While trying to create a map of how to get to UU Camp de Benneville Pines where we recently enjoyed a meditation retreat, I found that the road was closed to get there. SR-38 that we had taken was no longer open and from the video and X news below may not be available for some time. At present they have not even ventured a guess as to when or how it would be reconstructed.
California had severe flood watch warnings on Thursday and Friday and we could tell by the temporary ponds and standing water on the Mojave Desert we saw going to Hesperia on Saturday that that part of the world had received considerable rain. We had over an inch fall in a very short period of time in Sanger and had similar water fooding the driveway Friday morning. The local news said the Thursday night (September 18) storm took out a portion of Highway 38 west of Jenks Lake. That would have been very near our camp. The video below from X shows what happened.
The above map shows the location of Camp de Benneville Pines where we held our recent meditation retreat and where we would like to hold another next year. However, there is no road access at present from the camp to the nearest settlement named Angelus Oaks. You can see that it is less than an hours drive from Ontario International Airport to Angelus Oaks and that is a short, but curvey distance to the camp when the road is open. It is almost two hours from the camp along SR-38 to Big Bear Lake to 19099 Lemon Street, the site of Holy Heavenly Lake in Buddhist Town, Hesperia, California when SR-38 is open. SR-38 goes east and south from Big Bear Lake to the camp. It is a ridge road and only takes about 45 minutes, but that road is closed at the moment. The only route to and from the camp is a more difficult road from Big Bear Lake west and south and up and over the mountains that takes almost twice as long.
The black outlined squiggly road from Angelus Oaks to Camp de Benneville Pines shown below is usually a 15 minute drive to the camp, but a chunk of that road went down the mountainside along with a lot of debris from the earlier wild fires in the area. I was told that the state is considering rebuilding it with a bridge across the canyon instead of even trying to replace the road. This means that the only way to the camp now is by way of Big Bear Lake. The manager at the camp told me that she had no idea what would be possible for next year at this time.
I am so delighted you were able to finish the retreat, and that you found Craig’s Cabin and our Camp deBennedille Pines a great place to have it! My significant other, myself, and her little dog attended one of your sessions in Hesperia a few years ago: I salute all the progress you have made at the Temple! I am a long-time Uniitarian-Universalist, and am on Camp deBenny’s Board of Directors. I head up tomorrow to help with the cleanup of our Camp: So I will know more tomorrow, but my understanding is that we have a lot of mess cleaning-up to do, and that we escaped serious damage… This time! Sadly, the same cannot be said about Hiway 38, which remains closed in both directions except for emergency crews and specially authorized persons, which we are. At this point we have no idea when traffic will be fully open from Big Bear, but the section between Camp and Angeles Oaks has been devastated, and, as you are aware, will likely take months to repair. How long that will impair our operations is uncertain, but whenever that may be, we will look forward to welcoming you back to our forest again!