Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (CA)

After a long day driving and sightseeing at Mono Lake Park and Bodie State Historic Park on 02 June 2019, we were more than ready to stop and camp somewhere beautiful, quiet, and hopefully with a cell signal. One of our regular sources (California Boondocking: The Desert and Eastern Sierra—A Frugal Shunpiker’s Guide by Marianne Edwards) had recommended an area of free dispersed camping in the forest not too far from the town of Bridgeport, CA. After a brief stop for gas and goodies in town, we headed southwest up into Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (toi-YAH-bee) in the direction of Buckeye Hot Springs. Once we left the maintained road, the gravel forest road was a bit rough and quite steep in places; but the directions we had were concise, and we found a beautiful spot to camp under the trees. There were two other groups camping nearby when we arrived, but they were respectfully quiet. We also had two out of four bars LTE, which was a real treat. Especially given how remote it felt.

The Roadtrek, shaded by the towering Jeffrey Pines. Photo by Margaret.

Each of the three nights we stayed, at right around 8:00 pm, several deer grazed their way by our campsite. I wasn't able to get good-quality photos or videos of them, but I will post some to our West Coast States Adventure album on Flickr if you want to see these beautiful creatures. Our home base is in a desert area of southern California; and that makes being in the forest, shaded by trees and surrounded by so much water, a very special thing. The sounds, smells, and sights are quite different from our home base. The weather during the day averaged around 70 degrees with gorgeous clouds in clear blue skies. The evenings were in the 40s, which made our entire stay comfortable. Feast your eyes on the stunning views!

South toward the Hoover Wilderness. Photo by Virginia.

Healthy, aromatic, and shimmering pine trees! Photo by Virginia.

The Bridgeport Valley and Bodie Hills. Photo by Virginia. 

Southeast of our campsite. Photo by Virginia.

The Bridgeport Valley and Bodie Hills. Photo by Virginia.

The Bridgeport Valley and Bodie Hills. Photo by Virginia.

Mountains southwest of our campsite. Photo by Margaret.

On the morning of 05 June, we left this paradise for the senses to use the public Wi-Fi at the Bridgeport Library. We were parked there for more than seven hours working to catch up on blog posts, uploading and downloading content, and generally wanting to rush when the Wi-Fi was anything but fast. We were able to publish two posts before leaving at 6:30 p.m. for the rather long drive to our next overnight camping spot. The blog entry featuring that campground and all the beauty that followed for several days is coming soon. Yay for fast Wi-Fi! Thank you for reading!

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