Journeys›Photograph

Birthday Weekend at Lake Spaulding

·Nevada County, California·#summer#lake life#lake tahoe#sierra nevada#daily-life
Brown birthday cake with 'Happy Birthday Lia!' in frosting, adorned with strawberries, white pearls, small flowers, and candles, on a woven mat.

Birthday weekend, marked with a chocolate cake — strawberries, little chamomile flowers pressed into the frosting, candles that never made it into the top before the writing went on. The cake came first; the lake came after.

We drove out from Truckee to Lake Spaulding and spent most of the day working along the shore. The water is low enough that the walking was all rock — a wide gravel band between the trees and the edge, with old driftwood and boulders to pick through. Around one point a whole fleet of kayaks was pulled up on the gravel, reds and greens and one aluminum boat with a motor, their owners somewhere out on the water.

The far end of the lake climbs into granite, and the wind kept the surface moving all afternoon. Somebody was standing way out in the shallows, too far off to tell if they were fishing.

A lake with a rocky, dry shoreline and fallen logs, surrounded by forested mountains under a partly cloudy sky.Colorful kayaks and a boat are beached on a rocky lake shore with a person, dense forest, and mountains.A clear blue lake framed by tall pine trees, with a large forested mountain in the background under a blue sky.A blue lake with a rocky shore, surrounded by green forested mountains under a partly cloudy sky.A lake with forested mountains under a blue sky with white clouds, and a rocky shore in the foreground.A wide view of a clear blue lake with a rocky shore and densely forested mountains under a blue sky.A lake surrounded by forested mountains under a cloudy sky, with rocks on the shimmering shore.A scenic lake with a rocky shore and forested mountains under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

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