Pleasant Valley Creek - Shower Lake 7/20/10 22.2 miles

Beautiful walking today. We enjoyed some cook, shaded flat forest in the a.m. and took a break at Yosemite Trailhead, where we crossed paths again with our buddy Kiwi. We continued on and the day continued to get better. We had some small climbs and got some awesome views. We had rolling, grassy hills on one side and rocky, snowy ones on the other. WE walked across some hillsides of endless, colorful wildflowers again, as the nice breeze cooled us off. We walked up and around some switchbacks for a while and came upon a patch of snow covered trail on the steep ledge. No biggie, we've cam across far worse, especially in the Sierras. We carefully placed our feet in the footprints and came across. Almost to the end and I slipped. I got very lucky somehow as I dug my fingers into the snow and stopped myself. Shew! Close call. Climbed back up and needed a breather for a second. Reached a high point to take a break and realized I had cell signal, but not much battery. Gave my Mom a call to check and her and was happy to hear that she was home, but still having problems with getting her levels back to normal. My phone died, but luckily I will get to call again tomorrow in town. We passed many day hikers with some smiling faces as they enjoyed the scenery and sunshine. We came across a nice lake, Frog Lake, and I couldn't resist taking a dip. Chilly but refreshing. We were not in El Dorado National Forest and passed some Information Center Volunteers who shared some of their juicy watermelon. Yum! Came into a nice, green meadow and checked out a cool historic cabin. Talked with Kiwi again, as the vampires feasted on us , so we rushed along to camp. Watched the sun set by the lake and quickly jumped in the tent to avoid providing additional feasting. Cheesy rice burritos for dinner. Town tomorrow! Excited to relax and bit and talk to family. -KB