Marc's Public Blog

It was a not too long drive to the trailhead which by this time of the season was pretty empty:

had to find the correct forrest roads to get there

Campground was closed by that time of the season

Quick picture at the levy by trailhead

Day #1

We made good time and got to camp 1H before sunset and look at the stars:

Day #2

I used the opportunity to learn how to setup my fenix 7 for hiking

it was late in the season, lakes were pretty dry

lake was split in two

cool to see the age rings on the fallen tree

the day was pretty sedate, 10.5 miles in 7h, only 1500ft of climbing

tried to find a campsite that wasn't too windy

found a good spot

Day #3

a little chipmunk was housed next to us :)

lovely fall colors

quick day out, we were out by noon

That said I was driving back from Tahoe, so that remote location was on the way home and stopping there wasn't terrible. We arrived almost at opening time, but with offsite parking and bussing in, it did burn about 30mn. not ideal but we arrived in eventually:

Finally at the entrance:

It was nice to be in time for Adam Savage from mythbusters:

still has the passion

Fun to see coke and mentos again too:

The dark room was a fun time:

The LED Piano was great to see again:

I also loved the cuttlefish art car from burning man:

Plenty of other expos:

cool hat

electromage

oh my, I had one of those when I grew up

oh, I need one of those

how does it even? :)

cool idea :)

For some reason they also had cars:

This was fun enough, but the new location is not great, I hope they change it back to the middle of the bay area, I don't care if it has to cost more as a result.

there is also decent space behind the seats (and actually if you put the top up, there is more storage space where the top folds in)

got the car cleaned up a bit :)

And time for the drive, normally fine route but it was partially ruined by some cement trucks that blocked the entire road:

they could barely pass one another on skyline

After going across the bridge, nice lunch spot in Napa:

From there the drive to Tahoe was not great, partially because of lack of backroads and poor time planning for the driver, causing us to drive fun and then icy bits, after sunset:

Road was kind of dicy, but made it to tahoe eventually:

Next day had a drive scheduled around the lake:

all ready

nice view

lake on each side of the road

Since this was my first time around the lake, I got to see parts of Tahoe I had never seen before, including the ski resort homewood, so I stopped for a look:

The beaches and houses on the west side, were also nice:

There is also Eagle Rock with a short trail to get to the top and the view:

AFter that comes Tahoe City and Kings Beach:

The loop then takes you back to Nevada:

After that, went back to South Lake Tahoe to enjoy the lights and stores:

Gondola, I will be back

sadly for now, everything is closed :)

A nice halloween display on the west side of the road:

The next morning, we went back out for a proper tour of the lake, starting a short hike up to a viewpoint:

Then, drive counterclockwise this time around:

all the boats are taken out the water and stored during the winter

By the time we arrived to Eagle Falls parking lot, it was overrun with cars, mostly impossible to park unless you got very lucky (we did). Went for a quick easy hike to Eagle Falls and Eagle Lake:

made it to the falls

up the trail :)

chipmunks are cuter squirrels with ADHD :)

finally arrived to the lake

beautiful and curious bluejay

kudos for those who went for a swim

Back around:

Once in South Lake again, the former Tallac Resort was a cool place to stop

the resort was able to save the trees from loggers

It was also interesting to visit the water section where each house has its own water access and boat parking:

There was a bit of time to visit the viewpoints on the east side before completing the loop:

The last stop is I wanted to see Diamond Peak briefly, where I had gone many many years ago, but hasn't seen in 20+ years:

Nice little trip.

Plenty of people showed up:

they even had costumed performers

Glad to see plenty of friends:

kandi masters :)

Of course, I didn't arrive naked either :)

One special treat indoors is you could get tatoos:

The party also had DJs playing in the main room, so you could hop back and forth:

Gem & Tauri

And before long, Seven Lions took mainstage outside and closed the day party:

After the day party was over, the afterparty continued inside Midway until 02:00, good times for all.

Video Summary:

Thanks to Ralf for joining me, it was a lot more fun together

I was specifically excited to the the F22 again, my first time seeing it at fleet week:

As usual, some people came better equipped than me :)

The last bit we got lucky to see F35 demo:

Unfortunately after that, fog rolled in and weather went to shit:

too more planes flew

and fat albert was the last one to fly but by then the weather was too low for blue angels to perform

that's all, folks...

On the plus side, I have seen the blue angels many times, I was most excited by the F22 and F35 which did get to perform, so it was all good.

There are probably few places where in a "small" local supercar display, you get Zondas and a 3M+ Ferrari Enzo, amongst others:

A few other fun cars:

And other fun displays;

Good times.

Lovely running into a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a while:

The highlight for me was Aname B2B Genix:

Thanks to Genix for the picture

Video Summary: