Cafe and Trading Post as of 29/May/2010
The Crystal Lake trading post, snack bar, and cafe has been rebuilt inside
with an entirely new stainless steel kitchen, new glass display cabinets, a
massive walk-in refrigerator room, fresh bread racks, and other equipment
all intended to be used to serve up hot and cold meals and drinks.
Though the menu has not yet been completely planned, once the menu has been
decided upon it will be posted here on this web page complete with the
current prices along with notes on what days special items will be available.
Though it's not certain, the menu should contain at least some of the
following traditional items:
The trading post section of the kitchen should provide various things
that people camping, hiking, biking, or picnicking might have forgotten
to bring up with them or may have run out of.
The things that the trading post will have for sale are also not decided
upon yet however there are a number of typical items that people forget
to bring or run out of and the list of things that the trading post might
carry include:
There is a very nice pot-bellied stove in the order-and-takeout section of
the kitchen and there may be a few tables with chairs for people to wait
inside as their meals are assembled and served.
Outside of the kitchen itself there is a large open patio with seven or
eight tables next to an array of gas and charcoal grills for outdoor
cooking of such things as BBQ chicken and fire-cooked hot dogs.
Finally, because the Summer months can get hot up there, the trading post
has a secondary very large walk-in ice freezer that can hold thousands of
bags of ice.
One other related thing that is available up there is a mobile hot-dog
kitchen on wheels that is towed behind a pickup truck from which hot-dogs
can be sold complete with all the traditional fixings.
It's not known whether the mobile wagon will be put back in to service
however in decades past the vehicle had been parked along the lake and
people swimming, fishing, or laying out in the Sun could walk a short
distance to the wagon parked on the shore of the lake and get cardboard
boxes full of steamed or fried hot-dogs.
The mobile hot-dog wagon has not yet been fully restored and rebuilt with
preparation and serving utensils however it's certainly a possibility.
In addition to the wagon perhaps being parked on the lake shore during
the day, at night the wagon could be parked at the open air amphitheater
parking lot to provide hot-dogs for people listening to lectures or live
music.
What I personally look forward to is being able to ride my bicycle up the
highway 24 miles to the campgrounds, having a cold crisp sandwich and a
glass of lemonade before I continue on in to the wilderness to spend the
night.
In the morning I can pack up my stuff, rope it all to my bicycle, and
swing by the kitchen for another sandwich and a cold can of soda before
I head down the mountain again.
It will be nice being able to not have to carry cooking equipment and my
dinner on my back 24 miles up the mountain, counting upon the kitchen for
my main meals and maybe only bringing up dried fruit, nuts, and water.
Though I like to ride my bicycle in the heavy rain, having a warm and dry
place to collect myself before heading down the mountain in the rain will
also be nice, and of course when the Recreation Area is packed with snow,
the pot-bellied stove in the trading post is sure to be very welcome.
Some other things that the trading post might offer:
It would be nice if the trading post would also rent out snow shoes and
perhaps have some bicycles that could be rented out to people.
This web site is not operated or maintained by the US Forest Service, and
the USFS does not have any responsibility for the contents of any page
provided on the http://CrystalLake.Name/ web site. Also this web site is
not connected in any way with any of the volunteer organizations that are
mentioned in various web pages, including the
San Gabriel Mountains
Trailbuilders (SGMTBs) or the
Angeles Volunteers Association
(AVA.) This web site is privately owned and operated.
Please note that information on this web page may be inaccurate.