Campers Have Arrived

This and the next picture are the only pictures taken while "working."

Here we are driving up the hill in the gator from the lower campground.

I call this "The most beautiful drive in the wilderness."

This is the view across Emerald Bay that we see each time driving up the hill from the lower campground.

    Eagle Point Campground at Emerald Bay opened on Thursday, June 10, with 80 reservations for the 97 campsites. The first couple of nights the campground was open the nights were pretty chilly so I think some folks opted not to use their reservations, and camp was sparsely occupied. The first two days the campground was open we worked together with David, the other camp host who has been here for the three previous years. Our assigned duties are pretty similar to the ones we had at Samuel P Taylor State Park, but we have two camp checks to do a day instead of one. We go around the campground after 8:00 in the morning just to see what campsites are actually occupied and again at noon to be sure folks who are due out have actually left by check out time at 12:00. One thing we have to be very diligent about checking here is that all food that is not actually being consumed is locked up in the bear lockers. In the evening we drive around selling firewood and checking for left out food. All campsites are pretty much reserved for the summer, but because of cancellations some folks who show up looking for a spot at the last minute get lucky and get one. David, the other host, has his campsite in the lower campground - over a mile down the hill from us. He is surrounded by campers so he gets more people knocking at his door, and he hears the late night parties. We are at the very top of the upper campground with only a couple of sites in view below us. So far we've only had one person come looking for us at night for firewood - we are up a short driveway that has a sign on the end, "Authorized Vehicles Only," so we don't get the "parade" of day users like we did at Camp Taylor. Occasionally I walk over to the kiosk that we can see from our site when the line of cars is long waiting to come in and I walk the line answering questions to hopefully speed up the process at the kiosk. A lot of people come in here by mistake, thinking they can get easy access to Emerald Bay - there is no access to the public to the water by car. From here it's a two mile hike down the Rubicon Trail, but a much nicer walk than the steep mile down from the parking area directly above Vikingsholm - a parking lot that fills up early in the morning. After the first two days we began our three day on, three day off schedule. Today, Friday, June 18, is the first day of our second three day shift.

    Rob hasn't seen a bear yet, but I did see one our second morning here while walking back from my morning bench. It was running away down the hill and across the road below me. The first few nights the campground was open there was no bear activity in camp, but it has now started. Some campers saw two adult bears wander through their campsite a few days ago, then yesterday there was a mama and cub hanging out close to a campsite and a ranger came to scare them away. This morning a camper told me that a bear had tried to break into his "bear proof" ice chest that was properly locked and chained to a tree. The bear didn't get into his food, but damaged the ice chest enough to expose the insulating styrofoam. Perhaps "bear proof" is easier said than done.  

After sunset from the bench at the end of the Overlook Trail.

Rob and I go out there every evening after the sun goes behind the mountains to the west.

An earlier sunset view from the same spot.

    I continue to walk to the overlook each morning to write in my journal and drink my tea. Most mornings I am alone, but now that the campground is open there are occasional campers there too, so I now carry a small backpacking chair with me and sit away from the bench so others have a chance to enjoy the view as well.

A hot air balloon going up near south shore.

This yellow balloon appears to be tethered to a barge. In past years I've seen a balloon go much further - maybe later in the season that will happen. Of course it only goes up on the very calm, no wind mornings.

Looking over Emerald Bay from one of my alternate locations at the Overlook in the morning.

    State park employees and volunteers have the privilege of reserving an "Administrative" Site in other California State Parks than the one they work in if they are available. A certain number of Administrative sites are kept open in case they are needed for emergencies or mistakes made in the reservation system, but some are available for the use of state park employees and volunteers. At Samuel P Taylor there were two Administrative sites, but here at Tahoe close to 10% of sites are classified as Administrative sites and are not in the regular reservation system. We have reserved two sites for Rob's birthday weekend in July when we hope all of our California children and grandchildren will join us. We just learned that, SURPRISE!, our oldest daughter Sheila will be coming from Cyprus for that weekend. It will be the first time to see her since before COVID shut downs. Both my sister Theresa and our daughter Erin are State Park Employees - Theresa is a Senior Park Aid at Empire Mine State Park in Grass Valley and Erin is an Interpreter Specialist at Angel Island State Park. Theresa reserved a site here at Eagle Point for three nights this week, and we conveniently worked out the schedule to have our 3 days off coincide with their stay. They both brought a dog with them so that meant no hiking here, but on Tuesday we went hiking on a trail in Desolation Wilderness that starts just a mile from our campground. On Wednesday Theresa watched the dogs while Rob, Erin and I drove (another employee/volunteer perk) down the service road to Vikingsholm on Emerald Bay. Yesterday, Theresa got an early start home and Rob, Erin, "Yubi" and I drove over to the Tallac Historic Site - a dog friendly National Forest day use area. It was fun to share Tahoe with family.

