Eagle Lake Hike

For the first full day of our trip, Levi and I wanted to go ahead and tackle the most popular hike in the area. Eagle Lake and Eagle Falls are both located right above Emerald Bay, which is a gorgeous cove of Lake Tahoe that gets SUPER crowded as the day goes on. We knew this would be the most crowded hike so we planned it for a week day and we got there at 8am! Our timing could not have been more perfect; for one thing, the morning light was THEBEST for pictures and secondly, we almost had the trail to ourselves! The first half mile of the trail I was second guessing our entire trip plan because: ALTITUDE. Seriously, I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it for another mile to Eagle Lake! I was huffing and puffing like I hadn't worked out a day in my life. Dang altitude. Thankfully Levi is the world's most patient and easy going person so I was allowed many stops to catch my breath. After the first day I started to get more used to the altitude but it was still tough!

On the road up to the trailhead (coming from South Lake Tahoe), you have Cascade Lake on your left, and Emerald Bay on your right. We parked on the edge of the road and took a bunch of pictures. The sun rises at like 5:45 here; these pictures were taken at 7:30am and it was this bright!

Can you see me in those pink pants? I jumped in the shot for frame of reference on how big every thing was!

Narrowest road ever! Also fun fact if you are geography illiterate like me...Lake Tahoe is surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mountains ;)

It looks glamorous but really I was catching my breath after climbing another 50 feet...

Texas definitely needs to step up it's tree game.

We probably encountered 10 other people during our hike up but it never got bunched up or crowded.

To the right of this view is Eagle Lake. It's literally a lake in a bowl of Mountains.

Ta da! The first view of Eagle Lake. We ended up hiking along the edge about half way around it and then turned around.

The water was sooo clear and sooo cold. There were about 4 other people there at this time, but all spread out. Can you tell I focus on what the crowds are like in my recommendation of places?

For you photography people...we took our 20mm along on this trip and I'm SO glad we did! It was a good selfie lens and good for landscapes!

After our hike we had lunch at The Burger Lounge. We actually ended up going here twice during our trip because their menu was so big! We definitely recommend the chili cheese dog ;)

Ok so there you have it! Eagle Lake in a nutshell! As we were leaving the lake for our hike back down, we started encountering a lot more people. That was around 10am. In the parking lot we had people stalking us for our spot- it was like a theme park down there! So many people by that point! Definitely go early :) Later on this day we went to Horsetail Falls and that's what I'll post about next!

- B

An Open Apology

I had to write this down because it's been weighing so heavily on me the past few weeks. I seem to feel like I'm constantly letting someone down and in turn, I feel guilty. The cycle has to stop. Here is an open acknowledgement of where I'm at. An acknowledgement of my shortcomings. Deeeeep breath.


To my friends:

Currently, I'm not the friend I want to be. I am spacy, apathetic, overwhelmed, and stretched thin. I THINK about you all the time. Every single one of you, even if we haven't talked in a few months, I probably think about you at least once a week. Oh I should text/call/make plans with/send a card to/apologize/confront/pray for/work harder on/check in on this friend. These are all things I think about. And some weeks I am able to accomplish them with at least one friend. The past few years, I prided myself on maintaining good communication with my friends, and I also sometimes judged those who couldn't do the same. And then I became one of those. And for that, I just want to simply say,

I'm sorry. Please extend grace to me because that's what I need. I'm sorry there have been times that you needed me to do a certain thing (reach out, call, meet up) and I just couldn't make it happen. I really wish I could have. Just know that it isn't just you, it's everyone. I haven't called my grandma all summer (a sentence that feels shameful to write). I really wish I could be all the right things at all the right times. But here it is... I'm not. I am in a heavy grad school program, I'm trying to take care of my health, and I have depression. It's chronic, it's off and on, and it makes it hard to do just about anything. Please don't think I'm neglecting our friendship because it isn't important to me. The friendships I have right now are some of the best I have ever had, and I don't want anything to screw it up. So I guess what I'm saying is, I'm sorry for my part in things, my shortcomings. I am responsible for that.


To myself:

It's not all on you. The guilt you experience is solely from the expectations you put on yourself. No one can be it all. You can't have it all. There is suffering. Don't let the negative emotions cloud the every day good that you are working on. This is a season, and you don't have to be perfect during it. Friendships take two people putting in the effort, and sometimes it's actually not your fault something isn't working (surprise!). Give yourself the same amount of grace you try to give others. Everybody fails. Thinking about things won't make them happen. Take action, but also give yourself the grace to not be everything. Have courage.

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Aaaaand another deep breath. To post this or not to post this? I guess I'm choosing courage today!

- Bethany

Lake Tahoe: Sand Harbor + Our Cabin

Ok, let the travel photo posts commence! This summer, Levi and I took a trip to Northern California (Lake Tahoe + Bay Area) to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. It was INCREDIBLE and probably our most documented trip to date, haha. The views were stunning and we were completely blown away by the uniqueness of this part of the country. I feel like there needs to be a new term created to describe Lake Tahoe because "lake" doesn't do it justice. We spent 4 nights in Tahoe and then drove to the coast and spent 3 nights in Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco. We hiked and explored so many different places while traveling so I'm going to break our trip up into multiple posts that cover the different places!

We had an early flight on the way there so we arrived in Reno, Nevada around 10am and drove to Lake Tahoe to grab lunch and take it to a "beach" area to eat.

Coming in from Reno there is one overlook location where you get your first big view of the lake!

We grabbed a HUGE sandwich from Mountain High Sandwich Co, which was like one of the top 3 sandwiches I've had in my life. I want it again right now. Highly suggest going here if you are visiting!

For our lunch location, we literally just parked on the side of the main lake road next to a place that looked pretty from Google Earth. That's how we found a lot of the places we decided to go to! There are little informal pathways down the side of the hill and we just followed it until we found a good spot on the rocks!

This. WATER. It's literally insane. So clear and so blue, again, lake doesn't do it justice.

 
Mounts: check! Tall Pine Trees: check! Crystal Blue Water: check! White Boulders: check!

After lunch, we drove a little further south to visit Sand Harbor. This is a Nevada State Park facility and you have to pay to use it. It was totally worth it though. We ended up changing into our bathing suits (in our car in the parking lot because we are classy). The water was ICE cold. Like. I don't know how people were fully submerged. I guess if you are from the north you are used to it but dang it was cold.

This just looks like a fantasy land to me! I love it so much.

Lots and lots of rock climbing ensued.

The world's tiniest chipmunks were eeeeevery where! So cute.

Levi found our cabin on AirBnb, which is the only place we use when we travel! Here is a link to our cabin; we definitely recommend it and want to go back with friends because it can sleep 4!

It looks smaller from the outside but it's actually pretty spacious on the inside!

We had such a good first day in Lake Tahoe, I can't wait to share all the other days too! Please feel free to comment with questions or shoot me an email! We created a whole itinerary for this trip!

- Bethany

Summer Days

It seems like every year summer doesn't truly start for Levi and I until August when camp season is over! Levi was gone for a total of like 6 or 7 weeks in June and July (home on the weekends though!). Now that our schedules have slightly slowed down, we are able to enjoy the river by our house more! Sunday we went to two different spots in Martindale and it felt so good! Since the flood in May, the waters have been super blue and clear. Mosely was loving it and so were we!

- B