reasons. I appreciate their model of purchasing lands in danger of development privately, and then rehabilitating their native ecosystems. As their home page states,

"TWC has established the largest nonprofit nature preserve system in California, comprised of fifteen preserves encompassing 147,000 acres of diverse mountain, valley, desert, river, and oceanfront landscapes. These preserves are open to the public free of charge for passive recreation, including camping, hiking, picnicking, birding, and more."
http://wildlandsconservancy.org/index.html

I have already explored several of these serene locations. They never fail to provide scenes of transcendant beauty. Today I begin a series of photologs so you can share in this organization's success in preserving habitats for California's permanent posterity.

BLUFF LAKE RESERVE
Because the dirt access roads were still closed for the winter, I approached Bluff Lake via the Castle Rock trailhead, on the shore of Big Bear Lake. A short but steep climb, hikers gain 500 feet of altitude in only about 1.5 miles. The payoff is a majestic red stone edifice with a panoramic view of Big Bear below.

If you continue past this rockclimber's destination, you reach a large flat plateau crisscrossed by forest service roads and recreational singletrack trails. Luckily, I have a paper forestry map as well as a Delorme InReach sat com with an Earthmate maps subscription, so I easily found my way to the Reserve entrance near the remains of an 1890s ranch and cabin.

The birdsong as you approach the lake is music to my soul. Ducks, redwing blackbirds, stellar jays, and woodpeckers are the ones I know by sight and call, but Bluff Lake harbors many I cannot yet identify. After the boulder stairmaster to Castle Rock, the level, loamy path around the lake seemed like walking through heaven.

Although patches of snow still clung to the ground, spring plants are showing life. Like these marsh plants pushing up through the rich, black mud.

At the dam end of the lake, you can take Champion Lodgepole Pine and Siberia Creek trails out of the Reserve. The meadow is one of the lushest areas in the Big Bear area.


("I'm 450 years old, please don't criticize my cellulite.")
I wanted to follow Siberia Creek trail all the way down into the canyon, but sunset was approaching. Another time, I will pack a big lunch and arrange for a ride at the bottom of that 17 mile trek!

On the hike back down the mountain, the winds picked up. Mindful of Jeffrey Pinecones, also known as "widowmakers" raining down from above, I was startled to witness a huge dead tree fall right ahead of me! If you are wondering what sound a tree makes when it falls in the forest, I can tell you: like a crack of thunder followed by an earthquake!

("I will never fall! When the going gets tough, the tough get weird!")
I can't wait to return to the Bluff Lake Reserve this June when it is supposed to be full of wildflowers!
I invite you to visit The Wildlands Conservancy website, and if you are ever in California, plan your trip around visiting one of their 15 reserves. http://wildlandsconservancy.org/preserve_blufflake.html
Part 2: Whitewater Preserve https://steemit.com/photography/@creationofcare/the-wildlands-conservancy-pt-2-whitewater-preserve

(All photos by me on my g4 phone, April 26, 2017.)