Day 130: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, CA

So, after a great time in Tahoe with the Ryders, it was time for us to set off.  We originally thought we'd head across Nevada to see Great Basin National Park but, after doing a little research, we discovered that the park was over 7 hours away and very remote.  Also, a lot of the park appears to require a 4-wheel drive vehicle and some of the services had already closed for the season.

Hmmm.

What I really wanted to see at Great Basin was the Bristlecone Pine trees.  Turns out there's a grove in California and we had been near it when we were in the Death Valley area!!!  So, in typical fashion, we retraced our steps....

 

....and it was worth it.  These trees are magnificent.  They grow at 9000+ feet in elevation with hardly any precipitation and some are over 4000 years old!

The wind and elements strip the trees of their bark and erode the soil from around their roots and they still live on.

 

Some eventually die but even dead they're extremely beautiful.

The White Mountains are in the distance.

 

Which, by the way, contain the southernmost glaciers in North America!

 

Glaciers make Angie jump with joy!

After a great morning with the ancient Bristlecones we headed east back into Nevada, which made Willie a bit upset, but we're just passing through on our way to Utah...

Days 126 - 129: Lake Tahoe, with the Ryders!

So, the day has finally arrived.....Scott and Amy Ryder are here!!  They are our dear friends from Austin and we were so excited to see them.

They found this awesome house in Carnelian Bay, on Lake Tahoe.  Check out LeTigre lurking under the deck.  Perfect for her!

 

Also perfect for Kipper.  This house is super dog friendly.  Doggie toys and treats and beds were everywhere.

 

They even provided this tag for your pup!

 

After we got all settled, we wanted to check out the area and stumbled upon this short hike to a volcanic peak overlooking the lake.  Lake Tahoe was carved out by a huge glacier, but there was also volcanic activity around.  This is Eagle Rock, a lava plug.  So, no eruption, just a slow growing mound of lava.  Cool.

 

The other super cool thing about where we were, besides the beautiful scenery, is that is completely dog friendly!  Kipper was able to go everywhere with us.....

 

.....off-leash, even on top of the lava plug.

 

Since the lake was carved from a glacier and is fed by snowmelt, it's super clear.

 

And it's huge...about 22 miles wide.  And deep...it's the second deepest lake in the US, after Crater Lake. 

 

It's not a party until there's a puzzle being put together!  Shrinky-dink!!!

 

Scott and Amy rented a car so we didn't drive for 4 whole days!!  Scott was nice enough to drive us around.    Beer run!!

 

Like I said, Carnelian Bay is super dog friendly.  All the dogs just run around, off-leash.  Here, Kipper is making some new friends, via the butt sniff.

The boys trying out the hot tub.  But first, they had to fix it.  There was a short or something, but they figured it out.

 

On our way to another hike.  This one is 4.5 miles up to Ellis Peak and Ellis Lake.

 

We passed some snow on the way.  Maybe this will be the Ryder's Christmas card?

 

Amy and I sitting down for lunch at Ellis Lake at the bottom of a talus field.

Ellis Peak.

 

Ellis Lake

 

Scott and Kipper share a moment.

 

The views were pretty amazing. 

 

Relaxing in the hot tub after our hike.  It was a great visit, full of food, laughs, games, hikes, dogs, and did I mention food?  Thanks so much Ryders!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 125: Travertine Hot Springs, CA

Angie has been wanting to find some natural hot springs, not the kind where the water has been diverted into a big concrete pool (see Thermopolis blog) but  literally a hole in the ground.  We spoke with a really nice, knowledgeable Park Ranger, Paula, at Mono Lake and she told us about a hot spring that we'd pass on the way to Tahoe.

So after Yosemite, we drive to Brideport, CA, stop at the local Ranger station, and pick up the hand drawn map.  "Take the dirt road to the right and go past the shootin' range..."

A little further up a bumpy dirt road and voila!

Pay dirt!

Hot springs with a view!  Sawtooth range in the distance, part of the Sierras.

There were several pools that people had made with the materials at hand and temperatures varied depending on how close they were to the water source.  Pretty cool, I mean hot!