Fourth of July 2009- Pinecrest Lake

For the first time in 4 years, we were able to make it up to Pinecrest for the 4th of July!! We had a great time relaxing at the cabin and spending time in nature. We decided to make the hike to Waterhouse Lake on the 4th since it had been over 15 years since we last made the trip. It is a beautiful hike through the immigrant wilderness down to a Lake at about 8,000 feet.

Michael had no idea what he was in for when we first started. The trail starts off fairly flat through some pretty meadows and streams. Then you climb down a cliff several hundred feet. It is hard enough to go down, but I tried not to think about the coming back up part of it all.

We had a great picnic lunch on the side of the lake and enjoyed being together. Hiking a trail like this makes we want to move to the mountains and do this every weekend. What could be better than spending time with family surrounded by the mountains that God created.

On Sunday we make our anual trek to Strawberry via the Pinecrest Lake trail. The best part of tis hike is the fact that there is no bridge and crossing the river can be a challenge. We had a pretty easy time of it and waited for the slower members for the party for over 30 minutes. Finally, we called and found out that they crossed earlier than we had and were almost ahead of us. The worst part was the snake that wanted to hang out while we were waiting. Thank goodness Heather saw it before I did!!