Father's Day and Meek's Bay Hike

Mike's dad and his wife, Kim came in town on Father's Day.  It had been a year and a half since we had seen them so it was great to spend some time with them.  We ate LOTS of good food and saw lots of the beautiful sights with them.  I didn't take a lot of pictures while they were here but I did snap a quick picture of the beautiful sunset from "Top of the World," (a fire road near our house that leads up to a lookout point overlooking the lake).

I love that view!  It never gets old.  

Anyway, today Mike and I went for a hike with the dog.  We started at the Meek's Bay Trailhead on the West shore of Lake Tahoe.  We hiked 13 miles round trip and saw 6 lakes (including Tahoe).  We followed the Tahoe Yosemite trail which is pretty mellow... no steep sections... just a steady and gradual climb.  

The wildflowers were beautiful. 

The BIG California redwood trees along the hike were pretty cool too... 

The trail follows a creek that is fed from the lakes above.  So, there was the lovely sound of running water for a lot of the hike.   

First, we came to Lake Genevieve.  

 Then we came to Crag Lake... 

We also saw Hidden Lake... but I didn't take a picture.  

Next on the trail was Shadow Lake...

Then we came to Stony Ridge Lake...

(where Mike jumped in for a quick and COLD swim)

The last 2 lakes were swarming with mosquitoes.  It was awful.  Luckily we were headed back down the mountain which was obviously less strenuous, so we put our long sleeves shirts and pants back on to avoid getting eaten alive.   

The hike back down to the car offered views of Lake Tahoe...

It was great spending time with Mike and his family and SO GREAT to take Zater on a 13 mile hike!  He absolutely loved it.  We wouldn't have taken him on such a long hike just a few weeks ago, but we started him on some joint medication to help prevent him from getting so stiff and sore.  He acted like a puppy.  In the last few miles of the hike he was chasing chipmunks all through the woods.  We will definitely keep him on this medication so he can keep going on adventures with us.  

And a belated post about Father's Day:

Thanks to both of our dad's for being such amazing role models in our lives.  Thanks for supporting us in all we do!  We love you both!