Video of some funny moments

Three weeks ago, on 4th of July, I had a strenuous several-days trip to the Treasure City high-elevation mountain area in Nevada with a group of wonderful friends (4 SUVs, some pictures are here Nevada, Treasure City). I am still feeling tired after the trip, so this time I decided to go somewhere closer to my home, and I went solo - just one vehicle, with one friend as the passenger.

Just as an experiment, I left my SLR cameras in home and I took a $99 Panasonic DMC-LZ8 pocket camera. I wanted to see how this small device can deliver the nature scenes.

I went to the Gold Lake area (Lakes Basin and the vicinity) to the north of Tahoe. I am following the road-designation process of the Tahoe National Forest, and I am providing some comments on the matter. I have not been there for about two years, so I wanted to refresh my memory about the place, and to check the trail conditions in the area.

The GPS track of my trip is here:



Me with Sierra Buttes behind:



We first went to the Deer Lake. The place is beautiful, but we wanted to try the smaller Little Deer Lake for camping. So we went further, to the smaller lake.

Our trail passed the Gold Lake deep down below:



Then the trail began a steep descent to the Little Deer Lake:



The lake is gorgeous:



The large campsite at the lake was taken by a group of people (two guys, two trucks, one woman, two motorcycles, no brains in the group). There were also a large group of fishermen with half a dozen kids. I realized that probably we have no chance to find the place at the lake for camping. I approached the camping group and asked them for advise for another place for camping. But I was met with uncovered hostility: the people told me that there is absolutely no place for camping around and that I have to move as far from here as possible. I was taken aback by this unusual attitude. I know pretty much well the dispersed camping rules and their claim that I cannot camp in the vicinity was rather amusing. But I was lazy and relaxed and quite tired so I let it go. I decided that we need a swim in the lake and then we will go back to the Deer Lake. So I used a driveway to the swimming spot and parked my vehicle there:



When I climbed out of vehicle, I was startled by the flow of profanities in our address from the camping spot. They promised my "a very long night" (they were thinking that I am going to put my tent there) and then they began shooting in the air (the fishermen with kids then moved further down the lake when the shooting started).

This was invitation enough.

I went to their campsite, and I asked my friend to stay behind. My hot-headed friend was trembling in anger and he asked me to unlock our guns, but I saw that the guys were stupid and really harmless. I did not take with me to their site anything, I even did not take my knifes.

The following dialog I have to translate to the everyday English from the obscene-filled redneck-speak:

Me: "Dear Sirs, I am attending to my swimming activity. Prattle on if you must, but leave me alone, please".

They: "Why, my dear, this place is taken by us, the people of large fortune: we are friends of the local law enforcement, and everybody in 4x4 community knows us as dear friends".

Me: "So what ?"

They: "My beautiful Sir, how you can be so tiresome ! You must leave this place ASAP. This is the Wilderness, you cannot camp here. And you are cutting the trail !" (I did not).

Me: (thinking how OK for them was to shoot in the Wilderness): "Wilderness ? In a place such as this ? This is the Tahoe National Forest, really".

They: "National Forest ! Nonsense, how can you talk so ! It is very likely that we will figure out something special for you this night. And by the way, you are trespassing on our campsite".

Then I realized that the people are too tense and they need to relax somehow. I provided some advises (I have to admit, the unsolicited advises) for them how the trio can engage in a healthy sexual activity for the mutual benefits of all three of them, and how it can help them to view the world under the better angle.

Somehow, that was exactly what they needed. They went silent and never said a word after.

We went over their campsite. Checked the numbers - the guys are from Nevada. Then we took their pictures. Here are the guys, may be somebody knows them:



Then we were swimming in the lake, for half an hour. The water was surprisingly warm for a high-elevation lake. I circled the whole lake, but I was trying to stay away from the fishermen as far as possible because I did not want to spoil the fishing.

Then we got in the car and we went back to the larger Deer Lake. There were already two groups of people there. But this time we were met very friendly, and a nice young guy in Jeep Cherokee recommended the best spot on the lake.

Our campsite at the Deer Lake:



Sunset painting the rocks:



Sunset over the Deer Lake:



In the morning, I was treated to the unique opportunity to view the near-mythical creature Burunducus vulgaris in the natural unspoiled habitat. As usual, when you encounter a mythical creature or UFO, the picture is blurred:



Deer Lake in the morning:



The swimming in the morning shown that the water in the larger lake is much colder. We were able to reach the center of the lake, but it was enough for me, my members went very cold.

The beach on the Deer Lake:



Small lagoon:



My friend is swimming:



Then we enjoyed the shooting time.

We can shoot, too:



The view to the Sierra Buttes:



Then we decided to go to the Snake Lake. The trail was more difficult than I expected, but I still did not need the locker and I did not scrape the underbody (but the rock sliders were useful):



The Snake Lake is pretty but it does not have a good campsite.

Then we went to the north.

The tree:



Still some snow in July on the northern slope of the ridge:



Mountains:



Conclusion: I think that for a $99 camera, the pictures are not that bad.