July at Tahoe: More Bears and other adventures

Us in front of the Tufas at Mono Lake, July 6, 2023

In July we would see and chase more bears, watch fireworks on July 4, go kayaking, visit Mono Lake, celebrate Rob's 75th birthday with family, and continue to enjoy our time at Eagle Point Campground, Emerald Bay State Park, Lake Tahoe. The cool weather of June turned into pretty hot weather in July, and it was finally warm enough to sit outside long enough to do a jigsaw puzzle and to read in the summer warmth. One thing different this year because of the all the snow is mosquitos in the campground, something we've seen very little of the past two seasons, but generally they're not too annoying.

First jigsaw puzzle I've done in awhile, completed July 3.

This one was a Mother's Day gift from Ruth and Avi.

Also on July 3!

Rob and I were picking up liter in the campground in the early evening when we heard commotion nearby. It was this bear we named Gimpy, checking out a campsite. I was the first one to try to encourage this big guy to leave, but he was really slow to take the hint. Rob stepped in and eventually encouraged him to go over the hill. He was limping slightly so we think that may be why he was moving so slow. Even though he did move along with encouragement it didn't stop him from checking out the bear boxes and picnic tables in the campsites he moved through. Fortunately the campers had all their food locked up tight. I'm referring to him as a he, but I really don't know if this was a male or female.

Another bear on the afternoon of July 4 - I was the main "chaser" with this one.

Sunset on July 4 as we wait for the fireworks at South Lake Tahoe.

Fireworks as seen from the Overlook in our campground.

Even though we were far off, we still saw a pretty good show, and our location definitely beat dealing with traffic and crowds closer to the action. Several campers watched with us so there were lots of oohs and ahhs!

Wednesday morning, July 5, preparing to kayak in Emerald Bay.

We brought the kayak with us on June 13 and locked it up at the beach, but until early July the weather was too cold for me to want to venture out in it. The beach is near the mouth of the bay, and on this morning I would head across to the other side, early enough to beat most of the boat traffic that enters Emerald Bay each day. I enjoyed my paddle around the lake and found a tiny beach to pull up on near the mouth of Eagle Creek where I would drink my tea, write in my journal, read and knit some. Last year I had several spots to choose from to pull the kayak up on, but this year the lake is near its full capacity and there are many fewer beaches than when the lake is closer to its natural rim.

Heading toward the south end of Emerald Bay.

The yellow stuff on the surface of the water was Pine pollen. Due to the heavy snowfall and lots of moisture the trees released a whole lot of pollen and for many days we would see it on the surface of the lake. Fortunately neither Rob nor I are allergic to it, but it turns everything yellow!

A flock of Canada Geese viewed from my little beach.

As soon as I landed they came out to greet me.

I imagine they thought they might get something to eat, but no luck for them.

Two geese with Fannette Island behind them.

A family of ducks swam by too, with a family of Canada Geese behind.

On Thursday, July 6, we headed to Mono Lake on one of our days off. We stopped there last year when we had gone to visit Bodie State Historic Park, but the visitor center had been closed already and I really wanted to visit when it was open. It was a beautiful day for a drive and a visit to the visitor center and Mono Lake, and to get an ice cream cone in Lee Vining.

Mono Lake in the distance from a scenic pull out.

A zoomed in shot of the lake from the pull out.

Interesting rock formations at the pull out.

I really love the eastern side of the Sierras - so different from the lush forests of the western side.

The Visitor Center had interesting displays and films about the area.

Swallows' nests on the outside of the Visitor Center.

A view of the lake from behind the Visitor Center.

Then we headed to the South Tufa area.

Looking out at the Tufas at South Tufa.

Looking back to the mountains of Yosemite from South Tufa.

Another view of the lake.

Lake, Tufas and mountains.

Very interesting formations.

More formations.

Not sure what the yellow on the water was - too far from any Pine trees I think.

But the black was the Black flies that live at Mono Lake.

There are no fish in the lake, but there are millions of Brine Shrimp.

See the nest on top of one of the Tufas?

Here it is zoomed in - an Osprey nest.

Another Osprey nest.

Since there are no fish in Mono Lake we wondered what the fish eating Osprey eat here. I asked Kaytlen, a State Park Interpreter at Lake Tahoe who used to work at nearby Bodie, and she said they fly to the mountain lakes in Yosemite National Park to catch fish. Quite a trek to get their food!

A Swallow on a Tufa.

Does this look like a child climbing rocks to you?

There are lots of interesting shapes in the Tufas.

Back at Lake Tahoe I was very aware of the Ceanothus bushes blooming incredibly full. There were many locations where the light yellow blossoms really popped out. All of the snow and continuing moisture in the ground has contributed to a real super bloom of flowers and bushes this summer.

A bee on Ceanothus blossoms.

Heading down the Rubicon Trail to the Vikingsholm area at Emerald Bay.

Do you see the Osprey nest on the top of this tree?

A little closer view.

And closer yet with an Osprey in the nest.

A Columbine along the trail.

A squirrel posing on a stump near Vikingsholm, July 8.

Notice the blotches of pollen on the water behind.

Sunrise, July 9, from the Overlook.

And now the sun appears!

Reflection of the sun across Emerald Bay.

Sunshine on flowers, early morning July 10

Sunshine reflected on the lake, July 10.

Other Camp Host Steve and Rob striping the parking lot.

The parking lot for extra vehicles, the campfire center and the Rubicon Trail is just a gravel open space and folks have been not always using the space efficiently. This year our supervisor asked if we could help by striping it. She provided the chalk and striping tool and Steve researched spacing for parking. We were a bit skeptical of how it would work, but it has made a huge difference in the affective use of the parking lot. Steve periodically refreshes the stripes, but they are holding up pretty well and definitely helping to keep order in the parking lot.

