A New Route to Winnemucca Lake

We headed out to the Visitor’s Center at Carson’s Pass so we could get some information regarding the local hikes.  One of the volunteers suggested heading out to Lake Winnemucca from Carson’s Pass.  She said that it also went past another alpine lake called Frog Lake.  Last year via a different trailhead we had hiked out to Lake Winnemucca and really loved the views from the trail.  The decision was made and off we headed towards Frog Lake.

Frog Lake

We reached Frog Lake fairly quickly.  The level of the lake was pretty low and seemed to be filled only by snow melt or rain.  There were a large number of tadpoles...perfect for a place called Frog Lake.

Cooper made friends with Peko, a solid black Portuguese Waterdog who was chasing sticks…in the water.  Cooper went about as far as his usual then retreated back towards the shoreline.  He really did enjoy running around with Peko who was as big as Cooper.  Eventually we headed on towards Lake Winnemucca.  

Almost frogs in Frog Lake

 

 

 

 

Most disappointing was that a majority of the wild flowers had finished flowering and had gone to seed.  We had a few spots of color, but not as much as last year.   

A few snow banks were still visible and Cooper got his toes cooled off in the closest one.  His first snowfield of the trip.   

Small amount of snow

 We did discover one way to get Cooper to ‘swim’…throw his dog bones into the lake.  Worked pretty well except he doesn’t always follow the object while it is being thrown…so he lost out on one fairly large chunk of bone because he was busy watching us rather than where it landed.   Maybe the brook trout will like his dog biscuits.

Swimming for his biscuits

Lake Winnemucca

Searching

On our way back down Cooper was in a crazed state of ground squirrel hunting.  He kept trying to find them, but no luck.  As soon as his back was turned he’d hear a chirp, whip back around and it would disappear.   

About this time 2 other dogs showed up and in his excitement he wrapped Cindi up in leash and down she went…no injuries, except for a minor scrape on the palm. 

What?

Cooper finally decided that it was too close to dinner time to mess around with the moving dinner target.  He much prefers his dinner laid out before him…so he settled down into “no matter what happens mode…head for the stinking car.”

Creek crossing

 

 

A nice dinner cooked over the fire and Cooper settled down cozy comfy in his down comforter…temps are downright chilly at 8200 feet in the Sierra’s.

Sunset