I've gotten way behind on blogging and I apologize. We've been pretty busy lately and I've been pretty tired! But a few weeks ago we headed up to Winnemucca Lake. It's a 6ish mile hike round trip. It's a pretty easy hike overall and the wildflowers up there were simply AMAZING!
This is one of our favorite hikes. We've hiked it before but every time we hike it again I'm reminded of how awesome and beautiful this place is. Without further ado... enjoy some pictures of nature's beauty...
AT 9,000+ FEET ELEVATION WE STILL HAVE SOME SNOW!
THE START OF THE WILDFLOWERS!
QUICK STOP AT FROG LAKE SO ZEPHYR COULD COOL OFF
GORGEOUS HIKE!
BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS BY WINNEMUCCA LAKE
CROSSING THE RIVER
WINNEMUCCA LAKE
KING OF THE ROCK
We had a wonderful day. Zephyr got to run, swim, play with other dogs, and play in the snow! That's a pretty good day!
As if this place couldn't get any better, we've lately had some amazing sunsets!
Summer in Tahoe is absolutely indescribable! We feel so fortunate to be able to enjoy this place. And we can't wait to share this magical place with our new little addition to the family!
Last weekend was my first 3 day weekend of the summer! I'm working summer school now which gives me Fridays off and we are so fortunate that Mike was able to get the same work schedule!
HELLO 3 DAY WEEKENDS!
So to kick off our summer, we made reservations to camp at Union Valley Reservoir which is less than 2 hours from our house but is an area we've never explored in our 5 years of living here.
We booked a campsite online but when we got there we found an even better campsite and the host let us switch.
ONE OF THE VIEWS AS WE WALKED AROUND THE CAMPSITE
THERE WAS A LITTLE WATERFALL AND CREEK BESIDE OUR SITE.
ANOTHER VIEW OF UNION VALLEY RESERVOIR
DOGGIE GOT IN LOTS OF SWIMMING
WAVY CLOUDS... IT WAS WINDY
WE WALKED DOWN THE BIKE PATH TO A LITTLE SANDY BEACH
In the afternoon, we hiked to Bassi Falls. It's only a half mile hike from the end of a 4WD forest road. Super easy hike. Totally worth it. SUPER cool area.
DOGGIE COOLING OFF IN A POOL BY THE FALLS
FIRST GLIMPSE OF BASSI FALLS
HOW PERFECT IS THIS POOL? IT HAS WATER FLOWING IN... AND A PERFECT ROCK LEDGE FOR GETTING OUT!
YOU COULD SEE THE TOP OF BASSI FALLS AS YOU GOT FURTHER AWAY FROM IT
WALKING DOWN THE RIVER LED US TO MORE FALLS
BEAUTIFUL AREA
There are a LOT of lakes and reservoirs in this area.
ICE HOUSE RESERVOIR
We drove north to Loon Lake which is also the Western start of the Rubicon Trail. The Rubicon is a 4WD trail from Loon Lake north to Tahoma (in North Lake Tahoe). It's a knarly, rocky trail. Not just anyone can drive it. And certainly not every 4WD vehicle will make it.
THE START OF THE RUBICON TRAIL
THESE ARE THE TYPES OF VEHICLES ATTEMPTING THE RUBICON. THERE WERE LOTS OF TRUCKS AND EMPTY TRAILERS IN THE STAGING AREA... MEANING LOTS OF PEOPLE WERE OUT ATTEMPTING THE TRAIL.
I KNOW THIS IS HARD TO READ... BUT IT BASICALLY SAYS THAT THIS TRAIL USED TO BE A NATIVE AMERICAN TRADE ROUTE... CAN YOU IMAGINE?
Just down the road from the Rubicon trail is Loon Lake. We stopped here for the afternoon... we did some paddleboarding and had a picnic lunch.
NATURALLY ZEPHYR SWAM
HE SWAM A LOT
After Loon Lake we decided to head back to our campsite to just relax by the water. The boys went swimming again while I sunbathed on the warm rocks.
CRAZY BOYS. THAT WATER WAS COLD.
WE LOUNGED BY THE FIRE EVERY EVENING... SIMULTANEOUSLY ENJOYING A VIEW OF THE LAKE
AND THIS WAS OUR VIEW WHEN WE WOKE UP EVERY MORNING. NOT TOO SHABBY.
We had a nice, relaxing weekend of camping and exploring. Definitely a cool area and since we didn't get to do everything we wanted to in one weekend, we will definitely plan to go back one day!
In other news... we have exciting things happening in our lives... stay tuned for updates!
A few weeks ago, we were loving beautiful weather without having to share the lake with all the tourists. Since then it has rained almost every day! We've had a few strong thunderstorms with heavy lightning, strong thunder, and lots of hail.
EARLY MORNING HAIL STORM. IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW COVERING EVERYTHING.
Last weekend was rainy and cold (and snowy at times). We decided to go through our storage closets and organize all our camping stuff which had gotten a little chaotic. Kinda boring but it needed to be done and at least we didn't waste a beautiful day doing it.
This weekend, Saturday was rainy/stormy so Mike had the genius idea to go to Reno for Chic-Fil-A breakfast which was totally worth the drive! We walked around a few shops in Reno then did some grocery shopping on the way home. Again... boring... but necessary.
