My Pacific Northwest: Graeagle CA Vacation- Part 3 of 3

One of the most beautiful places we frequented was Salmon Lake. The lodge there used to belong to Dave’s family, and it is a very serene and spiritual place. We walked around it, boated on it, fished in it, viewed wildlife and joined in with the lodge guests for a barbeque on the island. The lake, this one being Upper Salmon, is named for the color of the beautiful rocks above it.

Our fishing trip didn’t yield any fish, but it was really fun.

Also, along the Gold Lake Highway, there is a turnout from which you can see very old and disappearing petroglyphs.

Near here, a lodge stood long ago that burned down and wasn’t issued a new permit. Now just the stone steps and foundation, as well as an old swimming pool carved into the nearby stream are all that remain.

Here is a cool PacMan rock we saw on one of our hikes. I thought it looked a little like baby godzilla.

The last day of my vacation, we went for a last adventure before I had to catch my plane. We took the mountain bikes back out on the trails and despite the cold fierce wind, we braved hilltop after hilltop.

It was in the silent roar of the wind that we witnessed this beautiful flock of pelicans soaring over the mountains. They floated and glided on the wind, seeming to dance in the sky.

We looked at another mine site. This one was very unstable and had mostly collapsed already. I really liked the way the old rusty metal roofs melded to the contours of the rocks and ground, like a frosting of rust.

And now for the wildlife. We saw a lot of deer, although they seemed to have a knack for turning their backside to the camera.

There were a lot of baby ducks and geese around too. So cute and fuzzy. Mostly we saw ducks with 6 or 7 ducklings, but one mother duck had 11!

With the warm sunshine, the reptiles were out and about as well. These lizards gave me a suspicious look as I snapped their pictures. The first is an alligator lizard, the second I’m not so sure about.

While we were fishing, Dave clicked these pictures of a mother beaver carrying her baby up the river. They are almost too cute, so if you have a low cute-tolerance level, you should grab a box of tissues or a shot of rum before viewing.