TRT

Whenever a holiday came up, Paul would go bird watching and I would play tennis.  We were both happy, but something was missing. It’s been a fun change for us. . . . some holidays we go hiking TOGETHER.  What can be better than spending time with your best friend?
Paul picked out our hike.  With lots of birding adventures under his belt, he knows a lot of cool places to go to.
We went up to the lake and drove up a dirt road to get to our starting point. I never knew our car was an off road vehicle but apparently it is!

After lots of twists and turns and dips, we reached our starting point. . .

(TRT = Tahoe Rim Trail)  Paul grabbed his camelback and binoculars while I armed myself with a hiking pole and my camera.
Let’s just say one of us is used to these trails and the other was huffing and puffing. . . in which case you have to find excuses to catch one’s breath. . . thus we have photos!

While it was mostly deserted, we did see:

• 3 hikers going the other direction
• 3 bike riders zipping by
• a man with a horse and a dog

This is Paul pointing out the bear he claims he saw . . .

Paul likes figuring out what kinds of trees we see too. . . .

After what seemed like hours,
we reached our destination . . . a bench overlooking the lake where we had decided to eat our lunch.

Why does the hike out always seem a bit shorter?  Perhaps it is because it was mostly downhill. 
Nevertheless I was getting tied and required alternate entertainment!

see the bird on the rock?  Yea, me either. . .
but if you look closer. . . near the top on the left. . .

I’m not sure he was ready to leave. . . there are usually phone calls and people wanting something out of him waiting. . . .

but leave we did. 

It was a great day spent with Paul.  It was nice to not have any “outside” distractions.