Dear Soul,
"A man cannot step into the same river twice, because it is not the same river, and he is not same man." -Heraclitus
A little backstory before we begin: This trip was very special for many reasons: Our first tent camping as a family of four, on a lake, with our very own and new ISUP (Inflatable Stand Up Paddle Board), which is the recent obsession of my DH. We were very disappointed when our housekeeping camp reservation at Yosemite National Park was canceled for possible flooding of Merced River just a day before the trip. What’s July 4th without camping and grilling? So, I desperately started looking for camping options on recreation.gov when I found a two-night window available at Pinecrest campground. Knowing very little, but since it’s a lake, I went ahead and booked it. Little did I know how popular it was, and how lucky I was to find it at the last minute.
Saturday, July 2, 2023:
Since it was a very hot day, we started early before 8 AM and the drive felt alike to Yosemite, as we drove past the Oakdale; we even stopped at our favorite picnic spot in Oakdale - Oakdale Cheese! It’s totally worth it with its beautiful Koi ponds, petting zoo, friendly cats, clean restrooms and grassy areas with picnic tables. The area around lake was crazy packed when we reached, so we had to park far on Dodge Ridge Road and walked to the lake. There were lots of canopies and tents set up on the beach already, and hundreds of people already grilling food (made me hungry), picnicking with music, adults and kids alike chilling in lot of inflatables in lake. The beach was nicely shaded by the many pine trees all around the lake, but the water was just COLD!
Pinecrest Campground (and others nearby) is in Stanislaus National Forest, located right off the Lake Day use parking lot(free), run by Dodge Ridge Corp by special-use permit administered by USFS. It is extremely popular and kid friendly with its proximity to the lake, several activities and amphitheater playing movies every night.
Luckily, they let us into campsite by noon and we cooked a nice lunch using our new camp stove. We set up our tent, changed into swim clothes, took our new paddle board and went to beach. Played for a while on lake. DD2 took a nice long nap with me on the shore and we returned to campsite for a sumptuous dinner. We went back to amphitheater and loved the vibes there.
Sunday, July 3, 2023: Happy GuruPurnima
We started the day with hiking on the trail around the lake, but it was too hot so returned after the Strawberry dam.
We spent the day on the lake, this time the girls and I had so much fun with floaties. A kind lady not only offered to inflate our floatie but also shared their cat floatie with us for the day. We went back to campsite for lunch and tried to nap, but it was just too hot. So, we returned to the beach and played for some more time while I read my book – “The Heartfulness Way” by Daaji. I thanked the gurus/teachers in my life who shared their knowledge and made this day possible for me. Of course, we had to have the best soft serve ice cream from the snack bar to beat the heat. Evening we made fire as it was little chilly and enjoyed Smores.
Monday, July 4, 2023: Happy July 4th
My DH went for a very early swim and hike around the lake and Sunrise was beautiful.
We packed up everything and went to Aspen Meadow Pack station, for horse rides as promised to the kids. Contrary to our expectations, the place was not busy and the owner was super nice to let the girls go around on two very friendly horses.
We returned home early afternoon. This trip was truly memorable with good hearted people, and I am so glad we made it here.
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