Big Bear

Big Bear City and Big Bear Lake are two cities in the mountain region of San Bernardino County, California immediately east of Big Bear Lake. The population of both cities is around 25 000 but it can swell to over 100 000 during holiday season. The makeup of Big Bear is mostly residential. At 6000 feet above sea level, it is a popular holiday destination for residents of the inland empire, especially during the snow and ski season.

Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, USA. It has an east-west length of approximately 7 miles (11.2 km) and is approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) at its widest measurement though most the Lake's width averages a little more than 1 mile (1.6 km). It is a popular recreational lake. It is a completely snow-fed lake having no other means of tributary or mechanical replenishment.
Following a hearty breakfast at Grisly Manor Café, the team spent their first day in Big Bear visiting some local business and community services.

A tour of KBHR 93.3, the local radio station was our first stop. The team got an opportunity to listen to the local news which profiled the GSE’s vist to Big Bear. GSE Coordinator for Big Bear, Rick Herrick is the owner of the local radio station

Big Bear Lake Community Library was the next stop. The library is part of the San Bernardino County Library system and has a circulation of around 6000 items per month. The Library has 15 000 registered users.

Big Bear Valley Community Hospital is the local community hospital. The hospital is 30 beds with 21 nursing home beds and 9 acute care. The hospital is very seasonal with around 10 000 ED presentations per year. The majority, around 100 per day, are during the snow season. The team had a tour of the hospital and had lunch with the Director of Patient Services, Ines Tedford.

The final stop of the day was a tour of the Big Bear Lake City Council. This was very informative with overviews of the Councils role in building, engineering and other local services.

Tommorrow the team is going for a tour of the mountain regions and lake.