Diamond Valley Lake

 Southern California's largest freshwater lake is four and a half miles long and two miles wide, 4500 acres.  The 260 billion gallons of water that fill this lake came from the Colorado River and Northern California through elaborate aqueducts.  The reservoir and distribution systems meet the water needs of 18 million Southern Californians.

Diamond Valley Lake is open to boating and fishing, along
with hiking and other recreational activities around the lake.

Dedicated March 19, 2000

Diamond Valley Lake offers fishing and light boating on the lake.

Stocked game fish include Bass both large and small mouth.

Rainbow Trout, Bluegill, Sunfish, Channel and Blue Catfish.

Some other species have been introduced with water.

Mount San Jaacinto in the back ground, on the other side
is Palm Springs.

The west dam, 110,000,000 cubic yards of sand, clay, and rock.

Three dams were required for the lake, East, West, and Saddle.

Much of the materials needed were obtained from the project area.

Clay and sand from the floor of the reservoir and the rock fill came  

from the bedrock highlands of  the reservoir's south rim.

The Saddle Dam was built to increase the storage capacity of the lake.

I/O tower in foreground above.

Filling of the lake began in 1999 and finished in 2003.

The unique idea here is there are no streams that flow in to the

reservoir.  Water from the fore-bay is pumped up into the lake.

The fore-bay is filled by canals and the lake, from there distributed

through out Southern California.

The fore-bay and pumping station.

Birds of Wilderness Lakes

          Moving from Soledad Canyon to Wilderness Lakes we found not only a change in weather but a welcome difference in Thousand Trails management.  We were pleased to find the parks maintenance in good order.  There were also activity personnel on duty to help guests and have activities posted in a timely fashion.

           We arrived at Wilderness Lakes late in January.  With warmer day time temperatures we were able to take long walks around the preserve and adjoining properties.  There were many days in our three week stay that we were able to use the swimming pool.

            Walking the trails and roads in the preserve were always a joy.  There are these great birds to watch.  From the Great Blue Heron to the Snowy Egret, ducks and geese.   Educational to, somehow I always thought long legged bird would nest on the ground. (I have know idea were I got that idea).  We watched Great Blue Herons feed there young in there nest high in a tall tree.

Black-crowned Night-Heron, a medium sized heron

Night Herons are found throughout a large part of the world, except in the coldest regions.

Great Egret a member of the heron family slightly smaller than a  Great Blue Heron

Snowy Egret, American counterpart to the similar Old World Little Egret.

Mallard, thought to be the most abundant and wide ranging duck on Earth.

Chinese Goose, a domesticated goose descended from the wild Swan Goose.

One of the canals at Wilderness Lakes, a Thousand Trails preserve near Menifee, CA.

Rest in Peace Big Guy Rest in Peace.

Vasquez Rocks

This is Hollywood outdoors.  Scenes from  no less than 39 full  length movies have been filmed here.  It was used for scenes from upwards of 65 TV series, some with more than one episode.  Also, numerous music videos.  Then there is the Advertising industry, and nobody is keep track.

Look at the pictures, get a feel for the area, and you may see something you recognize.

I will try to show the complete area not just the scenes from movies.  The scenes will be there if you look for them.

All of the houses in the area are in danger.  Vasquez Rocks were created by and are within a short distance of the San Andrea's Fault.

The rocks are a series of parallel ridges formed by exposed, eroded sandstone strata, angled upwards at about 50 degrees, and surrounded by the arid foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Kirk's Rock

Vasquez Rocks are located in the vicinity of Aqua Dulce between the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita and can be seen easily by motorists on the Antelope Valley Freeway.

Antelope Valley Freeway , CA Hwy 14 in back ground

So did you see any thing familiar?  Maybe Kirk's Rock named after Captain James Kirk of Star Trek.  Not because he went were no man had gone before,  but because scenes from every series in the Star Trek franchise as well as scenes from three of the movies were filmed here.

The Cat House

 We were at Solidad Canyon Thousand Trails for the new year, and yes it snowed.

Bella loves the snow. 

 

Black Leopard from India through Southeast Asia.

Snow Leopard from mountainous regions of Central Asia. 

Hunger makes Leopards cranky. 

