Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills of SD: June 2016

Spent 5 days camping at Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Enjoyed the gorgeous scenery on the Needles Highway and at Sylvan Lake.  It's like living in the Flintstone ages in the town of Bedrock.  Pretty scary the first time we took the RV through one of the tunnels; wasn't sure it was going to fit!!  The tunnels are so narrow that only one car can go through at a time.  It was nice and cool in the mornings, HOT in the afternoon so didn't do much hiking this time.  We had been here in 2009 when we did a 7 mile hike to Harney Peak where there was a stone structure that the Conservation Core had built years ago.  You could see the back side of the faces of Mt. Rushmore from Harney Peak; really cool!

Sylvan Lake

Hiking trail around the lake

Interesting bedrock

Trail

  Bubs was recuperating from ACL surgery, so he and I did a slow morning stroll each day from the campground over to Sylvan Lake and back before it got too hot.  Great therapy for him, and me!

Cool rocks  

    

 

Stairway to heaven?? 

Stuck!

 Daryl was teaching an online class one morning from inside "The Ritz" when the park crew decided it was time to mow the lawn in the campground.  Yikes!!  THAT was interesting.....

Contemplating the world.....

Trail from the other side of the lake

   

Pee Wee Falls/Boundary Dam, WA Kayak/camp trip 6/20/16

Had a BLAST with good friends Mike and Suzie Jewell!  Trekked 2.5 miles down a 4-wheel drive road to a gorgeous primitive campsite on the banks of the Pend O'Reille River just north of Metalline Falls, WA.  Unloaded kayaks and hit the water for an afternoon of exploring; numerous water caves, gorgeous rock outcroppings, numerous water falls, and the 200' Pee Wee Falls, only accessible by boat.   So many interesting things to explore, it's impossible to share it all!  Truly a paddler's paradise! Saw a herd of elk cross the river while we were setting up tents back at camp that night.  Great evening around the campfire, followed by another interesting paddle the next morning to Z Canyon, the opposite direction.  A little bit of yodeling anyone?  Thanks for an awesome trip Mike and Suzie!!

Suzie in forefront, Josie and Mike in background

It's a maze of water and rocks

Fun navigating the maze

Here comes Mike

Inside a cave

Here comes Suzie

Here come Josie & Bubbles

Cool photo! There are 4 kayaks in the cave now!

Outside view of the cave

Spray at base of Pee Wee Falls!

Mike checking out Pee Wee Falls

4 kayaks below our campsite

Trying to hide from us!

3 abreast - river like glass

 

Rare shot of all 4 kayaks together

   

Another cool cave       

Coffee's on!!

Morning paddle - like glass

What a fabulous 24 hours!!  Thanks Mike & Suzie!!!

Banks Lake April 2016

Other than the fact that our little guy, Bubbles, was in the hospital recovering from ACL surgery and was not with us this trip, we had a fabulous time at our very favorite primitive campsite of all time, the west shore of Banks Lake, just south of the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington.   A sandy beach for our kayaks, a cottonwood tree in our front yard for shade, waterfowl entertaining us off shore constantly, and no one else around!

Our "front yard".  Cows roam in "our back yard".  There is a sandy beach about 50' from the trailer.  Most awesome!

The weather could not have been better as you can see from the kayak photos.  One day, the lake was like glass, making it such fun to marvel at all the reflections in the water.  

Love the cloud reflections.....

Unbelievable; photo taken right from our kayak!

While clouds roll by.....just you and I!

Like floating on a sheet of glass.

Ducks entertaining us!

Bird Sanctuary

Bird Sanctuary

Heading back to camp for the evening

Steamboat Rock in the distance

Bringing up the rear.

So much to look at!!

See the water line?

It's truly a maze of water and rocks!  Super interesting to paddle around.

The wildlife is abundant.

Bald Eagle during evening paddle

We also had our mountain bikes along so explored a trail that took us over a few hills, through a very sage-brushy, swampy section, and ended up at a private cove on the lake.  Josie ended up with a flat tire about 1/2 mile from the end of the trail back near camp, so Daryl had to get the car and do a rescue.

Mountain bike exploring

Taking a break.

Cooling off!

Hoo rah; we did it!!  It was one heck-of-a trail!

This was our second trip to this site and.......we'll be back!!

8/2012 Olympic Penisula Kayak Trip

A wonderful trip to the Olympic peninsula along the Straight of Juan de Fuca.  I was fortunate to be accompanied by two good kayakers and outdoors friends Mike and Marlene Martin, and my two loves Josie and Bubbles.

It was raining in Port Angeles when we pulled in.  Thankfully it stopped just prior to arriving at our camp destination, Salt Creek recreation area.  The camp rests on a coastal bluff just above the surf.  It is a gift to the senses to lay in bed and listen to the surf and take in the moist coastal air.

I was awaken at 2 am by my sweetie.  Husband wake up, I hear animal noises outside, do something!  She wanted me to be the man, get out of my warm bag and go investigate the ruckus.  I wanted to roll over and ignore the noise but, being a drop dead handsome guy especially in the middle of the night guy I am, I stuck my head from the tent to discover three little bandit raccoons pouncing on Marlene's personal bag.  They had successfully unzipped half the bag and were processing the contents, tossing the non edibles about.  The little bandits were heard raiding other camps across the campground that night and every night thereafter.  Sure glad Bubbles didn't see them, oh man, he'd had the whole camp awake.

What a cool tent!

I was really stoked about our first full day on the Olympic Peninsula.  We decided to paddle out to the historic Dungeness light house, a paddle of three miles from the launch point and about one hour each way.  A very cool experience paddling with the seals and watching the eagles and other birds along the Dungeness wildlife preserve.

On the way

View from the light tower

The Dungeness Light Station

Bubbles getting ready to leave with his folks

On the return trip

The good life after a hearty fish dinner

The second day offered us ample opportunity to surf the waves in the Straight of Juan de Fuca, adjacent to the camp.

Out in the swells

Along the coast

The last day offered an opportunity to explore Lake Crescent in the Olympic National Park.  The water is a magnificent blue/green color and very deep (like 600').

Crescent Lake

Magnificent deep blue/green water

At devils kettle

Our trip is not one of those once-in-a-lifetime adventures.  We plan on doing this a lot!  Enjoy!