Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Laguna always ready for power shut-off

Poised to fire up generators

“SDG&E turns off our electricity when there’s high winds and a lack of humidity.”
“SDG&E turns off our electricity when there’s high winds and a lack of humidity.”

“They are putting underground [cables] in, which means that they shut the power off periodically,” said John M. “Literally, like ten minutes ago, a guy from SDG&E was giving out handouts to everybody …. but I haven’t read it yet.”

On May 4th at about noon, I spoke to John, the co-owner of the Laguna Mountain Lodge in Mount Laguna.

“SDG&E also turns off our electricity when there’s high winds and a lack of humidity,” he said.

Sponsored
Sponsored

It was about 70 degrees out, with 20 percent humidity and 25 mph winds.

In 2006 he and his brother took over the lodge with cabins, hotel rooms and a convenience/gift store. It’s located on the Sunrise Highway (which is accessed from I-8 eastbound), at the highest point of Mount Laguna 6,000 feet above sea level. It’s an hour drive from downtown San Diego.

“You can listen to the wind trying to pick out an eerie rhythm blowing through the pines,” said Duane D. “It smelled great when we walked some of the trails, then we went up the street to where the church is no longer operational, and then looped back.”

Duane and his wife, drove in from Bay Park to visit their friends. After their hike, they ate lunch at the Pine House Cafe & Tavern, a half-mile south of John’s business.

“The power outage didn’t happen while we were there, but it will happen again,” Duane said. A Pine House staff member said that they missed electricity a whole weekend one time and were supposed to get compensated, but when they tried to claim, they were denied.”

“The last time that happened was at around January,” John said, “electricity was off for 30 hours and some people in Julian were out for longer than that. We have some small generators and let them run our refrigeration, we closed the store up and sent anybody that’s staying with us home.”

At the time, John used about 25 gallons of gas to power the generators. The closest gas station to them is 11 miles south in Pine Valley.

“We are getting ready to put some backup generators so we can keep the store open, but that’s not going to power all of the rentals.”

In January, their motel rooms rent for $95 and cabins rent from $110 to $205. In summer, the prices drop $5 per rental.

John expects more power outages come summertime is their neck of the woods. “There’s only 55 of us that live here,” he said, “and there are two restaurants that are basically open on weekends, and that's it.”

With life in the back country, you have to plan ahead anyway. It’s 40 miles to anything (north) after us.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?
Next Article

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
“SDG&E turns off our electricity when there’s high winds and a lack of humidity.”
“SDG&E turns off our electricity when there’s high winds and a lack of humidity.”

“They are putting underground [cables] in, which means that they shut the power off periodically,” said John M. “Literally, like ten minutes ago, a guy from SDG&E was giving out handouts to everybody …. but I haven’t read it yet.”

On May 4th at about noon, I spoke to John, the co-owner of the Laguna Mountain Lodge in Mount Laguna.

“SDG&E also turns off our electricity when there’s high winds and a lack of humidity,” he said.

Sponsored
Sponsored

It was about 70 degrees out, with 20 percent humidity and 25 mph winds.

In 2006 he and his brother took over the lodge with cabins, hotel rooms and a convenience/gift store. It’s located on the Sunrise Highway (which is accessed from I-8 eastbound), at the highest point of Mount Laguna 6,000 feet above sea level. It’s an hour drive from downtown San Diego.

“You can listen to the wind trying to pick out an eerie rhythm blowing through the pines,” said Duane D. “It smelled great when we walked some of the trails, then we went up the street to where the church is no longer operational, and then looped back.”

Duane and his wife, drove in from Bay Park to visit their friends. After their hike, they ate lunch at the Pine House Cafe & Tavern, a half-mile south of John’s business.

“The power outage didn’t happen while we were there, but it will happen again,” Duane said. A Pine House staff member said that they missed electricity a whole weekend one time and were supposed to get compensated, but when they tried to claim, they were denied.”

“The last time that happened was at around January,” John said, “electricity was off for 30 hours and some people in Julian were out for longer than that. We have some small generators and let them run our refrigeration, we closed the store up and sent anybody that’s staying with us home.”

At the time, John used about 25 gallons of gas to power the generators. The closest gas station to them is 11 miles south in Pine Valley.

“We are getting ready to put some backup generators so we can keep the store open, but that’s not going to power all of the rentals.”

In January, their motel rooms rent for $95 and cabins rent from $110 to $205. In summer, the prices drop $5 per rental.

John expects more power outages come summertime is their neck of the woods. “There’s only 55 of us that live here,” he said, “and there are two restaurants that are basically open on weekends, and that's it.”

With life in the back country, you have to plan ahead anyway. It’s 40 miles to anything (north) after us.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?
Next Article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader