Tahoe NF
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Loney Meadow Tahoe NF |
July 1, 2015
On the recommendation of hikers Howard and Traci, whom I met four years ago over on the Stevens Trail at Colfax, I have ventured up here hoping to catch the season's floral display before it is too late.
I am trying out a new camera today — the Olympus Stylus 1, which I purchased for little more than half the retail price by forgoing a warranty. An admitted compromise, it was selected solely with hiking in mind. I am anxious to see how it performs.
An interpretive trail makes a loop around the meadow, so I'll start with that.
First view of the meadow, at 8 a.m.
Rydberg's Penstemon
Oregon Checker Mallow
Nuttall's Larkspur
Glaucous Checkerbloom
Wow! That's quite a collection already, and I'm just getting started. At this rate, it will be difficult to fit all the flower photographs into this narrative!
The first of many informative signs
Grand Collomia
At the far end of the meadow is a junction with a route leading east.
Lindsey Lakes Trail
One-seeded Pussy Paws
Alpine Lily
A little early-season trail maintenance is in order, lest the trail disappear completely.
Low clearance
Tight squeeze
Lodgepole Pine
Sticky Cinquefoil
Hedge Nettle
Whitethorn Ceanothus
My new camera sure likes the flowers; focusing for close-ups
is a snap. The 28mm lens is a bit narrow, though; sometimes I am
unable to get all that I would like into a scene.
The upper end of Loney Meadow
Now the scenery begins to change.
Traversing aspen forests is so pleasant
Swamp Onion
Sulfur-flower Buckwheat
Horsemint
Crimson Columbine
Finally, some work to do
According to the map, Bullpen Lake is nearby; but there has seen no sign of it yet. Instead, I encounter a sizable burned area.
It is recovering
Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily
Snow Plant
From here, a slog through an uninteresting stretch of forest begets a
junction with a two-track coming up from Culbertson Lake.
This is a good time to stop and clean my camera lens, for I seem to have
placed a big thumb print upon it. Several photos already have suffered.
After munching some gorp, I press on up the roadway.
A relatively unhelpful pointer to the Bowman Mountain Trail
The next lake on the map also remains hidden from my route; suddenly, I find myself at the planned terminus of the expedition.
Upper Rock Lake would look much nicer without the overcast
Labrador Tea
Douglas's Campion
A great campsite. Someone even left a full water bottle.
Directly above the lake is a high point that I climbed just five days ago from another direction:
The summit of Peak 7264 offers unique and outstanding views
The Purdy's Penstemon are particularly photogenic, as always
Upper Rock Lake Dam
Monitoring the action
Apparently it is useful for someone at a ranger station to know whether the spillway is overflowing, because that is all that the camera can see.
Meadow Sweet
Sierra Stonecrop
It isn't far to the lower lake; so I might as well follow the creek. After tripping twice and nearly falling both times, I make it down.
Creekside routes rarely are the easiest way to go
Lower Rock Lake
Spirea are growing in an old log right in the middle of the lake
Lower Rock Lake Dam, with a solar power supply on top
Another nice campsite
A shady trail leads back to the road
The roadway is no more interesting in this direction
This time I find the spur route that had been missed previously.
The ubiquitous creek
Bullpen Lake
These environs are mellow, albeit not overly exciting. It's a good thing that the bugs have taken the day off.
California Groundcone
Coneflower — or it will be
Self Heal
Chicoryleaf Wirelettuce
Atop a little hill west of the lake, I rediscover the burned area. The trail is on the other side, so I plunge ahead.
This doesn't look so hard
Crossing the devastated area proves difficult, with much clambering over fallen logs being necessary. I seem to have learned nothing from prior experience. This was another "Dave Willmott Shortcut" of which I seem so fond. Dave, a former Sierra Club guide, once said to me that "In the Sierra, a shortcut usually isn't". I certainly didn't save any time on this one.
Black Elder
Morning Glory
Back in green-land
Blue-eyed Grass
Bigleaf Lupine
Pine Drops
Even the dead stuff is pretty
Recent studies have verified that lizards have personalities,
but I already knew that.
Mountain Phacelia
Pennyroyal
That guy is toting a 5-pound camera
Miner's Lettuce
Back at the junction with the meadow loop, a left turn is in order.
An easy crossing for a change
Corn Lily
Mule's Ears
Giant Red Indian Paintbrush line the meadow
The trail veers southwest here, directly back to the trailhead.
Trailside irregular — contorted tree
Roadside regular — Perennial Pea
§: Well, what the trail lacked in excitement was more than
offset by the incredible floral display; I shot more than forty varieties
today! My thanks to Traci and Howard for directing my attention to this
area which had inexplicably remained off my radar screen for these many decades.
Another writer compared this area with the well-known gardens in the
Winnemucca Lake area. I'll be returning there in two days myself.
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty | |
| Flowers |  |
| Solitude | |
REPRISE
Four days later, when the sky was clear, I got this much more flattering shot of Bullpen Lake:
