Bear Valley Trip

23-24 June 2005

Jason and Gwen were visiting from Tucson with their new SUV, so we decided to make a trip and do some four wheeling out near Tahoe. Jason's camera also took some great pictures.

Josh's niece, Skye, was in town, so Jonathan joined Devon, Josh, and Skye in their vehicle, and and we headed towards Sacramento to camp at the Folsom Lake State Recreational Area.

That next morning there was some milling around the campsite as we prepared to head out and meet Jason's brother, sister, and father who were joining us for the day.
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We were planning to drive the Blackwood Canyon loop very near Lake Tahoe. However, when we got to the mosquito-infested trail head, we found the entrance locked, and we could still see a few patches of snow on it. We felt like idiots for not calling the park service ahead of time, but it was the end of June, and we had lived in southern Arizona too long where that sort of thing doesn't happen so much.

So we pulled out our guide books, and found the Bear Valley loop trail north of Truckee that looked like it would be our style, only an hour away. So we headed out there.

After a lovely lunch at the campsite near the trailhead, we started in. Helen seemed to enjoy herself playing in the back seat.
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We hit the first big obstacle, and Jason let his sister have a go behind the wheel, while the rest of us watched. Ultimately, Jason's brother got it up the hill.
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We summited a hill with some great views, so we had to stop and take some pictures.
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The trail got a little rough and slow, so Rachel took Helen out and hiked with her for a ways, these shots are after we cleared the difficult patch.
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Here we are at the end of the trail, almost ready to get back onto pavement. All of the vehicles (and people) made it out without any major damage, and fun was had by all.
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In true field-trip fashion, I will note that we didn't get back to our house in Sunnyvale until midnight that night.

-Ross Beyer

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