Lakes, Waterfalls, and Sky

Eagle Creek

Before I finish the Maui Diary, I have to tell about our outing to Lake Tahoe last week. We were with Mr. and Mrs. C at their cabin, which is a true and rustic cabin with thin walls, so we wore our wool socks and flannel pajamas during the chilly mornings and nights.

Emerald Bay

But midday, on the trail to Eagle Lake, the temperature climbed to about 70° and the sun was hot. The warm air brought out the nutty scent of the cedars and other trees of the forest.

At our destination we ladies stepped into the melted snow of the little lake that is about a mile's hike above Emerald Bay. Patches of snow were still hugging the shore of the lake all around, and the willows were barely in bud.

Eagle Creek streams out of the lake and flows over falls on its way into the bay. From lower vantage point we looked out at the little island, the only island in the whole lake. The squarish thing at the very top is the shell of a tea house that was built there in the 1920's. I've never been out to that island or on the lake in a boat.

Fannette Island

When our husbands went to the Nevada side of the lake one day for guy activities, we wives shopped for food and other supplies. Mrs. C found some blue champagne glasses at a thrift store, from which we drank wine the next evening out in the back yard. I sat in a comfy camp chair that laid my head back such that this was my view, of a pine-rimmed sky.

The mini-vacation was soon at an end, and Mr. Glad and I had to say good-bye to our friends and drive back down to the flatlands. But not so fast -- we stopped to take another short hike to a place where we might get a good view of Horsetail Falls off Highway 50.

Picture of pussypaws (and lupine) by Pippin, I think

There hadn't been wildflowers on our walk to Eagle Lake, so I didn't feel so bad that day about not bringing my camera along. This day I left it in the car again ! and here, where we lost the trail that wandered over vast granite slabs, blooming pussypaws and purplish succulents were growing out of crevices, and red-orange pillows of moss made a splash in the shade of a downed tree. This picture is from another place and time, but I didn't want to leave anyone wondering what the flower looks like.

We did get a good view of the falls, but my favorite part of this walk was the fields of rock, which I had missed since last summer. It was a satisfying finish to a springtime getaway.

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