Visiting Sardine Lakes

Sardine Lakes, Calif - Saturday, 25 Sep 2021. 3:30pm.

Once you've been to the top of a mountain, what do you do next? Would you believe, look up at it from the bottom again? After driving most of the way up Sierra Buttes, hiking the last bit including 150 or so stairs stairs to the Sierra Buttes fire lookout and coming back down, we decided we hadn't had enough of the Sierra Buttes for the day. We drove back down the ridge and around to the Sardine Lakes.

Now, Lower Sardine Lake is an easy drive-to spot. There's a paved road right up to it. There's even a small resort there, with cabins, boat rentals, and a small restaurant. Resorts really aren't our thing, though. We drove straight past the little resort onto a rocky 4x4 trail and made the trek up to Upper Sardine Lake.



There's no up resort here. Just all of nature. And plenty of places to hike where there's barely even a trail.

We climbed up a low ridge below the foot of Upper Sardine Lake. From here we could see down to Lower Sardine Lake.



You can see a small beach at the far end of Lower Sardine Lake. That's where that little cabin-y resort is. They'll rent you a kayak down there. You want a kayak up here? You damn well have to carry it.

We climbed down the ridge to the shore of Upper Sardine Lake and sat there for a while. On a rock. Just us and nature.

When we had our fill we went back to the car for the slow ride down the rocky trail.



In beauty I walk. And drive.

Frazier Falls — Dried Up

Gold Lakes Basin, Calif - Saturday, 25 Sep 2021. 4:30pm.

One of the challenges with appreciating nature's beauty is that nature has its own timetable. Come at the wrong time and it may be too hot, too cold, cloudy, smoky, snowed under, or dried out. Thus it was when we visited Frazier Falls in the Gold Lakes Basin today, after already doing a twofer of short hikes atop Sierra Buttes and at Upper Sardine Lake. Frazier Falls is a favorite spot for repeat visits when we're in this area. A short trail, about 3/4 mile each way, leads to a waterfall about 200' tall. Except today the waterfall is dry.




The fact Frazier Falls is dry right now both is and isn't surprising. It isn't, because this is late in the season when many California waterfalls slow to a trickle. And this year is a drought year. Waterfalls that run low flow in normal years could be no-flow right now. OTOH this is a bit surprising because we've come here late in the season before and still found water. In fact it was on a trip to this falls many years ago that Hawk and I got engaged, and Frazier Falls was beautiful then. That's why we're here this weekend, celebrating our anniversary.

On the plus side, we had the area totally to ourselves. After sharing other sites today with numerous other groups there was absolutely no one else on this trail.

Dinner's Good, Masking Isn't

Back in Truckee, Calif - Saturday, 25 Sep 2021. 10pm.

We're back at the hotel after a good day driving and hiking in the Gold Lakes Basin. After our last hike at Frazier Falls we headed down the mountain to the small resort town of Graeagle in search of dinner. It would be a lot closer than driving back to Truckee for eats. The choices there are relatively few as it really is a small resort town, but we figured we could eat outdoors at a hamburger stand at the town's one intersection if nothing else. Well, the hamburger stand was closed— for the season, apparently— but that was okay because we'd already found a Mexican food restaurant on Yelp. We were in the mood for Mexican food.

The Mexican restaurant was like a stealth Mexican restaurant. Its name was White, middle-American; its look was White, middle-American; and its clientele were almost all White, middle-American. Most of the menu items had White, middle-American names, too, but they were basically all Mexican dishes.

Also White, middle-American was the level of mask compliance at the restaurant. A sign at the front door stated that everyone entering was required to wear a mask, by restaurant policy and county health order. "Don't be a Maskhole," the sign warned. But upon entering we saw that more than half the staff were working without masks. Over the course of the evening most customers entered without masks, and nobody said a thing to them. Thankfully there was well-spaced outdoor seating for us.

People ignoring mask rules is common at the hotel here, too. Here, like at the restaurant, signs on the door and at the front desk state that by business policy and county health rules masks are required everywhere indoors except in private rooms. Yet while here, at least, the staff are wearing masks, mask compliance among customers is about 25%.

It'll be nice to get back home to where it's nearly 100%.