Meiss Meadow

We woke to another bright blue sunshiny day and headed out for another hike in the Sierra’s.  Today’s adventure was to hike out Meiss Trailhead for a couple of hours and head back down…not really interested in attempting more than a few miles.  The trail feeds into the Pacific Crest Trail which follows the major mountain ridge crests  in the west for almost 3000 miles very similar to the Appalachian Trail System back East. 

Quite a few backpackers were heading out for overnights and there were a number of cars in the parking lot.  We still felt as though we had the area to ourselves.  About a mile or so into the hike we took a small trail uphill from the main trail.  We noticed a small stream running down from the hillside.  Loads of wildflowers filled the streambed and on up the banks.  We decide to follow the stream uphill to see if we could find the source of water…a spring or maybe some remaining snow. 

   

Not too far up we did find a small patch of snow that Cooper felt was worthy of his time, otherwise he was running around trying to find Chip and Squirrel.  It was about then he disappeared into the tall scrub bushes.  We each took a ravine trying to find the crazy dog so we could head back down the trail.  After 5-10 minutes he turned up in the creek bed and we headed back to the main trail.  He seems to come back to were he last saw us...if we move he really comes ripping across the terrain searching for us.

Capels Lake

All morning we had been trying to get a decent shot of the at least one of the many soaring hawks overhead…not much luck.  Then as we were wandering around a small pond we stumbled upon a hawk perched in a pine tree.  Of course he/she quickly took off and flew away...no shot.  We followed it enough to know which pine it landed in…off we went in pursuit of a good picture. 

When the darn thing headed back across the pond Bill headed off back to the other side of the pond.  We were relentless in getting a decent picture until one of our cameras filled up its memory card which left us with one working camera.  Must have spent 30 to 45 minutes watching the hawk and snapping pictures.   Not 100% sure of its identity, but it could be a Cooper’s Hawk…we know it is not a Red Tail.  Further investigations is definitely necessary.   Cooper’s friends, Chip and Squirrel should be real careful in Meiss Meadow based on our nonscientific survey of the hawks in the area.

Lake Tahoe way off in the distance

As we headed back to the car Cooper took a few ‘detours’…each time he entered a shady area he’d lay down.  We figured he’d hit his own personal “wall” after ripping around the hillsides chasing his friends.  After a rest and a drink of water we finished the hike…Cooper was spent.  He ate his dinner early, went into the tent and never came back out.  Tomorrow looks like a ‘driving day’ since the dog is broke…