This Beautiful Place - The Sierra Buttes

This hike adventure started the night before, figuring that camping nearby would give us a head start. We arrived at the campsite at dusk, just as the sun was skimming the peaks of the buttes - tomorrow, we hike up there!

Below the campsite runs part of the Yuba River so we explored the area - lots of swimming holes! The campsite had the perfect view of the Big Dipper and our light was soon attracting tons of bugs which in turn brought tons of bats, swooping down right beside our heads in the dark.

The trail begins in a dirt parking lot a good way up the mountain and apparently there are OHV trails that allow you to drive up even further. This trail is pretty steep! I laugh now because we were originally going to begin the hike lower down (on part of the PCT) but there's no way I would have made it - next time! Cresting the initial ascent felt like stepping into the Sound of Music or something; a beautiful mountain meadow, abundant wildflowers, yellows, blues, reds, pinks and floating butterflies, white and dusty blue all basking in the warm summer sun. Perfect for a hike. Below is the first view of Sardine Lakes, the second is of the Lakes from the peak.

The very edge of the fire lookout, on the tippy top of one of the peaks, was my goal and I did it! Although honestly, after my first look over the railing I ended up edging myself around the rest of the lookout. From the lookout is a 360 degree view of the Sacramento Valley, and mountains Shasta and Lassen in the distance, the Sardine Lakes and Young American Lake. At the base of the tower supports there is a small bundle of flowers, a photo and a story of a beautiful young woman who is visited every year by her husband in this beautiful place. I didn't know her, but I sat there for a moment, with "Teddy" just thinking on things. There is no better place to think on things than the top of the world.

Lunch view at the Top of the World!

Grand Teton National Park

I couldn't imagine a better final destination than Grand Teton National Park. This place embodies natural beauty and my heart felt so full and happy here. I mean, just look at this place, water, mountains, forest, sky...all you need.

This is just a glimpse of Jackson Lake beneath the Teton Range. I wanted so badly to swim out in the clear water, under that sky, and lay in the sun all day but these are deceivingly glacial waters and it was actually pretty cool, I wore pants for the first time on the whole trip! 

We camped at Jenny Lake campground in Teton NP for two nights, spending one day in Yellowstone and one at the Tetons. Neither was enough! There's so much more I'll still be excited to do the next time I visit. But by this time we were pretty beat, choosing easy hikes and improvising more but everything is something to see, something to appreciate. Growing up in a similar ecosystem I've always loved this place. This place with so many layers, where I walk through wildflower coated meadows and evergreen forests with a colossal mountainous backdrop and your mind is free and your heart is happy. This place nearly stole my heart, but I think it will always belong to home, Lake Tahoe. On the last hike we found out our trail had a busted bridge so we went the long way around which led us to both Bradly and Taggart Lakes, and as we doubled back we came across the pack donkeys carrying the wood and supplies for the bridge, so we stopped by to check out the repairs. I love the evidence of glacial activity here, hiking over the forested moraines to reveal sub-alpine lakes like hidden crystals under the mountains. I got one last shot just coming over the moraine and revealing the wild below before my battery finally died.

"There is nothing so American as our National Parks...the fundamental idea behind the parks...is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us." I found this FDR quote in the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, as it is formally known, which is super rad with tons of interactive information and big panel windows. I have a thing for neat buildings, having grown up with an architect, so I couldn't let this one go unmentioned! Sorry, these last few came from my phone!

No campsite is complete without some campfire art, so I built a rock circle around this campsite's fire ring to begin. What is campfire art you say? Well, it's when I use my pokey stick that has been charred from excessive playing with and rearranging of the logs (I'm not the only one obsessed with playing with the logs right!?), to draw on large, smooth rocks. Hopefully it brings a smile to the next campers!