Family, Birthday, Bears, Smoke, etc.

 

Noon, Wednesday, August 4, 2021

We are in the gator doing noon campground check on the road connecting the upper and lower campgrounds. In the background are the mountains behind Emerald Bay - part of what I call, "The most beautiful drive in the wilderness."

    It's hard to believe that we have just a little over a month left of our camp host assignment at Eagle Point Campground. We continue to enjoy the work, the people we encounter and work with, and of course the location. We're not particularly happy with the continued hot weather, and like everyone in the west we are concerned for the people threatened by the many wild fires. The most we have suffered because of the fires are some hazy skies and a few very smoky days. As I write this we have just received word of the River Fire near Colfax that is growing, threatening homes and causing evacuations. That fire started only a couple of miles as the "crow flies" from our Colfax home. Our property is not included in the evacuation orders, and unless the wind reverses directions it won't be, but it is still nerve racking. Our daughter Ruth who lives there is several states away on a camping vacation, and our grandchild Chris is at the house where they and their wife have been staying for several months. We feel pretty helpless here at Tahoe, two hours a way, but are hopeful that our family, their pets and our property, for the moment, are  not in imminent danger. There are thousands of people who have been displaced by the many fires in the west, some only temporarily, but unfortunately some have lost homes. My heart goes out to them and to the thousands of fire personnel working tirelessly to protect people, property and our beautiful forests. 

    We continue in the rhythm of being on duty three days and then three days off, with some kind of adventure every day. Most of our California children and grandchildren joined us for Rob's birthday the weekend of July 16 to 20. Our oldest daughter Sheila, who lives in Europe, even came, thanks to arrangements by our daughter Erin. In anticipation of not hiking much while they were visiting I finally walked out and back on the Rubicon Trail - about a 15 mile round trip hike - on Friday, July 16. I actually didn't go quite to the end of the trail at DL Bliss State Park, but instead hiked up to the entrance of the park and the Visitor Center that is there - it's just about the same distance as finishing the trail and turning around. I admit to being pretty tired by the time I got back to our campsite, but I saw things I hadn't seen before on the hike - as usual.

A Woodpecker on a tree along the Rubicon Trail on our side of Emerald Bay

The remains of a very old car just a few feet off the Rubicon Trail

    I don't know how many times I have passed this spot, but never saw these remains until July 16. I had stepped to the side of the trail to let other hikers pass so I ended up looking across the trail instead of down the trail. This old car frame is directly below the slide area at the end of Emerald Bay. I imagine a car went off Hwy 89 many, many years ago. I was reminded of the remains of cars, and even big trucks, we used to see when I was a kid on old Hwy 40 over Donner Summit. Recovery of the vehicles then was not regularly done, but they've cleaned them all up now - made me wonder if there are more car remains below Hwy 89, or if this is the only one left amongst the rocks and vegetation.

A view off the trail of the beautiful, clear, colorful Tahoe water.

Some Fireweed flowers along the trail

The bridge over Eagle Creek, just about 2 miles from our campsite

These flowers were lining the bridge on my return hike - in preparation for a wedding proposal. I talked to the parents of the couple who knew all about the planned proposal and were hiding out waiting for them to arrive on the bridge. I hope the proposal went well!

    We had reserved two campsites in the lower campground for our family that arrived on Friday afternoon, July 16.  We were on duty while they were here, but we were able to hang out with them between campground checks and in the afternoons and evenings. The youngest three grandchildren had fun exploring around the campsites, and the adults mostly sat around and talked. Sheila, who definitely takes after me in regards to walking, got in some pretty good hikes in the mornings, and we all went down to the lake in the afternoons.

Sophia, Avi and Naomi playing a game shortly after their arrival

Board games are definitely a big feature of Dunning family get togethers.

Here, Sheila, Sophia, Avi, Ruth and Naomi are playing a family favorite, Ticket to Ride.

Avi on a rock at the beach

5 year old Naomi on a paddle board with her father Shawn keeping watch.

Some people took naps

Sunday morning, July 18

A plume of smoke from the Tamarack Fire can be see behind the mountains. The fire, that is mostly now contained, is south east of us with the wind blowing away from us, so we haven't had much smoke from it, but Sunday afternoon while we were at the beach the wind started going crazy and the smoke moved quickly into the basin - enough that we smelled it and for a brief time we couldn't even see the lake from up on the ridge in the campground.

Rob "blowing" out his candles on his birthday cake, made by Chris in the RV oven Sunday morning.

Rob's birthday was the 19th, but we had cake and presents on the 18th.

