MERCED NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE 2.
Day 150 – When we initially got to this campground we paid for four nights, but we have decided to stay a little longer. This morning we extended this stay by one night. We’re not through bird watching at these excellent wildlife refuges yet.
When we were paying for our additional night, the Park Ranger told us about another campground that was part of the San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area – Los Banos Creek Campground. We decided to take a look at this campground on the way back to Merced NWR.
What prompted the discussion about the other campground was that the Ranger saw the kayaks tied on the Honda and she told us all the lakes of the reservoirs were closed today due to the high winds. (And the winds were gusting quite high, which made us glad we decided not to leave today!) She said boating was still allowed, however, at the Los Banos Creek Campground, and gave us a flyer (A REAL PAPER BROCHURE!!! They do still exist!!!), along with directions.
The campground was in a remote area, yet it wasn’t too far from our current campground. Following the Ranger’s directions, we drove a distance from the busy highways back into the hills. In the middle of the road on the way to the campground, we saw an Osprey picking at something in the road. When it saw us, it picked up the prey (which turned out to be a fish), and flew back into the hills. Then we drove on a narrow road down the hill to a small campground right on the Los Banos Reservoir. No one was camping there. Maybe they couldn’t find it? There were only 14 campsites, all with no hook-ups. Four were right on the banks of the reservoir; you could launch a kayak from those campsites, and one other was on the water but not good for launching a kayak. The other 5 weren’t directly on the water but they all had great water views. On the way out of the campground area, the Osprey was back in the road with its fish – we got a picture. We knew we wanted to stay there. We are changing our plans a little, therefore, and going to this campground tomorrow instead of up closer to Sacramento as planned.
We drove again into Los Banos and picked up Subway sandwiches, then went back to Merced NWR. We figured we might not see many birds due to the high winds, and that was partially true. But we still saw plenty. It was another good birding day.
On the way back to the RV, we stopped at the same gas station we stopped at yesterday afternoon to get gas in the Honda. This time we were getting a propane tank filled but there was no one there who could fill us up. Anyway, just a note that in less than 24 hours, regular gasoline rose 16 cents per gallon. Yikes, and soon we will need to fill the RV gas tank.
For more detailed information about Basalt Campground at San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area, click here.