The Cabin

Thus ends our time in the Sierras. I've more or less collected some of the photos that were taken at the cabin and the pond (ran out of room, guess there's another post in order) and collected them into this post, so things aren't in chronological order.

So here's the quick low down on the cabin. About fifty years ago, two couples (one set being my mom's parents) decided it would be neat to build a cabin in the Sierras. They each invited another couple to join them. Then they set about building a cabin that could hold quite a few people, but still seemed rustic and small. Over the next couple of years the families worked on building it together. My mom's family was in Europe quite a bit at the time, so at one point, my grandfather flew back and built all of the cabinets on trip. Mom also has memories of nailing the cedar planks onto the walls. Hopefully I'm remembering this right? Mom?

Then after a while, one of the families moved to Florida. The other couples decided to invite my other grandparents to join. Of course, this was before my parents were even dating...  ;P  So I have lovely memories of going here with both grandparents. :)

Here be the outside. It's nothing fancy. And check out the street names... Muriettas Roost refers to a stage coach robbers hangout. Pretty awesome in my book.

The boys playing Dominion. 

Notice all the swim towels on the deck? It may get cold at night, but the air is so dry things dry out really quickly!

We play a lot of games at the cabin! Here Jacob is teaching Grandma how to play nine square. 

And on another day, Dad, Jacob and Mom playing Bingo while Grandma observes.

When I was little this table was SO HUGE. Then in between trips I grew like four inches and I came back and was totally shocked at how it had shrunk-ed!.

Also, when they built the cabin, the group decided NOT to put in a dishwasher. Thus, doing the dishes is an integral part of the cabin, too.

Scot and Juli whipping up a delicious something.

Not a super exciting photo, but it does show the banister. And yes, this a real banister that you can slide down. And yes, I slide down it every trip.

Every laundry/mud room should have swinging saloon doors.

And there's no garbage service either. Here Andrew and Jacob are taking care of that problem.

And just a sample of the awesome decor.... Every cabin should have reward posters, right?

Picturesque Mosquito Lake

Remember this view of Mosquito Lake from my last post... well, this post is devoted to Mosquito Lake. 'Cause it's pretty!

This is the view from the road earlier in the day. The cabins are so picturesque!

Well, on our way back, Dad, Mom, Bev and I decided we needed a break. So we stopped at Mosquito Lake. I've always wanted to get out and explore this little place. My day was made. :)

This is a little rock wall that separates the two lakes.

And yes, there is snow in the Sierras in August!

Bev graciously agreed to take my picture on the big rocks that I love, with the lake and the cabins that I love in the background. So happy!

Near one of the cabins was this funny little rock shed. It had a boat sitting  on top of it.

And yes, the classic outhouse picture. Love!


And thanks to Bev for letting me post her pictures!

And yes, sigh, there were plenty of mosquitoes at Mosquito Lake.

Ebbetts Pass & Grover's Meadow

So in my last post, I left off with us finishing lunch at Lake Alpine and had decided to go to Grover Hot Springs for the afternoon. To get there we get to drive the lovely route of Hwy 4... It's such a beautiful stretch of highway in the Sierras that it has it's own website.Which if you want to see more or better pictures has a beautiful little slideshow!

This is the high point of the trip! Also, as a kid I remember getting such a kick out of the nearest town's propane supply store. It's called Ebbetts Pass Gas. Get it? Hahaha.

I wish I had more pictures to share of the next hour, but mostly we were too busy enjoying the scenery and watching out for other cars on the narrow road! 

But this view of charming Mosquito Lake give you and idea of the beautiful rocks and trees...

And then we come to this. The most harrowing part of the trip. Most of the road consist of narrow (squeek by other cars) windy road that meanders up and down rocky forest terrain... but we've now crossed into the eastern Sierras so the terrain is noticeably drier. 

Also, see that valley floor? That's where we're going... I think it's about three thousand feet lower. And about a thousand feet of that drop is on a narrow road, no rail guard and a nice drop to the valley floor. Eeks!

This is what the ridge looked like. Just imagine a road snaking its way down. Now. Also imagine being in a big van and meeting, not one, not two, not three but FOUR rent-a-RVs coming up. That have ignored the "do not drive on this road if you are a vehicle longer than 25 ft" sign. Plus the ~20% grade.. On a narrow road. With no guard rail. That was a little scary. We had to back up both times. And the engines on these poor RVs were just smoking. And there was a line of cars stuck behind them. We were guessing they were New Yorkers who had no clue what they were doing. And one of the poor women driving the RV looked absolutely petrified.

So this is Grover meadow where the hot springs are located. To be honest, I found the hot springs to be a little disappointing... mostly like swimming in a regular pool. I thought it'd be more nature-y.

But the meadow was more to my liking! In fact there's few things I love more than a Sierra meadow. 

 

This meadow was simply beautiful. Along one edge there were boulders that made it looked landscaped by God. Also the colors of the grass and wildflowers were gorgeous.There's a hiking trail that goes up the meadow, which Dad and I explored it for a few minutes and found a beautiful little creek. 

The Sierras & Lake Alpine

August 17th, 2011 Wednesday

Today we set off on a jaunt to cross the Sierras! Since the cabin is at about 5000 feet and Ebbetts Pass is at 8000 feet, we had some elevation to gain... and then we lost it on the way to our final destination, But I'll leave that to the next post.

First we headed to Lake Alpine. Actually, not. First, the ones in the big van headed to the gas station, 'cause the last thing you want to do is to run out of gas up there! The gas pumps were from the 70s and considering I barely know how to pump gas with a credit card (oh us spoiled Oregonians), I had to have someone show me how to work this one. It was such a novelty to my little mind that I made Dad take a picture of me and the gas pump.

 We bonded.

And we also found out that the little general store/resturant had wifi. Oh yes. A touch with the outside world was sweet for one minute.

Then we headed off to meet everyone else at the view point.



It's pretty breathtaking! And it's even better in person. I need to scrounge around in my photos from last time and see if I have a video. And remember that river in my last post? That's down there, way down there. I think we are at about 7000 feet here.

Next we went to Lake Alpine to have a picnic lunch. We were all to busy stuffing our faces (altitude makes me hungry!) to get any interesting photos with people, but I do have a few scenic shots.







I love Lake Alpine. One reason being that Lake Alpine is a resoivoir and so there are these fantasic granite islands dotting the edges. I think when I was about 12 we went swimming here and it was so fun to swim around the islands and clamber around them. For a little while you were king of the Island. And what child doesn't want there own private island? It was pretty magical.

When my parents were dating, my mom once won 20 dollars from my dad at this lake. So my dad hates cold water, while my mom is a proud member of the Polar Bear Club (motto: if there's water; it must be swum) and was standing on the edge of the lake contemplating jumping in. Dad dared her 20 dollars to jump in and she said "OK" and jumped. I think Dad's jaw hit the ground.

After a scrumptious lunch, we had a group meeting to determine whether to do a hike first or go to the hot springs first. Since not everyone could go on the hike we decided to do the hot springs first, that way others could go back early if they didn't want to go on the hike. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to do the hike, but my goodness, it was my grandparents suggestion to do the hike and it's not often you hear of couples in their mid 80's recommending a hike at 7000 feet!

Next time.... how to not drive fall down 3000 foot tall cliffs. The secret? Let your father drive.