What do you love about Palomar? Are you looking to own property here? You can take your pick of homes, cabins and land for sale plus I usually have some extra keys in my pocket. You’re always invited to come on up for a tour.
How about the views? You see Point Loma out there with the San Diego skyline and islands dotting the Pacific – so close and yet so far away – with the beauty of the Four Seasons! Lots to share with you.
Would you like to join in on our old-fashioned fun? Scroll down to glance through the archives then simply subscribe to be the first to know.
Have a message to go out? Just send it my way. If you don’t see it posted within 24 hours, please reach out to me. Glad to keep the news heading your way about our favorite mountain!
Bonnie Phelps, Palomar Mountain News Editor since 1998
and Palomar Mountain Real Estate since the beginning of the Century!
What a fun find! Out of state friends popped by today and shared this app with us. In seconds it identified the birds out singing, then you can click through the app for more info on each bird.
Simply download “Merlin Bird ID” and use it around the world!
Stan Hill and his crew are on their way back up the Mountain! The contractor found a special lift needed to get to the more difficult trees. They plan to start removing their downed logs to make these areas more fire safe. Then, Stan said their plan is to stay until they are done, until they spend out the grant.
Back in on Birch Hill especially is where the wood is waiting to get removed. If you want to keep your wood be sure to call the number on the tags attached to the logs.
This photo shows a standing dead fir that lost the top 40 feet in one of our recent storms. The wind blew that huge treetop about 30 feet away, blocked the road but thankfully it did not hit the cabin. This tree was on the grant list but needed that equipment that is heading our way so rest of the tree will come down. So thankful for Stan’s work getting this grant for our beautiful mountain!
Like a front row seat for the next SpaceX launch? Come on up to one of the lookouts on Palomar Mountain. Mike Pique took the first photo from his deck on the East Grade: “The little orange dot below the “jellyfish” is the first-stage booster performing its entry burn before landing on the barge south of San Diego.”
Jim and Teresa McCarthy were at their Crestline Cabin. He came up the stairs and said to Teresa, “Oh, look outside!” She captured their shots of SpaceX Falcon 9 with the little dot being the planet of Venus.
Here is one more for you from a September launch. Son Nathan was outside and called to me. I happened to have my camera in my hand and have this for you from Round House Ranch. Pretty special Eye Candy, don’t you think?!
Someone is going to get an even better deal on this charming cabin! After our winter storms, this little cabin had a Spring Cleaning ’round the property and is ready to move right in. Check it out and come up for a Tour!
The slash is already lining up for Free Chipping. Work will be done Monday, April 13th.
It will go the quickest to have all the slash staged prior to Monday, April 13th. It is important to have all cut ends facing the parking area so the chipper can drive right up and do their thing. Dump your slash in nice, neat rows to get the most done in the shortest amount of time to maximize the grant.
Directions: From the General Store, take the road to the left which is State Park Road. Travel one mile and turn right on Bailey Meadow Road. You’ll see the big 40 yard dumpster at Robert’s on the right.
If you don’t have a way to get your trimmings to Robert’s, as time allows, he may be able to have the chipper go to you. You’re invited to give Robert a call to see if that can work out.
Just in time for Spring Cleaning! The Community Dumpster will be back Saturday, April 11th. 8 am until noon or full. Same fun folks to help you unload. Donation$ appreciated. No hazmat, no tires, no paint, no electronic waste or large appliances.
Directions: From the General Store, take the road to the left which is State Park Road. Travel one mile and turn right on Bailey Meadow Road. You’ll see the big 40 yard dumpster at Robert’s on the right.
This was a very quick escrow as High Country Hideaway went from active to pending in just fifteen days!
We’ll miss the Cruz family! Ten years ago, Danny and Mari moved up with their three children and have lots of wonderful memories. They both work from home so were able to school the kids at their cabin in the woods. They’re all grown up now! Their son met his now-wife while working at the Christian Conference Center on the mountain. The girls have thrived and enjoyed so much surfing in the Pacific with their dad and all the fun times learning reading, writing and arithmetic while creating art, cooking, crocheting and being at the top of their class. North Carolina is calling to them and we have new neighbors heading our way.
