{Dog-Friendly} Lake Tahoe

Itching to get out of the house in the safest way possible, we took a little road trip to Lake Tahoe. It was a great choice since we were easily able to hike, swim, and kayak while keeping our distance. It was even better because the scenery was unbelievably beautiful!

Our first stop was in Emerald Bay State Park, where we hiked to Cascade Falls. The hike itself was pretty easy, but Indy did have to scramble over some rocks for a bit. He was pretty tired once we got there, so he was able to relax...right in the middle of the waterfall. Goofy dog.

We grabbed lunch at Sprouts Cafe (which was super yummy!) and then checked in to our hotel. We stayed at a place called BaseCamp, which was right on the CA/NV border. It was a great little spot for us and Indy was happy for the chance to rest!

The next morning, we hiked over to Secret Beach and Chimney Beach. This beach is dog-friendly and honestly SO beautiful. We couldn't get over the water's color and the snow-capped mountains behind. Indy happily swam to his heart's content and then we hiked back up to our car.

We had a quick lunch at Super Tacos (fast & delicious!). After Indy wore himself out, we figured it was a good opportunity to take him kayaking! We were basically convinced he'd unintentionally flip us over in an attempt to swim, but he was the perfect pup and just enjoyed observing the water for an hour.

That evening, we took it easy (basically Indy didn't move for hours). The next morning on our way home near Davis, CA, we passed by some beautiful sunflower fields that we couldn't pass up. It was a nice chance to stretch out our legs and stand next to sunflowers that were taller than me!

It was a nice little break for us, and I really think most people were doing a good job of distancing. We didn't interact with a single person that wasn't wearing a mask, except a few folks that we passed while hiking. 

Overall, I'm happy we were able to take a mini vacation. It definitely helped us recharge!

Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park isn't the most well-known of National Parks. To be honest, we hadn't even heard of it until we'd moved 2 hours away from it! We added it to our California Bucket List and kind of forgot about it...

Until we had been stuck at home for months thanks to COVID and were searching for things to do that is! Once we knew the park had reopened, we decided to make a day trip out of it.

Only the West Entrance was open to car traffic, so we drove in and parked at the start of the Juniper Canyons Trail. This hit up with High Peaks Trail, which is the most epic part of the park (or so we've been told).

Pinnacles National Park was formed 23 million years ago when multiple volcanoes erupted, flowed, and slid to form this unique landscape. The pinnacles themselves are eroded leftovers from these volcanos!

Once we hiked up and back down the peaks, we got the chance to hike up to see the California Condors at Condor Gulch Overlook. Condors are another reason why this park is famous! We saw about 10 of them flying around the peaks.

We clocked in at over 12 miles and 117 floors that day - and wow, we definitely didn't expect to be quite so ambitious!  The only downside to this beautiful park is that there is no shade to be found. Luckily we visited when it was around 70 degrees, but it can get into the 90s in the summer and that might be a bit unbearable!

Also, sadly, we didn't get to explore the caves in the park as they are closed to protect the bats from mid-May to mid-July (but maybe longer due to COVID), but we've heard those are great as well.

Up Next: With the international travel situation in flux, we made the hard decision to cancel our upcoming trip to Scotland planned for August. We'll be taking a road trip to Oregon with the pup instead, so we're pretty pumped about that!