On Tuesday, July 11, a day off from campground duties, I decided to hike up the trail that begins at Bayview, just a mile from our campground, to find the snow line. Rob drove me to the trailhead and would pick me up later. Two summers ago I hiked up that trail several times, but not at all last year. It is the closest entry for us to the Desolation Wilderness Area, and like the trail up to and past Eagle Lake it is quite steep. It does include some beautiful views, and I ended up hiking further than I thought I would because the snow line had receded quite a bit from what others had reported from hikes a week or two before.

Entrance to Desolation Wilderness on the Bayview Trail.

July 11, view from above the slide at the end of Emerald Bay on the Bayview Trail.

Granite Lake below and Lake Tahoe beyond.

The first snow I met on the trail, but this wasn't enough for me to turn around.

I met a couple of bigger patches and decided to cross them, but worried about coming back down them.

Snow covering the trail after crossing the saddle between the two Maggie's Peaks.

There was lots of snow at this point, but the terrain was fairly level, so I explored a bit further.

Beautiful granite with a peak view of Eagle Lake.

One day I want to hike from the Bayview trail head over the ridge and down past Eagle Lake and back to Emerald Bay. I'm sure the snow is no longer a problem, but it will have to be a perfect day for such a long hike - well over 10 miles I think.

The west side of Mount Tallac.

Looking out across Desolation Wilderness Area.

My heart thrills to seeing all that granite!

A lovely dead tree standing watch, but for how long.

More deadwood art.

I wondered how this hole got in the rock.

First patch of snow on the way back down.

Crossing this was a bit intimidating!

A narrow passage between snow and rock.

Another big patch. This one was scarier than the first since it was fairly steep.

On the way up I almost stopped before crossing this, but the beginning of it wasn't too bad.

Half way across I considered turning around, but turning around would have been harder than climbing to the end of it. But it's much easier to go up than down. I made it safely of course.

An Osprey flying overhead.

That yellow is pollen on the lake as viewed from Inspiration Point while waiting for Rob to pick me up.

Another puzzle - July 14.

This year I seem to be smitten with Smokey the Bear art.

A bird of prey as drawn in the sand at the campfire center by talented camp host Steve.

View across Cascade Lake and Water fall to Dick's Peak.

This is just above our campsite where I go to get phone connectivity.

Our phones work at our campsite somewhat in the early morning and late evening, but not during the day when there are so many people in the area, and especially not on the weekend.

Looking across to the casinos where connectivity comes from.

This is the view behind me when I took the last picture.

On July 17, Lisa, half of the other camp host couple, and I went hiking on the Glen Alpine Trail up to Gilmore Lake. Her guide book, and the trailhead sign said it would be about 8 miles round trip, but it was definitely over 10 miles. Her husband Steve likes to hike, but not that far so he and Rob stayed in camp to do camp check. It was fun to have a hiking companion. The trailhead is just beyond Fallen Leaf Lake. Driving the narrow road between houses is an adventure in itself, but we got in and out safely.

There was water covering the first quarter mile or so of the trail.

We managed to navigate around most of it on the way out, but due to fording a creek further on, going and coming, we just walked through it on the way back. The cool water felt good on our tired feet!

A waterfall along the trail.

A smaller water fall and pool along the trail.

Glen Alpine Springs - an historic resort along the way.

The Soda Springs at Glen Alpine Springs Resort.

A rustic cabin at the resort.

A gathering room at the resort.

A barn at the resort.

One of many butterflies we saw as we hiked.

Beautiful Desolation Wilderness.

We hiked along this creek for awhile before having to cross it.

It looks narrower here than it really was.

When we came to the crossing there was a log jam that Lisa started across on, but it wiggled too much, so we just walked through the water that was probably about a foot deep. I thought my wet shoes and socks would bother me, but it was actually rather refreshing, and so much safer than crossing on the logs!

The Ridge above Lake Aloha which we didn't see on this hike.

A magnificent gnarly tree.

More Desolation beauty.

And still more.

A sign I remember well from my Tahoe Rim Trail hike 7 years ago.

This is where a short spur trail turns off the PCT and TRT to Gilmore Lake.

Beautiful Gilmore Lake.

I have camped here at least twice in the past on back pack trips, but we would turn around here.

Mountain Pride along the trail.

Lisa successfully pulling out a Jenga piece on a trailside set up.

Back at the Eagle Point Overlook - early morning July 19.

Rob's 75th birthday, but he was still in bed!

Another view of the early morning sky.

The birthday boy celebrating by picking up litter!

Actually we would go out for pizza with daughter Erin and of course Ice Cream to celebrate.

Erin came up the day before (Tuesday) to camp at Eagle Point, Avi would join us on Thursday, Shawn and his girls would come up on Friday and Ruth and her boyfriend Jody came up on Saturday, so we got lots of celebrating in!

On the porch of the Camp Richardson Hotel after consuming birthday ice cream cones.

Rob's birthday week had a bit of a "hiccup" the day after when we woke up to find out that Ruth had been dealing with a very scary emergency in Colfax. She woke up just before 1:00 AM to the sound of an explosion and went outside to see a wall of flame across the driveway.

Ruth took this picture after securing her daughter and her vehicles.

The remains of the shed and LOTS of stuff.

My next blog will be about the shed fire, but for now, know that it was just stuff, and all people and animals were unharmed! After the blog about the shed fire I will continue with Rob's birthday week and the rest of July at Lake Tahoe.

Elsie and Strauss in Colfax