Pinecrest Lake - 2007

The week has been filled with work. So, I haven't gotten around to detailing our trip to Pinecrest Lake last weekend.



Pinecrest is on the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas in the Stanislaus National Forest. This is yet another area of California that we'd never explored. Lucky for us, our good friends managed to secure the use of a cabin on the shore of this pristine lake.

The cabin is only accessible via boat or a long hike around the lake. So, we had to boat our supplies to the crash pad. Here we are on our way to an excellent weekend:



Summing up the trip is difficult. There were so many funny moments and clever phrases. There was a 3 hour trail run that I'm pretty sure our friend Tim will never fully forgive Mike for dragging him along on. There were filthy, filthy kids who made mud pies, fished, swam, scaled rocks and practiced archery:



We also saw an abundance of wildlife - beavers, snakes, hawks, a centipede on Mike's trembling hand, squirrels in our cabin and a pesky little raccoon. This little raccoon was not shy at all. At one point, he climbed right onto the deck with us. Here he is sizing us up:



In between all of the looniness



and hopping,



there was plenty of relaxing



and sunsets to savor while on rocks still warm from the day.



It's astonishing how a weekend with fabulous friends in scenery that is beyond description can tickle your soul.

(This is not me. This is our friend Kim. I wish I looked that good.)