After spending a whirlwind 4 days visiting with friends in both large and small groupings, hiking to favored alpine lakes, shopping at Briarpatch Co-op (twice!), and having my hair cut by my long-time haircutter and friend Dawn, we left Nevada County. After lunching with our Carson City family, we drove the long, slow road around most of Lake Tahoe, to DL Bliss State Park.
The campground is high up on the cliffs that make up the huge bowl which Lake Tahoe fills magnificently. We had hiked and ridden our mountain bikes all around this area when we still lived in NorCal–always fascinated by the exquisite color and depth of the lake–but this was our first time camping in the area. Our campsite was sweet, and only a short walk from the famous Rubicon Trail. We hiked 8.5 miles on this steep, rocky, dusty, and well-built trail to the lake, then all the way back up!
It was a hard hike but the quite glorious scenery of wildflowers still in bloom, as well as the magical colors the lake water were the reward.
