I thought I’d share a few more photos of our nonconsumer camping trip. It’s not easy to find a lake this big and this remote in the Sierras. The access to this one involved a nail-biting 20-mile drive that took almost two hours. Luckily my husband is very cool under pressure, because I was practically hyperventilating as the passenger. First of all, it was one lane, so you had to either pull over or back up for oncoming cars. Second, the dropoff was sheer and terrifying. And finally, driving that carefully and that slowly for almost two hours is exhausting! I began to understand why the directions included the promise of “a cold one” waiting for us when we got to the campground. We definitely took them up on it!
This is the kayak we rented and paddled around all day. We pulled up to have lunch on a small island and another time along a beach on the main shore to rest. We only made it a little over halfway across the lake, and we only saw two fishing boats and one other kayak the entire day. That’s what I call remote! No motor boats or jet skis, just the way I like it. I like my wilderness experience served with a dose of quiet.
This was one of the crossings on the raging river, still high from snow melt. One was so high and deep we had to take off our boots and wade in to our thighs. This one we crossed on a log.
Here I am outside our fancy tent cabin, where we sat and read and looked out at our gorgeous view of the lake. It was completely unimpeded by anything except Sequoias. This was taken right before we left to tackle the drive back out. My husband should get a medal for his driving performance.
We didn’t take any pictures of our motel/pool day, so you’ll have to imagine me alternating between reading in the shade and paddling around in the cool water for about six hours. Ahhh.
Our vacation was nonconsumer because almost everything we consumed was an experience (camping, hiking, kayaking, socializing with fellow hikers, looking at the stars, swimming) or consumable (meals and wine). We bought one souvenier each: a baseball cap. But I don’t feel bad at all about buying a memento of a vacation. I still love the gecko we bought on our road trip two years ago. He’s part of the family now.
What have you been up to this summer? Please share your camping stories and nonconsumer vacation adventures in the Comments section.
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