First BLM

Husband and I decided to check out the BLM campground, Upper Sweetwater, at Laguna Mountain.

There are only six sites which are nicely spaced. Each site is level with shelter over the picnic tables.

The campsites are free with a limit of 14 days. Our shady site provided lots of privacy.

There are numerous trails from the campground. On our first day, we hiked the trail above the campground.

The trail is a fire road that lead up the mountain to private property. On the way back down the road, we noticed the metal box for hunters.

Back at camp, we enjoyed the peaceful warm afternoon. We chatted with one gentleman that came in for a short period of time to do some birding and get away from the crowds at the Pinnacles.

The next day started with a wonderful hike. We started our hike at the staging area across from the campground entrance. A gradual climb on trail L3 to trail L2 provided us with spectacular views of the region. The only cell signals for us was along a short segment of L2.

We came across three hunters on the trail and heard in the distance from time to time other hunters shooting at their targets. Luckily, we had the trail to ourselves with most of the time being quiet.  We did scare off some quail that were resting in shrubs by the trail, which startled us as the quail took flight.

Our goal was to find Laguna Falls. We got close by and heard the falls, but we didn't have the stamina to climb down to see the falls. Instead we enjoyed a rest under the Buckeye trees. This stretch of the trail must be very pretty in the spring when the Buckeye trees are in bloom.

After resting and snacking on oranges, we made the long climb back up, lots of switchbacks not shown on map. Close to the junction of L2 and L3 we were able to see the farm and red barn in the valley below. This is a view of a section of what we hiked the second day (taken the day before while hiking on the fire road).  Laguna Mountain and the farm in the valley are such a peaceful view.

But not all was quiet or peaceful when we got back to camp. The hunters that we had passed on the trail had decided to stop at the campground for some target shooting and hunting for quail. Wish they were more considerate to campers, especially since there is a sign stating no shooting. No wonder we didn't see any wildlife in the campground.

We retired to our RV until they left. We would like to come here again to explore more of this beautiful region, but I doubt we will ever return since there are too many hunters.