On Sunday and Monday last, Dad took Nathan, Gregory, and me on the first backpacking trip of the season. Leaving the house in the morning, we arrived at the rather nondescript Lake Spaulding trailhead a bit before noon. From there, we set out on a (rather hot) hike to Fordyce Creek. Around twelve forty, we stopped at one of the powerhouses on Lake Spaulding for lunch—and, of course, pictures. There was a good view across the lake, and I was able to identify several of the features we could see.
To the far left, you can just see some rocky crags with a bit of snow left on them. These are the Black Buttes, here seen from the back. In front of the buttes, long, sloping, and covered in trees, is Grouse Ridge. In the past we've hiked along Grouse Ridge to reach Glacier lake, which is at the base of the other side of the Buttes. In the middle of the frame, looking bald and dome-shaped, is Old Man Mountain. I haven't been there yet, but I know the mountain's shape well from a distance. It's quite distinctive, with one side looking as if it fell away in a huge avalanche… in this picture you can just barely see that side, with a little snow on it. To the far right is Signal Peak, a bit flattened on top and tipped with a motley of reddish rock and dirt, snow, and dark trees.Throughout the day on Sunday, I took pictures, many of which were of flowers. In the evening, preparatory to doing a backpacking journal entry on my phone for the first time, I made a collage:
Two of these flowers I knew: the flower to the top left is Prettyface, and that to the bottom left is Snow Plant. The others I looked up (or tried to look up) while preparing this post. The middle column, from top to bottom, has Pussypaws, Leichtlen's Mariposa Lily, and a flower that I was not successful in identifying. To the upper right is Bush Lupine (probably), and to the lower right is Mountain Violet. After a 3.8 mile hike, we arrived at Fordyce Creek. Creek is a misnomer, at least right now—it sure looked more like Fordyce River to me.
There was a predicted chance of rain around four o'clock, so we waited until evening to set up camp. Here it is: my own little corner of Tahoe National Forest.
So, Sunday had gone well. The hike had been hot, and we all would have liked a shower—but it had been a great day. We had gotten nicely back into the swing of backpacking, Fordyce Creek had been amazing, there had been lots of lovely wildflowers, dinner had been delicious. I settled down for the night, thumb-typing away at a journal entry (and wishing that the mosquitos were a lot more self-effacing). Then, in the middle of the night, we had some adventure. You remember I said there had been a chance of rain on Sunday evening? Well, at about two thirty AM on Monday morning, I woke up. The stars were hidden, and I thought, what if it was about to start raining. If it did, I hoped that Dad would wake up so that I wouldn't have to wake him up to get into the tent. Right then—rain can sometimes have a real sense of dramatic timing—it started to rain. Not heavily, but at half past two in the morning I wan't inclined to argue with any precipitation. I gathered up my stuff and headed tentward. (Dad had woken up—he had to shake Nathan awake, though).
To my surprise, I was able to snag this photo by the red light on my headlamp (the more polite light to use in the night). To my mind, it represents quite well the confined conditions prevalent in the tent. A four person tent fits four persons, it is true, but it is more comfortable with one, two, or even three.
When we awoke for the second time on Monday, the day was cool and cloudy. Not wanting to break camp in the rain, we packed up early and started off at nine o'clock. I took this picture at an overlook near where Fordyce Creek runs into Lake Spaulding.
By and by, we reached a place from which we could see a large portion of Lake Spaulding. I was struck by how the left side of the lake was dim, grey, and dominated by clouds, with what might have been distant rain falling behind Signal Peak—while to the right there were still a great deal of clouds, but there was blue sky showing, and the lake was in some places blue instead of grey.
We were sprinkled on a little on our way out, but reached the trailhead again without any serious rain.