Today by the Numbers:
Miles driven in the Jeep: 39
Miles hiked: 3.1
Steps for the day: 11,462
Breakfast and a Hike
Today started with a delicious ham and egg scramble (thank you Sarah Ann) and some of Jen’s Espresso Martinis. After cleanup, some folks decided to stay in camp, others headed into the park, and we did a hike along the South Fork of the Tuolumne River right from camp. The 3-mile round trip hike crosses over the river and then follows it downstream to a small dam that forms the lake from which the campground takes its name. While the hike isn’t too difficult, many fallen trees made for lots of up-and-over and down-and-under effort. We saw some geese, ducks, and pretty wildflowers. It was nice to get back to camp and relax afterwards.
Afternoon Trip to Town
Mid-afternoon we took a trip to the Iron Door Saloon in Groveland. The building housing the Iron Door Saloon is the oldest liquor-serving establishment in California having been first established as The Granite Store in 1852. After several changes of ownership, it became the Iron Door Saloon in 1937. The western gold miner themed interior has several hunting trophies adorning its walls and numerous dollar bills stuck to its ceiling. The afternoon snack consisted of the usual bar food fare (French fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, a large pretzel, and the like, all washed down with beer, cocktails, or non-alcoholic beverages. The drive to and from the saloon is through the beautiful sugar pine forest typical of the Sierras with purple fields of blooming Lupines.
Cocktail Hour and Dinner
We were responsible for today’s cocktail hour as well as dinner. Drink choices included a Lychee Martini and a Bourbon Lychee (yup, we are on a lychee theme…). Dinner was our frequent choice of taco salad with all the fixings.
As is the case most every night, the evening ended with good conversation among great friends around the campfire…
Tomorrow we head into the park…
Beautiful wild flowers!! Sounds like a very relaxing day 😎
It was…
That saloon looks really cool/fun, love the history there!
Wow! What a great day! I love lupine fields and Groveland is one of my favorite places!
I am happy for you – looks like you are having a great time. That Iron Door saloon is really intriguing! I would order a Black Russion!
Looks so peaceful! I want to pull up a chair with that river view 😍