The five of us on the trail in Desolation - Me, Erin, Yubi, Theresa and Pippin

Me posed with "My" Mountain behind - the ridge of Jake's Peak

What are these birds?

They looked something like pelicans - I can't find them in any of the local naturalist guides.

Erin at Granite Lake where she went swimming - the rest of us didn't!

The three of us on the trail

Erin transporting Yubi down the trail. Yubi did super well hiking, but Erin didn't want to wear her out too much - she has really short legs!

    Vikingsholm, a Scandinavian inspired dwelling on the beach at Emerald Bay was the summer home for 15 summers of Lora Moore Knight. Mrs. Knight fell in love with the landscape of Emerald Bay and purchased much of the land surrounding it. Because the area reminded her of the fjords of Scandinavia she employed a Swedish architect and together they traveled to Scandinavia to get ideas for the design of the house which was completed in the fall of 1929. After her death at Vikingsholm in what would have been her 16th summer there, the estate was sold. It changed hands a couple of times before the last private owner, Harvey West, offered it to the state of California for half of its appraised value in 1953. This purchase was the first part of land acquired for Emerald Bay State Park. What a legacy Lora Knight, Harvey West and others who helped to preserve this area have left us all.

Vikingsholm peeking through the trees as seen from the Rubicon Trail across the bay.

The back door of Vikingsholm which faces Emerald Bay.

The dining room to our right as we walked through the home from the back door to the front door.

The living room to our left.

When Harvey West sold Vikingsholm and the land it is on to the state of California he also donated most of it's furnishings and equipment. About 80% of the original contents still remain.

The living room includes this 1929 Steinway piano which we understand is used for special events.

This "wedding table," like many of the furnishings in the home, is a replica of a Scandinavian antique as the Scandinavian countries were reluctant to part with their antiques. 

The front door of Vikingsholm which faces the courtyard.

Guests to the home would enter under what was the caretaker's living quarters across from the front door.

The home is often referred to as a castle, but it's really just a grand summer home.

Seasonal park employees live in the three bedrooms of the former caretaker's home.

Rob standing by the 1936 Dodge, one of the original cars used at Vikingsholm.

Erin inside the "Go inside" Cedar tree near Vikingsholm.

Erin and Yubi in front of the base of a fallen tree at Tallac Historic Site - a dog friendly place with lots of interesting Tahoe history. I'm anxious to go back soon and more thoroughly explore this beautiful area. 

Some of the first blooming Mule Ear flowers I've seen this season - at Tallac Historic Site.

This isn't a very good picture of a noisy personal aircraft buzzing over Emerald Bay one morning.

The picture reminds me of the wicked witch flying off on her bicycle in the Wizard of Oz movie.

Two bi-planes flying over yesterday morning - they were noisy too.

See the string of rope lights under LesThora?

Someone has said that these lights will discourage rodents getting in the engine - we've had no problems from rodents, but we don't want to in the future.

Yubi meeting Elsie.

The cats were not the least bit afraid of the little dog, but the little dog was pretty unsure of them.

Elsie and Yubi are about the same size, but Straus is definitely bigger.

Straus at the back end of LesThora.

Both cats seem to enjoy looking out the windows, sometimes catching sight of birds or chipmunks, but for the most part they show no interest in going outside. Over the past year Elsie has gotten out a half dozen times when someone left the door open.

 Straus did it for the first time yesterday, but was easily apprehended.