This summer so far has been filled with hiking and being outside. Mom and I went with my friend Joleen and her mom camping up at Fallen Leaf Lake in Tahoe. It was so relaxing to lay down in the meadow and read a book. We went for a hike around part of the lake and the whole scenery was bursting with new life as the snow was melting away. The water was as still as glass and the aspens had bright green leaves that twirled in the light breeze. Our camp was under Mt Tallac and the brilliant white cross of snow shone brightly in the early June days. Swimming was quite refreshing you might say. Even Gotham got in and seemed to enjoy it a little more than the pool and defiantly more than the ocean. Joleen brought her kayak with her and we tool turn paddling around the shore of the lake. Gotham came too and curled up on the back of the kayak while I paddled around. 
Our next hiking adventure was with Kim to Lake Winnemucca off Carson Pass. It was absolutely gorgeous. We started hiking and the sun was warm and the breeze was cool. We were up so high that the snow hadn’t completely melted away yet. We came to our first little patch of snow and I let Gotham go walk in it. He was so funny; he rolled in it, slid his face in it, dug in it, and tried to eat it. We kept going and every other patch of snow we hit Gotham got so excited and just wanted to go play in it. We made it to the lake and it was stunning! There was so much snow tucked into the rocks on the other shore. There was still some ice on the lake. You could hear the low roar of a distant waterfall. Spring had just started up there. All the plants were still squished down after being buried under snow all winter. We took a short snack break on a rock and Gotham totally passed out! After the break we hiked up one of the ridges, climbing over boulders and whacking through the low brush. Gotham did so good, if he got stuck he would look at me and I would come back and show him where to step or carry him over the spot. There were so many little ponds of snow melt that we found. Gotham would run and pounce on the patched of snow rubbing his face and belly up and down the sun cupped surface. On our way down from the ridge we hiked through a huge snow patch. It was a lot easier than boulder hopping. Gotham was running and sliding and face planting the whole way and we were too. One foot would slide one way and the other foot another. Out feet were soaked but in the heat of the afternoon and after working hard it felt so nice. Once back on the trail we made quick work of getting back so we could rest. We had to run through a swarm of mosquitoes before we made it back to the car. We were all exhausted! We totaled 6.5 mile hike! 
Gotham and also went to Tahoe for a Guide Dog Puppy camp. We took with us Abby, Gotham’s co-raiser. Camp was fun but in the evening Abby and I left and went for a hike. We went to Eagle Lake just before sunset. We got a cute picture of Gotham on one of the bridges crossing the river but that was the only break we took. We made it to the lake with 20 min to spare. Eagle Lake was like glass! You could see the reflection of the mountains on the surface of the water. There were 2 cute ducks floating by the shore and we fed them dog food. As we were cooling down the mosquitoes were coming out and attacking us! Once we were rested up we were off hiking back down. The sunset was awesome lighting the sky with soft yellows and golds mixed with a little pink on a light blue background. We stopped at an outlook on the way home overlooking emerald bay. Once we got back it was time for some S’mores. The next day we spent some relaxing time at the beach sitting on the pier and under it playing in the sand. Gotham didn’t want to swim with all the other puppies. 
The Summer is not over yet we still have lots more hiking and camping to do!
