In between house sitting I recently went on a 7 day camping and hiking trip in the Eastern sierras. I have visited this area many times and one of my favorite campgrounds is Aspen . It is located on highway 120 a few miles up from Lee Vining as you go towards Yosemite. Aspen is quiet and peaceful although it has a creek running through with some cascading waterfalls at the top of the campground. The waterfalls can be quite loud!! I actually dreamed of cars crashing one night from the sound of the falls. Here are a couple photos of the campground and the falls.
Fairly nice campground although it does only have pit toilets. It is $12 per night and $6 with the Senior pass.
Normally , in the past I have had my dog Jasper with me but he passed a couple years ago so this time I went into Yosemite a couple of times to hike . No dogs allowed on trails there. I entered from Tuolumne Meadows entrance and nothing was open yet as far as the lodge or campground so it was a nice tine to do some hiking there with no crowds.
My first day was a doozer of a hike as in 10 to 12 miles round trip. Not a lot of elevation gain but a lot of distance. The trail was from Tuolumne meadows to Glen Aulin and beyond .
Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp is an established campground—one of six High Sierra Camps—located in Glen Aulin next to the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park in California, in the Sierra Nevada.
I went just short of the actual camp but far enough to see the series of cascading waterfalls that are just above the camp. Amazing hike. Very beautiful the whole way, Relatively flat and easy. Some uphill but elevation gains of only about 800 ft. for this hike. You have to hike in about 4.5 miles or so to get to where the waterfalls start.
Here are photos along the trail and then leading up to the falls. Right after the bridge , keep going to reach the falls . Just Beautiful !!! And the views are amazing as well. This first group of photos is along the first couple miles of trail as you meander along the Tuolumne river. So peaceful and pretty.
You come to a bridge about 4 miles or more in. Don’t stop here because it is downhill another 1/2 mile or more to the series of waterfalls that are not to be missed !!
The Waterfalls !!! I would rate this hike a 10 for the beauty of the whole trail and the magnificent waterfalls.
The next day I did another hike in Yosemite to Elizabeth lake. This was a 5 mile round trip hike with a 1000 ft. elevation gain . The trail head is located in the Tuolumne meadows campground at the back of B loop. Elizabeth lake is a small lake located below Unicorn peak and the scenery around it was very beautiful.
My next post will be about Lundy Canyon and More waterfalls !!
one of my favorite things about Carson city, besides the mountainous views, is the Carson Hot springs. Wow ! I love this place. You can soak outside in a large pool and 2 jacuzzi tubs or you can get a private room. The think I like about the rooms is that you get super hot water !! The temps in the rooms range from 102 to 109. I chose 107 for the last two nights. I have been fighting off a cold or flu bug so wanted to sweat it out of me. You can also wander outside to use the Hammer ( a very strong fast moving jet of hot water that comes out of a pipe above the pool and pounds your achy muscles). All this for only $15 for a room for 2 hours (senior price ! Yup, I am a senior !) or $20 for younger folks. If you only want to use the outside it is $10 or $15. The place was packed on the weekend. They have a fire pit outside and families come and bring all kinds of food and hang out all day. But, today , Monday was very quite. 
This photo is of New Years eve day . I am currently house and pet sitting with Cody the Husky. Isn’t he pretty ?? He is sweet to. A fairly easy dog to take care of. I am here in my hometown Truckee for another 2 weeks. Then I leave for San Miguel De Allende, Mexico for a 2 month house sit. Woohoo. Looking forward to that. Back to this photo. These are some of my dear friends in Truckee who I spent the NYEve day with . What a nice day. Walking the dogs with lunch and a Bloody Mary after to celebrate the new year !! No better way to spend the end of the year then with friends in a beautiful location.
Sorry to say that this was a disappointment. Started out good with the waiter brought us our wine in huge glasses filled to the brim !! Ha ha. But the food was a letdown. I had the pasta with Mushrooms and marinara sauce which was ok. But, Pam’s eggplant pasta was terrible. Marla’s scampi was pretty good. The salad we shared was great and huge ! This is the kind of place that you go for the size of the servings rather then the quality of the food.
Beaches ,views and sunsets.
Sues Wanderings 