Rob opening cards with granddaughters looking on.

Most of those who gathered - Avi wanted to take the picture instead of being in it.

Rob is holding his birthday present from all - a sign to put in front of our campsite.

Erin coordinated the effort to commission her cousin Karyn to make the beautiful custom sign. I

t is hard to see the details in the picture, but there are silhouettes of bears and deer, a couple of cats by Rob's name and a Trillium flower by mine.

Early Sunday morning, July 19, with the sun coloring the smoky sky.

Where is the birthday boy?

This is inside one of the features in the mini golf course we enjoyed on Monday, Rob's birthday.

This is the same mini golf course we took our children to when we used to camp at Lake Tahoe.

Avi playing a hole

Ice Cream at Camp Richardson - stops here are definitely becoming a part of our summer.

Tuesday morning before everyone left, Sheila and I headed out on the Rubicon Trail.

We went the full length of the trail to Lester Beach at DL Bliss State Park (about 7 miles) and had Rob pick us up. Sheila's pace is definitely a bit faster than mine, but I didn't feel like I held her back too much.

An interesting rock along the Rubicon Trail

    There are many fires burning in California, but the one closest to us, that began with a lightening strike on July 4, and didn't really blow up until July 16, is the Tamarack Fire near Markleyville. For several days we could see the plume of smoke from the fire behind Freel Peak. The direction of the smoke didn't make sense to me until I really studied a map. To me, behind Freel Peak should be Nevada, but because of the angle the border of California and Nevada makes in Lake Tahoe, that direction, south east, is definitely in California. We have learned about damage to Grover Hot Springs State Park, including the loss of some staff housing. Some Grover Hot Springs employees are now working here at the Lake Tahoe California State Parks. 

Tamarack Fire Plume July 21

This picture was taken not far from our campsite near the highway and on one of the 10 mile per hour curves near us that keep the traffic fairly calm nearby. 

This curve will figure in a hike I took a few days ago.

Tamarack Fire Plume as viewed from the Overlook Bench in the evening on July 21.

In addition to the plume of smoke we saw from the fire, the fires have contributed to some pretty colorful morning and evening skies.

Moonrise, July 22, from the Overlook

Sunrise, July 23

Sun coming over the mountains, July 23.

July 24 - morning

Just the sun reflected on the lake - no Tahoe blue on the morning of the 24th

Looking toward Emerald Bay at the same time as the previous picture looking east.

Looking north on the same morning

Evening sky, July 24

Morning sky, July 25

More morning sky on July 25

Emerald Bay the same early morning - pretty hazy

    Dogs are not allowed on any of the trails in Emerald Bay State Park, but that doesn't stop folks from taking their dogs along for a hike. When I'm wearing my volunteer vest and see a dog on the trail, I feel I have to say something because not saying something would imply that there is no problem. There are signs at the beginning of all the trails that say no dogs, but the beginning of the Rubicon Trail here at Eagle Point is a bit confusing and someone could truly miss the sign at the top of the trail, so I was happy to see the sign in the picture below placed a little ways down the trail just a couple of weeks ago. I don't think it would be possible to miss seeing this one because of how it is placed right next to the trail at a curve where you'd have to be checking the trail surface as you approached it.

    As I've written previously, I frequently walk to Vikingsholm on the Rubicon Trail between our morning and noon camp checks, and occasionally go the extra quarter mile off the trail to look at lower Eagle Falls. There is so little water in the falls now, wondering if there will be any by the time we leave in September.

Lower Eagle Waterfall, July 23

Same view on June 4 - you can't even tell that the rock under the water is red.

Thimble Berry - now appearing along the trail.

    The day our family left on Tuesday, July 20, Rob started complaining about his left ankle hurting with no apparent cause for it. Walking bothered it, but not bicycling, so we took the bicycles on the newly installed bike rack on the new car to the South Lake Tahoe bike path and rode 19 miles around South Lake Tahoe. Wednesday night Rob emailed his doctor about the ankle pain and on Thursday morning the doctor asked him to come in for an x-ray, so off we went to Roseville Kaiser. Within an hour of the x-ray Rob got a call from his doctor telling him to go get fitted for a boot at orthopedics. After his doctor consulted with an orthopedist regarding the x-ray it was determined that he had some kind of injury to his Achilles Tendon and they hoped that immobilization with a boot would help it heal. It did! In less than two weeks the swelling and pain were gone and now he's back to walking with me to the Overlook.

See the boot on his left foot?

It didn't stop him from doing any of our Camp Host Chores.

