Day 5 - 20 Sept: San Francisco, CA, to Lake Tahoe, CA

Posting this on September 28 as this is the first time I've had a connection that will do it. This one is still pretty rudimentary so will try uploading the text first, then have a go with some photos.

The boys snuck in a quick swim in the condo pool before we packed up and left Oakland for wilder - or at least more remote - climes.

Navigated our way out of the city on Route 80 bound for Sacramento, fun and games with ludicrous amounts of traffic (I thought Sydney was bad on a Saturday) and these crazy 'lane switch' situations where everyone entering on the right tries to get across to the left while everyone trying to exit from the left tries to get across to the right...recipe for disaster, and we weren't surprised to be held up by a couple of bingles (not ours, thankfully).

Eventually found ourselves climbing into the mountains through gorgeous pine (of some sort) forests, classic Grizzly Adams stuff, but we'd noticed signs about the King Fire and a certain smokiness in the air.

This got steadily worse, and by the time we reached Lake Tahoe the atmosphere was thick, visibility was very limited and Ruth's lungs were protesting. We'd checked long before that the fires weren't in our immediate area, but the effect was still rather disconcerting. More to the point, we couldn't see a bloody thing of what we understood to be the most amazing scenery.

Parts of the drive were pretty terrifying with narrow lanes, sheer drops, adverse cambers and no barriers, but we eventually made it to our campsite at Meeks Bay, at about 6,300 feet.

Had a look at the lake - the little we could see of it...

..then set up camp and, disbelieving as we were that it was allowed and wrong as it seemed, lit a campfire. Well, everyone else had one... 

Heinz Baked Beans for dinner and Sierra Nevada in the Sierra Nevada, fingers crossed that the smoke clears overnight and we can glimpse the spectacular before we move on tomorrow.

Oh, and bears. And plague. Campsite has warning signs about both. The former is a very real issue, so all of our food and toiletries are in the bear-proof locker. The latter isn't a problem 'currently'. The boys are relieved. Distracted by the bag of giant marshmallows they were given by the SF advertising types from next door...