The Cat House is dedicated to the protection and preservation of endangered felines.  Exotic Feline Breeding Compound's Feline Conservation Center is home to over 70 of the worlds most endangered Felines. Residents include 18 species to include tiger, jaguar, fishing cat, serval, pallas' cat, caracal, ocelot, bobcat, Canada lynx, Geoffroy's cat, margay, jaguarundi, jungle cat, cougar, leopard cat, clouded leopard, snow leopard, and 4 subspecies of leopards.

The six species pictured here hardly do justice to this preserve, to learn more this conservation center visit there website.


                              http://www.cathouse-fcc.org/

Jaguar, from Mexico to Argentina.

Most of the compound is open for viewing, guests are aloud to explore at their own pace. There are sign at all the enclosures that describe the species, range, habitat, and general characteristics.




Unlike a zoo there are no moats.  Visitors can get within five feet of these beautiful cats.

Canada Lynx from, you guest it Canada.  OK, as well as Alaska
and the Rocky Mountains of the US.

Cougar, Puma, Mountain Lion from Western North America and
most of South America.

Once roaming free over all of North America populations have
been eliminated in the east except for a small area of Southern
Florida.

Bobcat smallest of the North American wild cats.

Elephant Seals

Male northern elephant seals fighting in California  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_seal

Above picture from Wikipedia.


Elephant Seal, so named because of the nose on the male somewhat resembles an Elephants trunk.  This is a northern elephant seal the second largest seal in the world , after the southern elephant seal.

Pups are born with a black coat which is shed in there first month, revealing a sleek  silver-gray coat.  In their first year the coat will turn silvery brown.

How could you resist eyes like that.

Once over hunted, it was estimated that there were less than 100 elephant seals by 1910.  Today the northern elephant seal population has returned to its previous size.

Probably not an alpha male.

Spending upwards of 80% of the lives in the ocean it must feel good just to relax on the beech.

While at sea elephant seal will dive to depths of 5000 feet, staying submerged for nearly one and a half hours.

So why didn't they hire these guys to fix the oil spill.

Typically a male will dive 300 to 600 feet for one hour as they search for food.

That's a nose pointed up, not a rock.

Ya, Hi!  Typical, you point a camera and they think there in Hollywood.

Not far off, we found them near San Simeon, CA

Each winter the elephant seals return to beaches in California and Mexico.  Where they spend the breeding season.  First the males arrive and establish dominance.  Dominant males inflate their noses and produce a noise like a drum to warn lesser males away. 

Females arrive and give birth to pups they have been carrying since last year.

Pups weigh upwards of 75 pounds and are about four feet long.

Females weigh in at a petite 1500 pounds all packed into about 10 feet. 

Now here is a manly man.  Males weigh up to 4500 pounds and grow to 13 plus feet in length.

I never thought to measure the waste dimension.

Hearst Castle

That would be Hearst Castle on top of the hill.  Picture is from the Visitors Center.  At the visitors center you can see the I-Max film "Building the Dream", choose from six different tours, and enjoy some Hearst beef at the food concessions.

Neptune Pool

This is the third pool in this location, each being larger than the previous.  The first started in 1924 the final version completed in 1936.  Dimensions are 104 feet long, 58 feet wide to 95 feet at the alcove, 3.5 feet  to 10 feet deep.

Casa Del Sol
This is an 18 room guest house facing the Pacific Ocean.

The ceiling in one of the bedrooms in Casa Del Sol. The art and detail are evident from floor to ceiling.

Some of the furnishings in this guest room were brought from Europe.

Esplanade and Gardens offer visitors beauty and breath taking vistas.

Casa Grande
Our tour of the main house included five rooms on the ground floor.  

Please click on this picture to expand it to full screen.  You will be able to see the detail that the workers were able to put into the main entrance. 

We were there just after Christmas, this is one of the Christmas tree in the Assembly Room which is the largest of the four sitting room and once a gathering place for Hearst's quests.

Ceiling in the Refectory,why is this my favorite room in the main house?

Because it's the only dinning room at Hearst Castle.  Duh!

The in door pool, "The Roman Pool", is built in the style of an ancient Roman bath. The pool and surrounding rooms  were built from 1927-1934.