Wildfires, A Bear and Plague

After 3 days and 1222 miles across Western Colorado, Utah and Nevada, with 578 of those miles on 

The Loneliest Road in America

the “bubble” landed at Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe.

Greeting us at the campsite were permanent residents,

Mr. Steller's Jay and his rather large, noisy family

Mr. and Mrs. Marmot

A large family of begging Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels

Even though they were persistent, we refrained from feeding.

We don’t think this gal/fella is a permanent resident but maybe a frequent guest that sauntered through our campsite as though it was familiar territory.

Linda was quietly reading when a person on a bike called out that there was a bear behind her. She screamed and ran to her door. The rest of us were inside; photos were taken from the door. 

The critters were cute and quite entertaining but after seeing this sign

we were constantly on guard that they did not crawl on our feet or legs. There were LOTS of them running around, so guard duty kept us pretty busy and after awhile they became pretty annoying.

Disappointingly, the beauty of Lake Tahoe 

Photo from 2012

Photo from this year.

was diminished due to smoke from wildfires.

The smoke was noticeable but tolerable where we were camped but pretty dense as we drove to the Truckee River in Tahoe City on the north side of Lake Tahoe.

With poor air quality, strenuous outdoor activity was not advised (not to mention a few minor injuries in the bubble), so we decided easy hikes were in order.

Upper Truckee River 

Upper Truckee River Trail

Fallen Leaf Lake

If there is a garden to be found, Linda and ABN will find it! 

This one was found at Tallac Historical Estate next to Camp Richardson. (Love these boxes!)

In spite of COVID-19 and the wildfires, lots of people are spending time at Lake Tahoe, especially at the beaches.

Most were wearing masks as there are posted signs in South Lake Tahoe warning of $100 fines for those not wearing masks. Apparently the locals are not happy with the masses, especially those attending large events.  We understand a protest is being organized for Sunday. Fortunately we left on Saturday!

The “bubble” is moving toward Oregon, hoping the wildfires do not follow. Plans are changing as the fires are active in areas we had planned to visit. It’s all part of the adventure. 

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A View of Which We Never Tire

Lake Tahoe is one of our two favorite places for beautiful scenery. (The other is Glacier National Park.) We have made several day trips over the years, but this is the first (but hopefully not the last) time we have camped here. We really liked Fallen Leaf Campground, located a walking distance from Lake Tahoe.

Fallen Leaf Lake, a short distance from our campsite, was serene and seemed like the perfect place to sit and ponder. However, with gale force winds we didn’t linger there for very long.

The Wanderer was quite content tucked among the pines while we explored the area.

Wednesday the winds continued to be very strong so we elected to walk on the path and trail from the campground along south shore of Lake Tahoe.

Thursday was a much better weather day with sunshine, temps in the 60s and a decrease in wind. We drove to the north end of LakeTahoe and hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail

to Picnic Rock for a magnificent view of Lake Tahoe.

For us, this is just an enticement. So many trails and bike paths to explore, we hope to return and stay a little longer.

But now we must wander on down to Placerville and check in with our wine maker, musician friend, Bill.

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