Sunday, August 1, the day Rob took the boot off and we went for an 18 mile bike ride on the beautiful South Tahoe Bike path. Here is Rob with Aspen trees behind him.

    One of the things we look for on our campground checks are food violations. If there is food left out with no one around, we'll sometimes put it in the bear locker if there is room, and we sometimes close bear locker doors when they are left open. If it's not easy to put food away then we "babysit," hoping the camper is coming back soon.  After a bit of waiting we then call dispatch to talk to a ranger who will respond as soon as they can. The bears here, as all over Tahoe, are quite smart and quite dependent, unfortunately, on human food. One night around 7:30 while delivering wood we came upon very excited campers because of a bear in camp, actually a mama and one cub. The mama bear stole a package of tortillas off a table while the campers were getting more food out of the bear locker not too far away. A little while later we heard more commotion and found out the same bear had taken a loaf of bread out of an open bear locker while the campers were at the table. This is why the rule is to only have food out when you are actively preparing it or eating it, and to keep the bear locker closed, just like you keep your refrigerator closed at home. Unfortunately for the bears, many campers are careless about following all the protocols. The bears will not take food directly from a person, but they are ready for any opportunity - day or night, and much more active generally after dark. 

    The same evening the mama bear was being so bold about stealing food from occupied camp sites new campers arrived in site 1, the site closest to us, between 8 and 9 PM. Rob had to remind them twice about not parking their cars on the dirt and then I told them about the earlier bear activity and we both emphasized that all their food needed to be locked in the bear box. About 2:30 in the morning we woke up to car horns blasting and people yelling. Looking out we could see bears in their campsite, including a cub on their table. We called it in to dispatch and a ranger arrived within a half hour or so - we knew it was not going to go well for the campers when we could see the ranger picking up trash off the ground. By 4:15 the campsite was vacant as the ranger evicted them for what he later total us was probably 15 violations! Such occurrences are pretty rare here at Eagle Point, and when people keep their campsites clean of food and trash they rarely even see the bears.

    

Ice chests with food that we "babysat" until the camper returned a half hour later before the ranger arrived. If the ranger gets there before the camper returns they confiscate the ice chests and issue an expensive citation. If the campers return first, a ranger will still come by later and talk to the campers.

July 25, 8:30 PM - A mama and three cubs

We're pretty sure these are the bears that were in site 1 the previous night.

Mama and her three babies.

Rob and I were sitting out in front of LesThora when Rob saw these four walking up the road in front of site 1, which had new residents since the evicted campers. We went down to be sure the campers had their food locked up - they didn't until we pointed out the family of bears. These were the first bears Rob has seen in camp this year, and the best view of any I have had. They approached Site 1 several times before realizing they weren't going to feast there like they had done previously.

    Several times now on a day off I have hiked down to Emerald Bay, then up to 89 and across to the Eagle Lake Trail. On Monday, July 26, it was a pretty smoky morning when I headed up to Eagle Lake, crossed the lake outlet that doesn't have a lot of water going out any more, and found a spot to sit in the shade about 1/4 mile from the lake.  At the lake there were lots of people as usual, but while I sat 1/4 mile away for a half hour I saw no one. Two days later on July 28 I only went up as far as the Vista point on the Eagle Loop. I was hoping to find another secluded spot, but couldn't easily get away from the trail like I had at Eagle Lake, but it was still a beautiful spot to sit for a while before heading back to our camp site.

Looking out toward the opening to Emerald Bay on Monday morning, July 26

The same view two mornings later on July 28

Eagle Lake on July 26 - a little haze in the air

Slightly hazy view of "my" mountain from my rest spot on July 26

The tree that shaded me.

Though Eagle Creek is not delivering much water, this little creek that crosses the road/trail down to Vikingsholm from 89 is still gurgling and pretty.

Emerald Bay as seen from the Overlook Trail on the evening of July 27

July 28, a new rock cairn up at the Vista spot on the Eagle Loop

"My" mountain as seen from near the Vista on Eagle Loop Trail, July 28

Lake Tahoe from the Vista point, July 28 - nice blue skies that day.

