Day 5: Clear Lake

It rained most of the night. Consistent rain drops hitting the tent, making for a nice even beat to sleep to. The morning was chilly and fog lingered in our valley oasis.

After breakfast Mandy and I split from the boys to find a laundromat in town. To save space we did not pack a whole weeks worth of clothes and if we didn't find a washer/dryer today, it would be dirty underwear tomorrow.  The boys took off with the dogs in the Jeep to find a few short trails. Mike took over behind the lens.

Mining buckets

Dead End

The train pulling into town.

We met back at camp for a lunch of tacos-in-a-bag.  After the long tiring day we had yesterday, we were in need of a nice quiet day around camp.  That not being enough for Mike, he and I saddled up the dogs and drove up to Clear Lake. The road was right behind camp, so its not like it took long to find it, but it was 4 miles straight up...

Waterfall halfway up.

Clear Lake sits at the top of this particular mountain.  It was about 10-15 degrees cooler up here and the water was icy.

That didn't stop Rommel from jumping right in

We spent a healthy amount of time relaxing up here.

The reflection in this lower pool couldn't be wasted.

Alas, we couldn't abandon our camp mates for long and descended the mountain.  Along the way, we found them walking up with Meeka. The elevation was killing them and they piled in the back of the Jeep.

It was a nice quiet day. Short and relaxing diversions close to camp. I could get used to this.