by Diane Javonillo
Terry – Wagonmaster
Randy & Diane
Andrew & Josh
Doug
Olga (Guest)
On Thursday of our week at Shaver Lake, we headed north on Highway 168 to the Strawberry Lake which is rated a difficult trail but known to be only boulders and not any large obstacles. We didn’t get very far down the trail when we encountered an unexpected large tree across the trail. There was a tight squeeze around the tree and a small tree that kept hampering our turning radius.
The larger vehicles had a difficult time around the tree, but with the help of our excellent spotters, we were all able to get around the tree without any body damage. On the way back, Josh was very resourceful with his axe skills and chopped-off a piece of the tree to get us through the tight squeeze.
We arrived at Strawberry Lake just in time for lunch. Andrew and Josh got out their fishing rods and proceeded to hike all the way around the lake, but no luck catching any fish. The mountain lake was beautiful and we did take lots of pictures.
On our way back down the trail we stopped at West Lake which was only a few yards off the trail. It unexpectantly started to rain, so we were all scrambling for rain gear. Again, Andrew and Josh went fishing and walked the lake and boulders to find some fish. This lake had large rock formations and was so serene and peaceful with the rain drops coming down.
Because of the rain, Terry scrambled to cover his Jeep with a tarp so he wouldn’t get wet on the way back on Highway 168. As we were driving down the highway, his tarp was flapping in the wind. The rain was starting to come-down harder and he stopped to fix the tarp (to no avail). As we were driving behind Terry, we could see his hand clutching the tarp to keep if from flying-off. We had a good laugh that night at the camp fire telling the story of Terry’s adventures with the tarp.