Friday, July 30 Early Morning from the Overlook Bench

Friday, July 30 Early Morning - same time as previous picture, looking at Emerald Bay

July 31 morning

    Eagle Point Campground is the start, or end depending on your perspective, of the 7 mile long Rubicon Trail. Other than that the only trails in this campground are the .18 mile long Overlook Trail, the 1/2 mile long fire trail to a beach by the entrance to Emerald Bay from the rest of Lake Tahoe, a very short trail to the viewpoint at Eagle Point, and the half mile long Cascade Trail on the South Lake Tahoe side of our peninsula campground. The Cascade Trail provides access to the rocky lake shore, and a pretty hike that runs parallel to the lake and ends at a bench. I've walked to the bench a couple of times and one time followed the "social" trails beyond it until I got stopped by brush. One morning when Sheila was here she found that trail and hiked passed the bench and eventually found her way up the steep hill to come out just about our campsite.  Last Sunday, August 1, I decided I wanted to see if I could follow Sheila's route on my own. For quite a ways past the bench I followed some bike tracks in the sand until I lost them, but still managed to get through the brush without much difficulty, until I found a nice wide trail that took me by some houses. When I saw the houses I realized I had probably overshot the route that would lead me up behind our campsite, but I kept following the trail, curious where it would lead me until I reached a place where when I looked up I could see Highway 89. Uh Oh! I now knew the trail I was on was going to lead be out to the bottom of a long stretch of 89 where there would be no shoulder to walk back to camp on. I had two choices: back track and try to find the route Sheila took up the hill, or scramble up the hill to get to the 10 mile per hour curve that is very close to our camp site. I chose to scramble up the hill, bad choice. Climbing up the first part wasn't too bad, but then it got  steeper and I knew I wouldn't feel safe going back down - much harder than climbing up - so I just kept going, even though I was getting pretty shaky from being on the steep slope, trying not to look down, but to just keep focused on taking the next step carefully. I finally made it safely, but I won't be repeating that route!

A cool dead tree that I saw on my adventure on Sunday, August 1

Looking up the hill I would climb up to the 10 mile curve on 89

A pretty view of Mount Tallac taken from my climbing perspective

Can you see the road surface just above me?

I could see the driver of a car coming around that curve, and I hoped they didn't see me.

What would someone think seeing an old lady climbing up over that ridge?

Fortunately the drivers have to concentrate on the road too much to notice who might be over the edge!

    Monday morning, August 2, I decided I wanted to try to follow Sheila's route backwards, starting from the wide trail that starts behind our camp site under utility lines. That trail petered out near the bottom so I could see how I'd missed seeing it the day before. I turned left to try to reach the bench at the end of the maintained Cascade Trail, but managed to get quite a ways below it and past it before scrambling up through the brush to intercept it. I didn't have the scary steep climb I'd had the day before, but I did get pretty stuck in the brush, and I made it back to the bench eventually and then walked back to the campground and up the campground road to our campsite. Along the way I spotted a Bald Eagle at the top of a tree and kept track of it, and later another Eagle in another tree. Previously I have only had one fleeting glance at an Eagle here this summer. Tuesday evening at the Overlook we saw a pair of Eagles fly over us that I think were probably the same pair we'd seen the day before. The other fun thing that happened as I walked back along the Cascade Trail was that I recognized someone down on the lake as a neighbor of the church in Kings Beach. I called to her and sure enough it was Carol! She'd driven her jet ski all the way from Kings Beach that morning, about a 40 minute ride. A fun Serendipity!

The bench that is the official end of the Cascade Trail that comes from the right side, but continues to the left in more wildlife trails, than a true trail.

It's hard to see in this picture, but just to the left of the tall tree in the center is a dead tree that is at the Overlook bench 1/2 mile from our campsite. Looking up and seeing where that dead tree was is how I knew I had passed the bench.

And eagle in the top of a tree above the Cascade Trail

Perhaps the same Eagle a while later in a tree closer to our campsite

    My sister Theresa who lives in Grass Valley comes up to Tahoe often to camp and escape the foothill heat, so we've had the opportunity to visit several times. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of our recent adventure at Fallen Leaf Lake - beautiful walk along the lake and a whole day of hanging out together.

    I started writing this post on August 4 when we'd just heard of the River Fire starting near Colfax. By that evening it had exploded to over a thousand acres and caused the evacuation of thousands of people, including the town of Colfax and the Chicago Park area where I used to teach school. Yesterday it was reported at 2400 acres and this morning's report says 2600 acres and that 88 structures have been destroyed. Ruth is still out of state camping, but she texted me this morning saying that she knows 5 families so far who have lost homes in the fire. The air quality at Tahoe is the worst it's been with thick, smelly smoke coming from fires mainly to the north of us.

Looking east this morning, August 6

The blue horizontal streak is the top of the mountains across the lake.

Do you see the dot of the sun?

Looking north from the Overlook this morning

Looking into Emerald Bay from the Overlook this morning

Hope to return to views soon like this one looking north from the Overlook at sunset on August 4.

Kitties relaxing

Straus and Elsie sitting pretty