Day 1 of my cousin’s bachelor party. 0 injuries, 1 epic mountain bike ride, 1 dip in the crystal blue water, beautiful sunset, dinner on the grill, pool table in the family room, keg in the kitchen.
Excellent.
Tags: beer, cousins, family, lake tahoe, mountain bike, mountains, sunset, swim
Idyllic Campsite
We camped the first night by the side of a burbling little creek. In warmer days, Brian tells me that there is good swimming to be had. But with overnight temps down near freezing,
Caly Warms Herself
I wasn’t too interested in getting wet in the morning. The morning, though chilly, was spectacular. I watched the sun creep down the mountainside, illuminating treetops, then rocks, and eventually an entire meadow; all from the comfort of my sleeping back as it was way too cold to leave the tent. Caly thought she wanted to go out and sniff around, but quickly realized that it was a lot colder on the other side of the fabric wall! Eventually she found a nice sunny spot (in the trail) to warm herself.
Sliders. good investment.
As the day warmed, I did some yoga by the creek, swatted a mozzie or three, and generally enjoyed the fabulous mountain air. The smell of pine, dust, manzanitas, and … something I can’t quite identify, takes me back to childhood memories of playing up at my cousin’s house in Murphy’s. Nice memories.
The smells, the yoga, and the views were all so wonderful that I barely even noticed that we had completely forgotten to pack coffee. Rookie mistake. Even more amazing based on the fact that Brian and I spend nearly every weekend morning at Peets. You would think we would have done a better job of fueling our addiction.
The rest of the trail was a nice, rocky romp through spectacular California wilderness. I did this trail several years ago with Brian and some other friends, it seemed much easier back then. Brian agrees that the increase in traffic as well as general neglect of the ‘road’ has turned this into a reasonably serious trail. I had thought to take my truck through, but after seeing the time that Brian spent on his sliders, I’m glad to have decided to co-pilot on this run.
Top of the World (or at least top of the peak)
Wildflowers and Views abound
After we left the trail near Ebbett’s Pass on Hwy 4, we found two other very-short trails to explore. The first is “Old Mt. Reba Lookout” road. It climbs, rather abruptly, to about 8,800 ft and offers spectacular views of the lakes and valleys (including, not surpisingly, Mt. Reba) in the area. We stopped on top to eat a light lunch, throw the stick for Caly, and chat with some friendly hikers.
Highly recommended if you have a 4wd and don’t mind some steep descents. The entrance is by the Hwy 207/ Hwy 4 junction. It’s dirt. You can’t miss it.
Lakes and Flowers
Our next foray was into a campground near Sourpatch on the Stanislas River. The campground was full. Packed full. Given a few more years, the trail may get to be hard enough to deter the family-camping crowd. It looks to be a great area for swimming and enjoying some sequoias, but lots of children, more than a few quads, and high potential for generators running into the night. Not really my kind of camping. When I go out into the woods I’d like to be further from my closest neighbor than I am at home. Still, it is lovely, and really easy access. Good to store away for some future weekday night camping run. We finished off the scouting expedition by swimming in the (cold!) river. Brian had to convince me to jump in, I’m glad that I did. I love the feeling of getting out of a cold river– your skin is tingling, but your core still toasty. Of course the scenic setting makes the whole experience that much better.
Our drive home was not notable. We swung through Murphy’s, noting the impressive growth of wineries there. We were a little surprised that there wasn’t a coffee to be found at 5pm on a Sunday. Apparently the lovely little town has upscaled itself beyond the reach of quirky coffee shop, but not yet big enough for a chain coffee house. That’s not entirely fair: there is one really cute-looking coffee roaster, but it was closed. The Bay Area was in the low 50s at 9pm on an August 7 night. What the heck is going on with the weather this year? As Brian wittily observed, “It’s like the whole Bay Area caught San Francisco’s climate.”
Tags: 4wd (4x4), camping, coffee, dog, Land Cruiser, mountains, Murphys, off-road, photo, Stanislas, view, wildflowers
Who put all this snow here?
The most notable aspect of our weekend wheeling trip was that there was snow on the ground on the trail. Not just a little peppering– there were many places where we saw a little here and there, but a full-on snow bank onto which we had to climb in order to get to where we wanted to go. Clearly, I’m not experienced with driving in snow. Mud? Sure, you betcha. Rocks? I’ll take a crack at it, feel pretty comfortable. Sand? Been there, done it. But when you add white slippery stuff that can yield unexpectedly, it freaks me out a little bit. Fortunately Brian was doing the driving.
"No Problem!"
Also fortunately, Toyota included locking differentials when they built (some) Land Cruisers. It turned out to be a relatively easy obstacle, which was awfully nice because otherwise we would have had a long drive around to take the trail in the opposite direction (driving down the snowbank is pretty easy compared to up).
We finally settled into a nice little campsite by the burbling creek, had a little campfire in the sand, drank a bit of bourbon, and enjoyed delicious sauteed vegetable burritos. There were a few mosquitos, enough to be a nuisance, but not so much to make the evening unpleasant.
Tags: 4wd (4x4), California, camping, Deer Valley, dog, Land Cruiser, mountains, off-road, travel, weather
Quick trip to the Sierra for a little wheeling, camping, swim hole and relaxation.
Tags: 4wd, camping, Deer Valley, Land Cruiser, mountains, off-road, trip, weekend
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