In July we made our second annual trip to Echo Lake. 

Going back

This past winter brought so much snow to the Sierras that we worried whether our planned annual stay at Echo Lake would be possible. Would the snow have retreated sufficiently to allow Echo Chalet to open on July 5, as usual? Had the cabins — called “chaletlees” — been damaged by the heavy snow or marauding bears? Craig flew over the lakes several times in the weeks before our visit to check the snow levels and take photographs of the site.

When we anxiously forwarded some of these photos to Kathleen Fashinell, whose family owns the resort, she reassured us — and she was right. By the time we showed up in mid July, the snow had melted, repairs were effected, and our chaletlee was ready and waiting for us. Everything was as we remembered, and we quickly settled into our routine of relaxation.

On (and in) the water

We had brought our paddle boards with us. After last year’s trips, we had purchased our own boards and gotten a bit more practice on the water, so we were eager to try out the new boards on the lake!

Unfortunately, the weather, though beautiful and sunny, also proved quite windy. Even a 7 a.m. start failed to yield conditions that were anything but challenging. Craig and I went out together one morning, and I tried twice more on my own, but the gusts and choppy water made this activity more of a struggle than a pleasure.

As I battled the winds on my last outing, I even had a few moments of doubt as to whether I’d make it back to the dock. Here are the notes I wrote afterwards:

The weather seemed pretty calm this morning, so I went for a SUP (on the water by 7:30). But the water was choppy, and the wind kept kicking up big gusts, which made it hard to move forward. I had to use all my strength at some points to keep paddling and keep the board moving into the waves, which was the best way to avoid falling. I pushed myself to go on for 30 minutes before turning around, but when I went to sit down on the board for a rest, I lost my balance and fell in, flipping the board over.

The water was cool but not unpleasant — not so cold that I could think of nothing but getting back out of it. I was able to use the keel to flip the board back over; then I collected my paddle, which had drifted a few feet away. I hauled myself back onto the board, panting heavily and with heart pounding.

But then I realized that the leash attaching the board to my right ankle was tangled around the end of the board, and when I moved back to free it, I lost my balance again — splash! I again managed to scramble back onto the board — although “scramble” sounds much easier than it actually was! Really, it was a combination of a couple of dolphin kicks and some hard pushes and pulls with my hands, while trying desperately not to overturn the board again.

Anyway, exhausted but triumphant — and glad Craig had asked me to wear my wetsuit, since it was chilly out of the water and sitting in the wind — I paddled a while from a seated position, then moved to my knees, before finally standing up again and heading back to the dock. I don’t think I was ever in any real danger, but I was definitely worn out by the time I got back — especially since I had already been tired from the previous day’s exertions when I set off.

The bottom line? No more SUP-ing on this trip.

Around the lake

Happily, hiking the lake’s perimeter trail is always a pleasure, so we concentrated on that. The Lake Chalet offers a boat taxi from the base of the lower lake where we were staying to the top of the upper lake. You can then hike the three miles back. Altitude aside (7400+ feet at the surface of the lake), this is a fairly easy hike, and we did it every day. The trail offers beautiful views over the lake in its granite basin.

Though the snow had melted away only very recently, flowers and butterflies were abundant. I was especially thrilled to see my first sphinx moth (below center) hovering like a small hummingbird and extending its impossibly long tongue to feed on the red wildflowers (penstemon?) near our cabin.

We decided to skip the hike up to Lake Aloha this year. This was for two reasons: first, Craig had a cold and was a bit under the weather most of the week. But also we had heard mixed reports of the amount of snow on the trail up to Aloha, and the prospect of a hike through slippery snow was not appealing. So we stuck to our more sedate routine this time around.

One morning Craig decided to relax, while I did the perimeter hike on my own. I forgot to bring my hiking poles and so discovered that it’s faster without them! I also stopped for half an hour to get away from a group of hikers and to make a fairly bad sketch of a pine tree.

Other pleasures

Craig and I have an agreement: I’m in charge of meals — planning, shopping, prep, storage — and he takes care of the dishes (and lots of other things that aren’t so relevant here…). This works really well, since each of us feels they have the better deal! Most often, while I’m cooking dinner at home, Craig is nearby reading or watching something on his iPad.

But this year when we arrived, we discovered a copy of Sierra Summers: Fireside Tales to Share with Young and Old, by Margaret Edith Trussell, waiting for us in our chaletlee. It’s a series of stories about coming up to Echo Lake (though she never actually names the place), beginning in the 1930s. We were both interested in the book, so we came up with the idea of reading stories to one another during dinner prep and clean-up. This was a lot of fun — both sharing this time in a different way and learning more about earlier days on the lake.

Our chaletlee shares a deck with another cabin, and this year we really enjoyed getting to know the folks in the cabin next door. Pete and Peg were our first neighbors; after they left, Eric moved in. A bottle of wine, a bowl of guacamole, and a bag of chips make great ice-breakers, and we spent a couple of pleasant evenings hanging out on the deck with these folks, all of whom were very interesting to talk with.

For a change of pace, we went out to dinner in South Lake Tahoe one night, trying a wonderful restaurant that Kathleen had recommended. We also wanted to see a show of some sort but, as we’d discovered last year, surprisingly little is on offer in mid July. We ended up going back to Harvey’s to see Alex Ramon’s magic show again. It was fun — but the show was exactly the same as the previous year, including his “cute blonde assistant,” a long-haired dachshund, who looks like one of her parents (I’ll not speculate on which!) was a golden retriever.

Taking a selfie by the lake is always de rigueur, but Craig complains that my selfies make him look like he has a watermelon-sized head. So he’s always laughingly adjusting his position to minimize that effect!

Here’s to the delights of the familiar: walking well-known paths and falling back into comfortable habits.

You might also like…