Thinking of living full time or weekending on Palomar? We have some very special options available now and more on the way at Palomar Properties.
Bonnie Phelps, Realtor
PS. Reach out anytime and let’s get those questions answered 760-533-1742
It is usually bittersweet when I let sellers know their escrow is closed on this beautiful mountain. It was such a pleasure to deal with Bob and Paula Litchfield’s daughters the past few months with their family cabin. Bob was so intrigued with Palomar that he interviewed the old timers, gathered many historical stories and published the Palomar Views books for all of us to enjoy.
Today the cabin did change owners.
SDG&E had taken down eight huge trees and I was waiting for the clean up so we could get vehicles in to post the listing. However, during a whirl-wind of showings, a couple shared about their cabin dreams, I knew the Litchfield Cabin checked every single box and even more. They have grown kids and grandkids and everyone can come for sleepovers real soon as the cabin sleeps 10 people! They just had to have it.
I thought many of you can relate to Katie and Rosalind memories spanning their 44 years enjoying the cabin:
“Our family came to the cabin in 1982, when my sister and I were still in grade school. Nearly every Friday after the final school bell, we would begin the familiar drive into the mountains, often stopping at Dudley’s in Santa Ysabel for warm bread, pastries, and pie to carry with us into the weekend.
Our first stay came in winter after a heavy snowfall. As native San Diegans, our parents did not yet own snow chains, so we left the car at the end of the last paved road across from the lodge and walked the rest of the way in, pulling our bags and supplies behind us on an old hand me down toboggan. That walk through the snow became the beginning of a lifetime of small adventures shaped by the seasons.
Winter weekends were filled with sledding on hills near the cabin, some of them steeper than our parents would have chosen, and all of them unforgettable. In spring, daffodils rose from the fresh green grass. Summer brought long hikes, rock climbing, and quiet discoveries of Indian grinding stones, always accompanied by watchful eyes for rattlesnakes and poison oak. On one long walk through Jeff Valley below the property, our grandfather found an arrowhead resting in the earth.
Friends joined us often, gathering for observatory visits and long game nights warmed by a roaring fire. Late summers led us on foot to an old, overgrown apple orchard near Doane Pond, where we gathered tart apples and walked through fields alive with swarming ladybugs. As winter returned each year, we would find a small stand of trees ready for thinning and bring one home to become our family Christmas tree.
Through decades of changing seasons, this cabin has been a place of wonder, tradition, and belonging. It has held our childhood, our family, and our quiet joys, and we hope it welcomes its next caretakers with the same sense of magic and memory.”
It certainly has and we’ll introduce you to the new owners real soon!
Bonnie Phelps, Realtor helping making dreams come true!
We recently met with SDG&E leadership to get the latest details on the proposed 500kV transmission line project running between the existing Imperial Valley Substation and the border of San Diego and Orange Counties (Golden Pacific Powerlink Project). Here is what you need to know:
1. Route Status: Palomar Mountain
We expect SDG&E to release their preferred route for the transmission line in upcoming public meetings and, going forward, to focus primarily on that path. It is our hope and expectation it will not be Palomar Mountain, but we want to continue to prepare to respond in any event.
2. Mark Your Calendars: Upcoming Meetings
Virtual Forums: SDG&E will host four virtual sessions in late April and early May (two at 12:00 PM and two at 5:00 PM). They will be announced here.
In-Person Sessions: Additional community meetings will be held at a centralized location this summer. They will be announced here.
PMPO Meeting (May 23): Please plan to join us at the Pancake Breakfast/PMPO Meeting on May 23rd where SDG&E’s Director of Project Development and engineering staff will be present to share updates and answer your technical questions.
Would you like to slip away to cozy wood stove evenings? Step back in time to rustic pine floors. Two loft sleeping areas and a sweet walk-in sleeping nook. A copper sink that feels like it belongs in a mountain fairytale. Updated where it matters with mini split for heat and AC, dual pane windows, septic, newer appliances yet still full of soul. Fenced and gated for pups and little ones. Currently a beloved vacation rental that sleeps five. Private. Peaceful. Full of Joy.
More beautiful days coming up at this Storybook cabin. When would you like a tour?
Palomar Mountain News 