Lake Hemet

I started this week by going biking with the girls from Mitchell's lab (Mitchell did not want to come). This time we went to Lake Perris. After work, I went to Susan's where we loaded up the cars. Only she and I have bike racks, so we loaded three into her car and two onto mine. It was the first time using the rack for me, so I drove and Lynna kept an eye on them the whole way to make sure we hadn't lost any. 

We arrived in one piece and started off. The trail was mostly flat, with just one huge hill, but I did make it up, very slowly, but I did it. Me and Mitchell had walked the nine miles around the lake a few weeks earlier, which was very long and very hot. This time, it only took us an hour to get around, and we had a lovely sunset to watch for the last few miles. It was mostly empty at this time, with just a few families on the shore. By the time we were loading up the cars again and leaving the park it was dark, so we finished the route just in time.

On Friday I worked from home as my office was going to be practically empty that day anyway. So I met Mitchell for lunch, and we went to eat in the botanic gardens and go to see the corpse flower! This plant blooms only once every decade or more, and even then, the flower only lasts for 24-48 hours. It had been growing all week and on Friday was still just a very large bud. But, because we were going away for the weekend, we wanted to take the opportunity to see it, even in this form. Because this was the first time I've been back to the gardens mid-week, I got to see some of the staff there and say hello which was really nice. 

That evening it was time to go camping! We packed up as soon as Mitchell got home from work and set out to Lake Hemet. This is a smallish lake by Idyllwild, but not as high in the mountains. It took us just over an hour to get there and we arrived as the sun was setting to find our site and set up. This was one of the busiest campgrounds we've been to, with the sites bordering each other without a line of trees and uneven ground between each one. We were next to a very large (and loud) Ukrainian family who played a lot of music (I recognised a Eurovision entry from several years ago). They were the last thing I heard before going to sleep, and the first thing I heard in the morning! 

After we'd set up the tent we walked over to the onsite market (also something new for us) and bought a couple of bundles of firewood for the weekend. I'd chosen a site which looked out onto the lake, which was nice to have as we could see right across as we cooked dinner, and we got a bit more shade from the few trees lining the shore. 

The first thing we did in the morning was to go and rent kayaks! They had sold out of double kayaks for the day already, but we got a single one each and spent an hour paddling around the lake. It was really fun and surprisingly stable. We did get very wet, but it was already pretty hot that morning, despite it being cloudy.

Once we'd finished and Mitchell had got changed into dry shorts, we went for lunch at the cafe onsite. It was a slightly odd operation, I get the feeling they've only just started to make the lake more commercial instead of a standard fishing lake, so the market/cafe was actually just outside the main campground gate, and you had to ask for a menu at the shop tills before you could order. But we got a grilled cheese with a side of potato mac (a cross between potato salad and mac'n'cheese) which was tasty, and then went back to our campsite to read for a little bit. 

Later in the afternoon, we went down to the lake shore for some swimming! It had been pretty hot after lunch, but they limit the swimming times to avoid contamination. They had a special area roped off with a divider for a deep and shallow area. The shallow area was busy with families and kids, so we had a bit more space in the deep end. It wasn't as warm as that time we went to Lake Elsinore, but it was a pleasant temperature to splash around in. We did get a bit cold after a while though, and after coming out, didn't really fancy going back in again. 

After a shower, it was time to light the fire and cook some food. The campground seemed a lot quieter that night and we both slept a lot better. 

In the morning, we packed up and headed out straight away. Mitchell was driving, and as I was checking my phone on the way out (we'd had no signal inside the area) I saw that the corpse flower at the botanic gardens had bloomed that morning! So instead of going home, we went to the gardens. 

They were the busiest I've ever seen them, and there was a queue system set up around the greenhouse, with volunteers there to tell people all about the plant and its lifecycle as they waited. When we went inside, there wasn't the biggest smell, but we did get a good whiff of stinky decaying plant. This one was only about two feet tall, but they can reach up to ten! 

That was the end of our very exciting weekend, but I'll be back next week with some more adventures.

Lots of love

Emily and Mitchell

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