Sunday was our first sunny day in a while so we loaded up the paddleboards and headed to Fallen Leaf Lake.
WHERE THE CREEK RUNS INTO THE LAKE
MIKE PADDLING TOWARD A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE WATER FALL.
SUCH A PEACEFUL MORNING.
After a quick stop at Glen Alpine falls, we headed home for lunch and to take the doggy to the beach for some exercise.
Life can feel like a roller coaster ride. Sometimes, even though you are trying so hard to see nothing but the positives in your life, stress can overwhelm us. I had a really good week at work... yet I still had a moment of feeling completely overwhelmed.
It was one of those moments when you're like, "Let's just sell everything we own, buy a travel trailer, and travel the country." Please tell me I'm not the only person who has these moments.
Luckily, my husband is very grounded, level-headed, and supportive. He didn't immediately shoot down my crazy idea but he was very reasonable and realistic and well, long story short, we've decided to call that plan B. Plan A is staying right where we are and enjoying the time we have here until we know it's our time to go elsewhere.
Here's what happened after that little meltdown (which he lovingly calls "episodes"):
It cleared my mind. It was kind of like I was seeing this place for the first time all over again... with all it's beauty. The second half of the work week I found myself wanting to stop and take pictures of beautiful things... things that I normally drive by every day and don't look twice at.
ON MY DRIVE INTO WORK ONE MORNING
This weekend, we contemplated going camping somewhere south of here but decided against it because a) Saturday was going to be very cloudy and b) we were dog sitting for our neighbors and didn't want to take their dog so far from home.
Instead, we went paddleboarding Saturday morning on a glassy Lake Tahoe and pretty much had the lake to ourselves. We opted for a paddle on the south west shore which is a little farther from home but we don't paddle here a lot which makes it exciting. We followed the shoreline to look at the beautiful million dollar homes and the flowing creek that feeds the lake. There were all kinds of birds (ducks, geese, osprey). It was cloudy, but warm.
BEAUTIFUL BALDWIN BEACH ALL TO OURSELVES
ONLY ONE BOAT ON THE LAKE
We were paddling along, just enjoying the beautiful morning and before we knew it, we were paddling into Emerald Bay!
Neither of us brought our phones so we have no pictures of the bay but we WILL go back soon!
We've done this paddle several times in the past; you can see those posts here and here.
We paddled around the island in the bay and stopped at the beach for a bit to stretch. We paddled up the creek where a RAGING water fall feeds the bay (no, we couldn't get anywhere near the waterfall on our boards). And then we headed back out, against a slight breeze in the bay which added a little cardio to the morning.
IT. WAS. BEAUTIFUL.
It is ALWAYS beautiful.
It was exactly what I needed.
After our longer than anticipated paddle, we grabbed lunch at Subway before heading to the beach with the dogs.
REY AND ZEPHYR
ZEPHYR AT HIS HAPPIEST
(EXCEPT FOR PLAYING IN SNOW)
Once the dogs were thoroughly exhausted we took them home and decided to go mountain biking.
We rode the Stinger trail which is near our house. I'd never ridden it before (even though we've done a lot in 5 years of living here, there's still a lot we haven't done).
VIEW FROM THE STINGER TRAIL.
THE GROUP OF GUYS I RODE WITH ON NATIONAL WOMEN'S
MOUNTAIN BIKING DAY.
I AM POINTING AT THE MOUTH OF EMERALD BAY... WHERE WE
PADDLED EARLIER THAT MORNING!
ZOOMED IN PHOTO...
YOU CAN SEE THE MOUTH OF THE BAY.
THE LITTLE WHITE DOT TO THE LEFT OF THE
BAY ENTRANCE IS EAGLE FALLS (WHICH WAS
RAGING DUE TO SNOW MELT).
We celebrated the end of an awesome day with a soak in the hot tub, a yummy steak dinner, and a beautiful sunset:
BEAUTIFUL END TO A BEAUTIFUL DAY.
We had so much fun Saturday, we decided to repeat it all on Sunday.
We started out at Baldwin beach again but this time we paddled up Taylor Creek.
FOLLOWING MIKE TOWARD THE CREEK
MIKE ENTERING THE MOUTH OF TAYLOR CREEK. WITH MT. TALLAC IN THE BACKGROUND.
LOTS OF LITTLE CHANNELS TO EXPLORE.
WATER FLOWING ALL AROUND US. THIS IS A LITTLE WATER FALL IN A FIELD OF CAT TAILS.
Since we were already on the west side of town, we did some mountain biking on Corral trail (a little trail system that is very popular and very fun).
No pictures or videos here. Sorry.
We stopped for lunch (burrito/tacos) to celebrate a belated cinco de Mayo.
Quick stop at home to swap the mountain bikes out for puppy dogs and then we went BACK to the beach to get some exercise for the pups.
It was super windy and chilly though, so we didn't stay long and I only took one video...
... it's a kite surfer who loses his board doing a big jump. He was fine. He got his board back.
It was a wonderful, busy, action-packed weekend.
We feel very fortunate to be living this life.
We have lots of reminders of how short this life can be.
And we are doing everything we can to enjoy where we are right now.
