August 31, 2012 Squaw Valley, California

Oh my, what a spectacular day! The four of us went over to Squaw Valley (1960 Winter Olympics) by Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. We'd seen an article in the local paper telling of a "guided" hike across an alpine meadow, so off we went. The drive alone was beautiful; even went over the Donner Pass. At Squaw Valley, we rode a tram up to High Camp: 6200 ft. up to 8200 ft. From High Camp we hiked along a ridge, from one ski lift to another, all the way up to a ski lift called "Siberian Express", which is 8800 ft. Can you imagine us "flatlanders" hiking around up above 8200 ft? We not only did it, we loved every minute! Regretfully, we were about 2 weeks too late for the blooming flowers. There's no way pictures can do justice, but we tried.....
















1) Donner Pass! 2) The tram went up the mountain on the cables on the right... This was only stage one, there were two more towers, and then we were at High Camp, 8200 ft.
















1) If you look closely, you can see the shadow of our tram car down below. 2) The Olympic rings on display at High Camp; in the background you can see one of the tram cars.
















1) See, the sign confirms it: 8200 ft.! 2) The Wilkinsons!
















1) Mr. Marmot peering down at us. 2) The ski lift called Siberian Express (8800 ft.) with Ruthie and Jimmy climbing up the "hard" trail.
















Flatlanders in mountain heaven!
















1) We took the "easy" route up to Siberian Express, but we got up there. 2) In the far distance on the first peak right of center, you will see the Siberian Express where we had been earlier... Whoa! We took this picture from High Camp.





















1) Big blooms are gone, but there are still beautiful colors! 2) In the valley, the Rings again.

















1) Beautiful Lake Tahoe in the distance. 2) And beautiful Lake Tahoe from up close!