Week 1 of Summer 2015

This past week was my first official week off from work (of 4 weeks... yep... my job ROCKS)!  It's been a busy week which means this will be a long post.  

Monday we paddled Echo Lakes.  These are 2 high alpine lakes on the edge of Desolation Wildnerness.  They connect via a small channel and there are lots of rocky mountains around.  There are many quaint little cabins there that are only accessible by boat.  The upper lake has a lot of adorable little rock islands and it reminds Mike and I so much of the the St. Lawrence River where he grew up vacationing every summer.  It's beautiful.  And it's windy.  Super windy.  Therefore, no pictures or videos of this paddle.  Sorry, but there was no way I could stop long enough to take a picture... I was fighting against the wind with every single paddle stroke.  It was great exercise though.  And coming back across the lake with the wind at our backs made for a quick return trip to the marina.  

Monday night I decided to participate in "Ladies' Night" which is a paddleboarding "get-together" hosted by one of the local stand up paddle board shops.  Again, it was SUPER windy and the lake is VERY shallow in this area.  If you stood in the middle of the board (where you would usually stand), waves kept crashing over the nose... but if you scooted back on the board to get the nose out of the water, your fin would drag in the sand.  Bummer.  The scenery however, is breathtakingly beautiful.  

NOTICE THE PIER THAT ENDS IN THE SAND.
WE ARE IN A DROUGHT FOR SURE!

THE POLE IN THE FOREGROUND IS USUALLY IN THE WATER.
NOW YOU HAVE TO WALK OUT TO THE FAR POLE IN THE DISTANCE
JUST TO BE IN ENOUGH WATER FOR THE PADDLE BOARD TO FLOAT.

Tuesday afternoon we decided to check out a "new to us" place: THE POTHOLES! It's basically a rocky area that a small river runs through and over time the water has worn out the rock, making smooth little pools.  It's a beautiful place.  There are small waterfalls and you can slide down the rocks.  Many of the pools are deep enough to jump in from the cliff ledges surrounding them.  It used to be a pretty secret area but now there's a well marked path to get there.  It's definitely not hard to find and it's only a short hike in, making it a popular destination for families and basically anyone staying in the campground nearby.  

WE FOUND A PERFECT LITTLE COVE TO OURSELVES

AND THIS WAS OUR VIEW

ZATER NEEDED A LITTLE CONVINCING AT FIRST

BUT BEFORE LONG HE WAS SWIMMING RIGHT UNDER THE FALLS

OUR LITTLE SECLUDED SPOT

THE ROCKS WERE A PERFECT TEMPERATURE.
WARMED BY THE SUN BUT NOT TOO HOT TO WALK ON OR LAY ON

LOTS OF PEOPLE OUT ENJOYING THIS BEAUTIFUL AREA

THIS TINY POOL WAS DEEP ENOUGH YOU COULD PENCIL JUMP
INTO IT AND YOUR FEET WOULDN'T TOUCH THE BOTTOM

WE EVENTUALLY CLAIMED THIS LITTLE ROCK PENINSULA
WE HAD SOME SHADE... WE HAD A WATERFALL NEARBY...
WE HAD AWESOME VIEWS... IT WAS AWESOME! 

ZATER PLAYED IN EVERY POOL

Tuesday night our cable/internet went out.  Oh well.  That meant Mike couldn't work Wednesday morning when we woke up and it was STILL out.  So, we headed to Mt. Rose.  It's a peak we hadn't climbed yet.  Since we had all day, we decided to tackle it.  It's 10,778 ft above sea level and the trail to get there is well marked, but pretty steep.  The views at the top however, are totally worth the climb. 

MT. ROSE 

AMAZING WATERFALL I WAS TOTALLY NOT EXPECTING TO SEE

THE WILDFLOWERS WERE AMAZING!

THEY WERE EVERYWHERE!
AS TALL AS US!
AND THE MOST VIBRANT SHADES OF PURPLE
AND YELLOW I'VE EVER SEEN.
THE PICTURES DO NOT DO THEM JUSTICE. 

ENTERING THE MT. ROSE WILDERNESS.
THIS IS RIGHT BEFORE IT GETS REALLY STEEP. 

DONNER LAKE IN THE DISTANCE. 

STAMPEDED RESERVOIR... I THINK?
ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT MUCH OF A RESERVOIR...
IT'S MOSTLY SAND. 

TAHOE!  LOOKING TOWARD SOUTH LAKE. 

TAHOE.  

SELFIES WITH TAHOE

THAT'S BETTER. 

MIKE WORE OLD BOOTS.  NEEDLESS TO SAY: THEY DIDN'T SURVIVE
THE HIKE.  THEY LOOKED MUCH WORSE THAN THIS BY THE TIME
WE GOT BACK TO THE CAR. 

We were exhausted after the hike and our feet were killing us... Mike's because he no longer had any sole left on his boot, and mine were hurting because my ankles had some sort of allergic reaction to my new hiking boots?  It was weird.  We both limped back to the car and decided Thursday would be a day of rest!  

So that brings us to Friday.  My ankles were still swollen/red so I woke up Friday morning, took 2 benadryl and went back to sleep until noon.  When I woke up, Mike was done with work for the day and we headed to the beach to watch the Celebrity Golf Tournament which is in town this weekend.  After watching several rounds of celebs go by, we both decided that our feet still hurt and we think golf is boring.  So we went home, packed up the truck (which took less than 5 minutes) and drove off into the wilderness for a night of camping.  We camped at an area near Highland Lakes.  It's about an hour from our house.  It's an area Mike has skied before, and there's a lot of free camping.  We got a PERFECT spot. 

OUR LITTLE SPOT

THE VIEW FROM OUR LITTLE SPOT

LOOKING DOWN THE RIVER

BABY TROUT

OUR VIEW

WE LOVE CAMPFIRES

AND WE LOVE COTTON CANDY COLORED SKIES

THE NEXT MORNING WE DROVE A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN
THE ROAD.  THERE ARE CAMPSITES... LAKES... AND TRAILS. 

AND GORGEOUS VIEWS

AND MORE WILDFLOWERS

AND EVEN THE ROCKS ARE PRETTY COLORS UP HERE!

ONE OF 2 HIGHLAND LAKES

ON THE DRIVE WE PASSED THROUGH A RECENT BURN AREA. 

HOW DEPRESSING IS THIS?  

Saturday night I went out "celebrity spotting" with a friend of mine.  I really wanted to see Justin Timberlake and Willie Robertson from Duck Dynasty.  They are both new to the tournament this year.  I didn't see either.  Oh well.  There's always next year.  It seems that every single year, even if I don't try, I see Emmitt Smith, Charles Barkley, Jerry Rice, and Jerome Bettis.  Maybe we are all destined to be friends?  This year I also saw LOTS of sports people who I wouldn't have recognized if they bumped into me on the street.  Anyway, Saturday night we planned to hit up the free spots for celebrity watching, which meant no JT.  He was at a night club being a DJ with Shaq.  What a combo.  However, Charles Barkley came through for us cheap fans who refused to pay to enter the night club... and he bought us ALL beer.... ALL night long!  Thanks Charles!  

JAY DEMARCUS FROM RASCAL FLATTS

CHARLES BARKLEY

HOW CHARLES BARKLEY WATCHED THE SHOW

JEROME BETTIS

We had a blast!  I LOVE Celebrity Golf week and next year I intend to go.  Tickets are only $30 and you get to walk right up to the celebrities and take pictures with them, etc.  Totally worth it in my opinion.  

Whew, well that's it for week 1! Can't wait to see what week 2 of this summer vacation has in store!  Stay tuned!