Located almost in the centre of the Twin Eagles Bluff property is our first visitor camping spot. You can drive right up to this camp site on a road that was built when we connected the water from the well down to the Love Shack. Mitch had the foresight to make sure that we placed both water and power in two places along this road, so we can host visitors even before the house is built. It took us a couple of months while we worked on extending the Love Shack, but we finally got around to building the campsite this week.
It’s about a 100 feet away from the Love Shack at the top of a little slope, nestled in among some tall pine trees. In addition to the water and power, we’ve set up a tent, picnic table and fire pit. In typical West Coast fashion, the forest is quickly filling in any bare spots with ferns and shrubbery. The site is still in its infancy and there will be several more projects to make it even more enjoyable for visitors. Coming up next, finding a comfortable camping bed for the tent and adding evening lighting around the campsite.
Something that I noticed in our forest is that the amount of bird song is remarkable. I haven’t gotten to the point that I can recognize the species by their song, but I enjoy relaxing in the forest and just listening to them sing. You can also hear the eagles, as their nest is in a big old fir tree about 70 feet from the campsite. I would never describe eagle vocalizations as melodious (unless you like the sound of rusty screen doors being opened and slammed shut repeatedly), but they are certainly entertaining. There are also a number of crows that live in this forest and who are perpetually at war with the eagles. These same crows were particularly vocal when I first started clearing the area of brush. I guess they weren’t too keen on the idea of new neighbours. Fortunately, they seem to have resigned themselves to the fact.
Since the Bluff is South facing, it can get very hot during the summer. In addition to the Shade Deck on the ramp, the forest is a great place to hang out in the shade and stay cool on a blistering hot day. I’m expecting that we’ll end up using the campsite ourselves, even when we don’t have any visitors. We are looking forward to having our first official visitor in July. I’m sure that this campsite will evolve and change over the summer. In the meantime, welcome to the newly minted “Centre Camp”!