A room with a view for the weekend....

     It  was a fall weekend in October when we decided to try a new camping spot in Tahoe at 8600ft.  The one requirement is our room had to have a view and be close to a hiking trail. It had both!!!

                                        

   

                                   

    

                   Even Murph was taken in by the views..         

 

 

                    The road up was very tough, but once we started hiking the next day it was all but forgotten. Yeah... after breakfast it was time to start doing some hiking on the TRT. The Tahoe Rim Trail up past Rifle Peak over towards Rose Knob. 

The TRT is a 165 mile loop trail around the Lake Tahoe basin. The idea for the TRT was a idea by Glenn Hampton, a recreation officer for the Lake Tahoe Basin Managemnt unit way back in 1978. I think he was way ahead of his time with how busy this trail can get in the summers.  People always  ask,"what's your favorite section of trail?"  That's easy. The one my feet are on... 

  The TRT has everything you could want. This is a section                  coming through the long green tunnel.

   The long green tunnel to open vistas.

Just a beautiful fall day. We are very lucky to have a camper that can take us to places we enjoy!!! 

       Break spots are great spots for training, but who is training whom....

 We decided to double back and have lunch on Rifle Peak. I tried to find out why it was called Rifle Peak, but could not come up with anything. All I know it is a sweet spot and the skiing can be very good.  Especially on a sunny February day, when you can find some corn snow.

   

 I do believe Cathy said she could see the ocean!!!

We wanted to spend a weekend close to home and try out a new camping spot without having to go very far....how lucky are we to have this place to call home. Thanks for joining us on this getaway.  Cathy and Kevin.

Searching for backcountry gold

This is about the search for gold, not the gold that you put in rings and is real valuable. This gold does have real value just different value. It is the white kind. The kind that falls from the sky when we do have a winter. Yup, snow!  This is going to be about the winter of going out in the backcountry looking for that gold and hopefully our pop up will come in handy at some point... So I hope you enjoy a journal of backcountry skiing.

The first hike came just after Christmas on the 27th of December. It also came after a nice little storm which also brought some cold temperatures. At this time of year with low sun angle and low temperatures the powder can last for days. This snow was just about the best snow the Sierras can offer and it had low avalanche danger. However, you just had to earn it the hard and fun way!!! You know "earn your turns."

My backcountry partner of close to 30 years and I decided to go up to Kev's ridge, yes it is named after me. It sits just behind my house, so we know the area well.



First light!

If it is going to be winter it might as well be cold!! 

Breaking trail is just part of the deal.

The kind of gold we were looking for

and views we were looking for.

Even Murph was licking his chops

and waiting for us to get our act together.....not sure if videos will even work, but gave it a try. You just got to trust me that it was very good coming down on this day

Another day with more outstanding views.

Just keep the tiny bubbles pointed uphill

to get rewards like this.

and turns right into the lake

Hike up, ski down, and hike up makes you want to celebrate.

So what do you do when the weather changes and has high winds, lots of snow, warming temps(that is 3 out 5 on the avalance scale), and even started to rain?  You go out into the woods and play with the avalanche beacons. We like to hide one beacon and the other searches for it

with the rain the skiing wasn't a very attractive option.  So it was time to put on the snowshoes and have some fun with the beacons.

I do believe I would be in great hands if anything did happen.I also came up with the idea to start training Murphy and see how he handled being a avalanche rescue dog.

He found the glove, but I think it was more he found the treat inside the glove.

He also didn't want any aid from no beacon.  Boy the training you would need to do this, would require lots of patience, not to mention treats....  hats off to the ski patrol who train their dogs to perform this very valuable job

this is one last picture to close out the month of January.  Next up is February.  My goal is to keep getting out and Take More Pictures!!!!! Did you know randonee is french for can't tele.... it use to be on a bumper sticker back in the day...  My other favorite is free your heel, you'll free your mind....  I say these things because there is something blowing in the wind for the month of February......

Lake Basin shakedown trip 2015

About 1 hour and half drive from Tahoe is one of my favorite spots for a quick getaway.  The Lake Basin area.  This would serve for our shakedown trip for 2015.  I find I have to take the camper off for the winter and just stare at it wishing it was on the truck.  But, it just becomes to hard to remove the snow when you have no garage.  Lake Basin is a great area for loop hikes of all lengths and for some world class mountain biking on different trails.
  http://www.mappery.com/map-of/Lakes-Basin-Recreation-Area-Trail-Map. What is sad is gold lake rd should be closed this time of year or at least the trails not even open for hiking or biking.  But it is and nobody is around.  We had the place to ourselves.  We decided to stay at the Lake Basin Campgroud which is where one of the trailhead starts.  It made it nice for leaving the top up, testing the solar panel and just leaving the camper to start hiking.  No driving!!

After a great breakfast it was time to start hiking.

it is still early season so the bugs where not bad.

Some of the tress up here will tell you everything you need to know about the area.

The Phlox and Buttercups(I believe) were out and about enjoying the great weather.

Of course this hike served for Murphy's first official hike with the new packs. What do you do when you see snow?  You still try and roll in the snow with the packs on, of course

But Murphy decided he still needed to cool down.  So a nice cold lake would do

his just reward.

some wood worker has added a very nice bench.

Made just for sitting and contemplating.  Me, I was checking out the snow wondering if that was worth a ski.

Any trip where I get to go hiking with Cathy and Murph is icing on the cake...

 Mt Elwell makes for a nice hike.  The two days were spent just relaxing, hiking, and watching the thunderstorms to the southwest build.  The thunderstorms were interesting, because they were moving to the west instead of the east like they usually do.  If it was typical thunderstorms we might have gotten wet

All in all it was a great weekend in a beautiful place and the camper passed in flying colors.

Of course Murphy needs to check out the lake on the way home....  The End....