Blufftop camping at El Capitan

[jacknsan]

Hello to all. We just (luckily) reserved a site at El Capitan SB for this Saturday night. It is site 107 which looks like it is on the top of the bluff with no trees or protection. The weather is supposed to be sunny with 67/53 hi/lo and NW winds 11mph. We are definite newbies to popup camping. Our question is: Does anybody have any experience with El Capitan and this kind of camping? Is our tent trailer going to be blown away? Also, there is a little building on the bluff's edge next to the Portola campground. Does anybody know what that building is?

Thank you!

[beacher]

....We just (luckily) reserved a site at El Capitan SB for this Saturday night. It is site 107 which looks like it is on the top of the bluff with no trees or protection. ..... Does anybody know what that building is?

Thank you!

Hello!

We were in spot 103 last April, two spots up from 107!  We were redirected to ElCapitan from Refugio where we actually had reservations, but the campground was flooded!  As long as there is no actual storm raging, it dosn't get too windy on the ElCapitan bluffs.  You should be fine!

That little building is a lifeguard lookout station, there is a path that leads down to the beach right next to it.  When we were there we spotted dolphins from the beachfront railing at the lookout station.

Hope you have fun!  We will be camping on the beach at San Elijo this weekend.




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[jacknsan]

Thank you, beacher. That's a big help!

[wavery]

Your concern is well warranted. Spring time camping can hold many surprises along SoCal Beaches (most of them positive).

We camp at least twice a month at one or the other of the SoCal campgrounds. Our favorite is Pt Mugu which is in the same general area. We call it our "Weekend Home".

The wind in that area can come right of nowhere and with no warning. I would strongly suggest not putting up your awning. I have experienced damage to our awning twice and the last time (about a month ago) it flew over the top of the camper, punctured the (aluminum) roof in 3 places and totally destroyed the awning. I even had it tied down to one of those (grossly heavy) picnic benches. It pulled the bench over to the camper and slammed it into the side.

It was a beautiful weekend and not a cloud in the sky. There was a light afternoon breeze starting, then all of a sudden a very strong gust of wind. It blew like crazy for about 2 hours then stopped. This phenomenon is not uncommon to the area. We will use our EZ-Up from now on.

As far as blowing your PU over......not likely, unless it is a very strong wind and you have a very light PU. :sombraro:

BTW....be fore-warned.....the train comes through late at night/early morn and sometimes blows it's whistle. The 1st time that we went to El Capitan, I didn't know that and nearly had a heart attack. :yikes:

[jacknsan]

Thank you, Wavery! We'll be sure to keep the awning stored away. Will post on Monday about how it was.

[jacknsan]

We just had one of the most beautiful camping trips ever. El Capitan is beautiful and site 107 is spectacular. I don't think there is a bad campsite in the CG. The weather was absolutely perfect and DW enjoyed her Mother's Day. We rode our bikes to Refugio, explored tide pools, rode bikes on the beach at low tide... the kids boogie boarded while I fished (hooked into something BIG and fought it for 20 minutes before it threw the hook). I now know why this CG is sold out so often.