California Travel – Pathfinders

With the holiday season coming up, 2020 is proving to be an eventful year until the very end. With the pandemic still going on, and many places showing surges in cases, I wanted to look at a couple places that would be a good getaway while still being far away from civilization. Below are three of my favorite Airbnb’s that I am looking forward to trying to book (if any availability ever opened up.)

1. A Treehouse in Santa Cruz

This charming treehouse can be found in the forests in Santa Rosa. With this retreat, you’ll be near wine country, but still have enough privacy to avoid any crowds during the holidays. It might be a bit hard to find some availability, but definitely add this to your bucket list!

You can find this treehouse at this link

2. An Off-the-Path Retreat in the Desert

If the forests are not for you, how about a retreat in the middle of the desert? With activities such as rock climbing, dune buggies, and hiking, the deserts provide a great way to have some holiday fun while avoiding the crowds. Sure, you won’t be getting any snow, probably, but the amount of privacy you can get in return more than makes up for it.

This little retreat is situated on a private property roughly half a mile off of the main road, and it takes quite a bit of an adventure to get to your lodgings, as the paved road ends and you’ll be navigating across bumpy dirt roads to get there, but nothing quite beats having your own place all to yourself and enjoying your own little slice of paradise.

If you interested in booking the place I stayed at, you can book this retreat at this link

3. A Lookout Tower in the Forest

Maybe you took a look at the previous places and thought, “These are good, but I want to rough it even more”? If so, why not look into renting a fire lookout tower for your next stay? These little known places serve an important function, allowing for early detection of wildfires in our nation’s forests, but at the same time, many of these places are also available for you to rent out. There is nothing quite like waking up in the morning with overarching views of forests all around you. With perfect elevation, natural seclusion, and in the middle of nature, renting one of these lookouts can be the perfect trip if the last thing you want to do is be around relatives for another holiday party.

Fair warning though, these places are usually only open for certain times of the year, and book very quickly, so you’ll have to keep your eyes on it if you want a chance to book one of these lodgings. Also given the Covid situation in California, all of California’s lookouts are currently not bookable until further notice.

If you’re interested in one of these, you can go to recreation.gov and search lookout in the search terms to see what the current availability is like.

With the fires that are currently raging through California, it is getting harder and harder to travel throughout the state. Call it a double whammy when we are already dealing with pandemic travel restrictions. Fortunately for us, Lake Tahoe was relatively unaffected by the SCU Lightning Complex fires, although there was still smoke in the area.

Sadly, the day I was scheduled to travel up to Lake Tahoe, I received a call from the cabin I had originally rented to inform me that a bear had apparently attacked the cabin, and that the cabin I had originally booked was now unavailable. It would’ve been a great cabin to take photos in, a two-story, three bedroom and two bathroom cabin right next to the lake. I ended up settling for a condo that was situated in one of the resort areas in Lake Tahoe, sitting right next to the ski lifts.

The area we stayed in was a mini-town, complete with a town square with ice-skating rink, shops (which were closed), restaurants (which were mainly closed), and a theater (also closed). The eerily quiet town which I imagine would have been booming during the snow season, provides a nice quiet escape for people who want the feeling of living in a ghost town, without actually having to go to a ghost town.

The Room

The room we stayed in was part of a luxury resort, and was complete with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and balcony. For a home away from home, it was definitely nice, but it did still have that hotel room feel, since you needed a key card to enter the room.

The master bedroom is quite spacious, with direct access to the balcony.

The wooden doors do a lot to give the room a rustic cabin feel, even though it is inside a resort.

The living rooms includes a dining table, spacious couch, and a door that opens up to the balcony.

The balcony would have likely offered better views of the town if it was during the winter when everyone is trying to get to the slopes.

The kitchen area with additional bar stool seating for guests.

The Activities

During the summer months, Lake Tahoe becomes a lot like other destinations, known for their watersports and nature trails. While we were there, there were quite a few people with mountain bikes looking to explore the various trails that it has to offer. The first day of our trip, we tried to get some kayaking at the lake in. We tried going to Sand Harbor, one of the more well-known beaches of Lake Tahoe, only to find out that the parking lot was completely full until 5 PM. Rather than go back and let the day go to waste, we decided instead to circle back to a trail nearby called Monkey Rock trail to kill some time while we waited for the parking lot to open up again.

Lake Tahoe has a ton of hiking trails in the area, so it wasn’t too difficult to find an easy trail that didn’t have many people hiking it.

After hiking the trail, and flying my drone out for some videos, we went back to the parking lot for Sand Harbor, and was able to find a spot. We were then taken aback by the sheer number of people that were still at the beach. Reminded of my time at Pismo Beach, it’s hard to be surprised at this point that even with the pandemic raging, people will find ways to get outside and enjoy nature.

Everyone was eager to get a spot as close to the water as possible. Given that Lake Tahoe is a lake, there aren’t any major waves so it’s much easier to plant yourself close to the water.

The fires definitely affected the experience somewhat at Lake Tahoe. The haziness was present everywhere at Lake Tahoe, constant reminder to remain vigilant.

Kayaking

The next day, we got up much earlier to make our way to Sand Harbor again to try our hand at kayaking. We were able to snag a couple of single kayaks, but if you plan to go kayaking in Lake Tahoe, I would highly recommend making a reservation prior to you arriving, as we almost missed out due to the rental place running out kayaks. We booked the kayaks for three hours, and paddled north along the coast. This was one of the better activities that Lake Tahoe has to offer, and anyone travelling to Lake Tahoe during the summer should consider adding it to their itinerary.

We managed to find a smooth rock for us to land our kayaks on, so we decided to bring up our kayaks and enjoy the lake in a more secluded location with just our group.

Don’t make the same mistake I did and make sure you wear appropriate swimming attire if you plan to go kayaking…

Conclusion

Even though Lake Tahoe is such a popular destination, there are definitely opportunities to enjoy some privacy if you are willing to put in a little effort to find it. Although normally known for their winter activities, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Lake Tahoe and can recommend it for people looking to enjoy the nature of California while still being within civilization. As an added bonus, you won’t typically encounter the masses of people that are here for skiing or snowboarding, so with the right accommodation, you could have your own little slice of nature. Where is your go to place when you want to escape the hustle of city life?

Tag: California Travel

3 Unique Lodgings to Escape to This Holiday Season