Alpine View Campground Bathroom 1, Trinity Lake, California - Bathroom Review

Leaving the Oregon Caves National Monument and heading for our final destination at Alpine View Campground at Lake Trinity was difficult to do. The Chateau experience was so nice and the weather though on the warmer side, was nothing compared to what we would be experiencing once we returned to California. The drive took several hours through some of the windiest back roads I've evern seen. Having never been in this area of South Oregon and Northern California, it was surprising to see just how much agriculture goes on in these mountain valleys. In an area where the mountains look parched from lack of water lie these huge irrigation systems that rotate in circles watering lush green hay. For miles and miles we drove and saw these hay fields being watered on nearly continous watering systems. If there was a drought in California, it wasn't apparent by looking at the fields. Of course, something to note is that while there was a lot of watering occuring, I would imagine that almost all of that water is supplied by the snow melt from the snow that lands on the mountains in the immediate area. By the time we arrived at the Alpine View campground at Lake Trinity the temperature was near 100 degrees. For anyone who has ever camped in such a hot environment, there isn't much to do except find cool water. Of course, since this is the 4th year of drought, Lake trinity was so low that even though we had a lakeside campsite, the water was nearly a half mile away!

Visiting the campsite bathrooms I was surprised to find actual flush toilets. After using pit toilets for the last several days, it was rather nice to have a good flush toilet. Also of note was that because the building was cinder block and concrete, it was actually cooler inside than outside! Ironically, even though there was flush toilets, there was no lighting inside. This is the type of environment that Black Widows love, cool, semi-damp and dark environments. My spider sense immediatly went on high alert as I entered and though my first visit I did not find any black widows, sure enough on my second visit I found one right near the sink! I of course did my best to kill it and kept a close eye out for any others that might be lurking around. The bathroom itself was quite clean but considering that the campground was empty, that was to be expected. I didn't find any signs of graffiti or vandalism either but again, being that this is a campground, that sort of activity is not common. Overall, this bathroom deserves a 3 flush rating. I would knock it down to 2 flushes if I had a category for spiders but I don't so it is what it is...

The real treat of visiting the Oregon Caves National Monument wasn't just the caves but staying one night at the lodge. As already described in my previous posts, the Chateau was built in the 30s and is a rare example of a visitor center from an era of the hunting lodge. Large open wooden beams, wood siding, everything at the lodge was like stepping into a time machine and going back to a different and more classy time period. The price we paid was ~$230 to stay in a two room suite with it's own bathroom that overlooked the the waterfall and pool that comes out of the cave entrance. For the experience, it was money well spent!

The bathroom of our suite was not exactly luxurious by modern standards but for the time it would have been very upscale. The fixtures all dated back to I'm guessing the 40s or 50s. It was found to be clean but of course this was a hotel room so that should be expected. I will give credit to the design aspect just because of it's time period but there wasn't anything artistic. The bathroom was of course free of graffiti and vandalism. Overall this bathroom deserves a 4 flush rating.