Between the Californian Central Valley and the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains is Lake Isabella.
Water-sport enthusiasts probably don’t talk about it too much because they don’t want it to get more popular with the boating and windsurfing junkies than it already is. We went up there to windsurf and camp a lot and it transitioned between being dry, hot, and windy and ridiculously hot, dry, and windy.
The first time we went was a big mistake – a Labor Day weekend. We had booked a campsite (there are a large number of campgrounds in the vicinity) and arrived early enough to set up our tent but when we got there the Santa Ana winds were pumping to such an extent on the lake (the campsite is protected from the wind) we hustled down to get the board in the water to return later to erect the tent. Well, when we did arrive back camp later our campsite had been taken over, tents up ……. you snooze you lose !!!!
It turned out to be quite a blessing, we took our things down to the lake and, along with others, set up camp on the water’s edge. In all our subsequent visits this was the only place to camp – perfectly convenient with views of the lake and mountains serene. A bit noisy with the boats – but that is to be expected when you camp at a lake! The most rudimentary facilities (i.e. a few “long drops”) but gas stations and MacDonalds a few minutes drive away, so no big hardship.
Spike was always a “swimmer” and would seek refuge from the dry, hot winds in the water at his leisure, making sure to carry a surplus of sand and water into the tent to shake off. We would all return to reality smelling rather musty after these weekends.
Thoughts and Things
These were such happy times at a lake literally in the middle of nowhere. It doesn’t have to be fancy to make remarkable memories.