BABES IN THE WOODS

Once again I am hopelessly in arrears on the Blog.  Nothing posted in months despite no shortage of time.  Just lazy. 

In July we took our annual (30-odd years now) week at Stanford Sierra Camp on Fallen Leaf Lake, just off the southwest tip of Lake Tahoe.  This year was special because it was Adeline’s first time and Isla was old enough to enjoy the scenery and activities.  We also thought it might be our last year as we got a warning letter that the long-dormant lottery system was being activated to kick ease out the old-timers in favor of new families on the waiting list.  We’ve obviously enjoyed far more than our share of the magic of this place, but that only makes it harder to face letting go.  We were determined to not waste a moment.

One of our first things was to hike one of our favorites, the trail to Lake Winnemucca and the wildflowers.  We had hopes this would be a good year, as this area of the Sierras actually got some good snow fall that lasted through the summer.  We’d have to take it slow, however, as John and Meghan were laden with the bambini.  Oof.  This hike starts at Carson Pass, at 8547 feet, and goes slightly uphill from there to our destination, Lake Winnemucca.  While much of it is just rolling trail, parts of it have steep, rock-hopping ups and downs, not a lot of fun when you’re carrying and extra body.  Me?  I just carried lunch!

Turns out this was a fairly good year for the wildflowers.  Not the best, which was back when Mom was still making this hike, but a lot better than the last couple of tries.  One nice view along the way is looking west at Caples lake and the fog/smog way out over the Central Valley around Sacramento.  A few flowers in the foreground, which don’t show up well in the mid-day sun.  Morning light would be best.

Here’s some of the rolling terrain as we make our way south towards Winnemucca.  It lies in a bowl straight ahead, backed by the snowy slopes you can see.

This is the prime flower spot, again hard to photograph well at this time of day.  When it’s really going to town you can be chest deep in a riot of color, but this would have to do.

At the lake, we settled in one of the few shady spots around to have our lunch.  The girls were happy to get on with it.

Our packs were a lot lighter going back after snarfing all the food and most of the water.  On the way I found a particularly nice little grouping.  Some years, the whole place is like this.

When you have little ones along, beach games day is a lot of fun.  We were wondering how Isla would react to the water, but she did just fine.

Future surfer girl.

After that hard work, time for a rest with Dad and to contemplate lunch.

The games were going on at the beach just below us.  This was the egg toss, where John and I managed to hang on for quite a while before the egg landed against my wedding ring and went splat.  I’m the 3rd body on the left, white shirt no hat;  John is opposite in brown hat.

You might say Oma was having a pretty good time, too!  Addy is just under ten months old.

Addy also had a go at the water, while Mom & Dad & Sis kicked back.

Hopefully, Addy, this will be the first of many Camp years to come.

One things that kids at Camp have done forever is to catch crawdads off the ski dock in front of the lodge.  Gummy Bears are the preferred bait.  The critters get their claws on one of those and you can haul them out of the water and into your bucket.  John is pointing one out at the end of a line, and Isla carefully inspects the bucket.

After everyone has examined the catch, back they go into the lake so they can be caught again.

The next best things to crawdads is breakfast on the deck overlooking the lake!  We stuffed ourselves shamelessly three times a day. That’s the twice-a-week omelet bar taking place in the background.  Frankly, we make better ones at home, so we ignore the long line and go for the other goodies. 

No trip to Camp is complete without getting out on the water.  I sculled most every morning, and it is the most peaceful activity imaginable.  I didn’t take the camera out on a scull, but I did have it with me on a kayak jaunt.  This is a shot looking south from where I usually row.  Too bad there’s no snow left on the mountains, other than some tiny patches.  Serenity now.

The Camp is pretty well hidden amongst the trees, considering a couple hundred people are staying there at any one time.  In this shot below, the main lodge can be seen peeking out at left center, and all the other cabins are scattered throughout the trees.  Looming over all is Cathedral Peak.’

I was out in the kayak to take pictures of Isla’s first boat ride.  She was a little unsure about getting in at first, but once underway she had a great time.

I don’t think she can see where she’s going in the shot above.

While Camp is all of these fun things, most of all it’s the chance to be with family.  Nothing beats that.

Missing, sadly, from our tableau was Mike.  We weren’t permitted to add another body to our cabin.  But we saw him in Oakland on our way back home.  Maybe next year.

Oh, yeah, next year.  Well, although some other families got “THE WORD,” and were told this was their last year at Camp, we managed to avoid the axe and will be going back in 2017.  But, we’re pretty sure that will be it.  Hopefully we can figure out some way for all of us to be there for the finale.  Sigh.