Arroyo Seco Camping Trip

[Guest guest]

Hello Fellow Vegan Campers!

 

I am writing to touch base with everyone who expressed interest in the vegan

camping to Arroyo Seco that I posted about a while back. The first and most

important point I need to make is that the date for this trip has now

changed!! Originally, I had proposed the first weekend of August, but I am

now proposing a NEW date, which is the weekend of 25th July (one weekend

prior). The reason I have changed this is because of the 2003 Animal Rights

Conference in LA at the beginning of August. I did not realize this was

happening until someone from the list pointed the clash of dates out to me,

and then Mike and I decided that we would also like to attend AR2003! I

really hope this does not cause too much inconvenience to anyone and that

you can all still make the camping trip!

 

Here is some more info about the logistics of the trip:

 

Firstly, to refresh your memories about where Arroyo Seco is, here are 2

links to good websites with photos, maps, directions etc:

 

http://www.friendsoftheriver.org/CaliforniaRivers/Rivers/ArroyoSeco.html

http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-parks/arroyo.html

 

Secondly, here is a list of people who have expressed interest so far:

 

Joanna and Mike

Tammy and Chris

Jordan

Chuck

Warren

Paula

Erhhung Yuan

Dollie Zapata

Lori Patotzka

Jimmie

Dawn Livingstone

Christine Garvin

Johanna Sky

 

Thirdly: I am going to need to firm up numbers asap, so I would be really

grateful if you could email me to confirm or deny your participation!! Thank

you!

 

Finally: the real logistics look like this: There are a couple of different

campgrounds at Arroyo Seco. The campground we will be staying at is located

at the Lower Arroyo Seco River and is called " The Lakes " . Camping here is on

a first come first served basis, and it is NOT possible to make

reservations (there is a group campsite which can be reserved, but it is

already fully booked pretty much throughout the summer!). Arroyo Seco is a

very popular camping spot, so Mike and I would drive there the day before

the group trip (on Thursday, 24th July) to secure campsites for everyone.

The Lakes campground has both double and single campsites. A double campsite

holds 16 people and 4 cars and costs $32 per night, + $5 a piece for each

additional car after the first car. A single campsite holds 8 people and 2

cars and costs $16 per night.The campsites have flush toilets and

coin-operated hot showers (!). It is unlikely that we will be allowed to

have campfires for cooking or otherwise (because of fire danger) so we will

need to bring propane with us.

 

We are proposing a 2 night trip: Friday, 25th and Saturday, 26th July (with

Mike and I going up on Thursday, 24th, to secure campsites). It would be

great if we could arrange carpools similar to the Yosemite camping trip. If

anyone would like to come up with Mike and I on Thursday, we would have room

for one person with light gear. We are also thinking of doing food similar

to the Yosemite trip, ie, forming 2 groups with one group cooking dinner one

night and another group cooking dinner the next night.

 

Water is a big part of the Arroyo Seco experience and there are gorgeous

swimming holes near the campsite. Mike is very keen for us to go on a creek

walk in the Arroyo Seco river (he has done this before). Some parts of the

creek are deep so people who don't feel comfortable swimming will need to

wear flotation devices. Apparently it is a really gorgous walk and a very

unique experience. Suggested attire and gear for such a creek walk are

tennis shoes, shorts, light long-sleeved clothing, sun hat, flotation device

(if desired) waterproof cameras and ziplocks to keep our lunch dry! Please

be assured that we will not be swimming throughout this creek hike: this

hike mainly involves wading ankle-knee deep through the creek amidst gorgous

canyons, but there are one or two parts of the creek where the water is

deeper than knee deep, hence some people may feel more comfortable with

flotation devices. Of course this walk is optional and not mandatory, but it

would be really fun to have a group hiking experience!! (For those people

who are not waterbabies, the Arroyo Seco area also has tons of other

wonderful non-water hiking possibilities)

 

Tammy is very kindly helping me set up an on-line discussion forum for

participants in this trip. More info on this to follow! I hope I have not

flooded you with too many details in this email! I would be grateful if

people could email me as soon as they can about taking part. THANKS!

 

Joanna