Fallen Leaf Lake: Sunrise and Camping

09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake
So let me now tell about Fallen Leaf Campground. I booked yurt 191.

As I later found out it was in the middle of the campground surrounded mostly by the tent sites. The most significant misfortune is the closeby of the restroom. What I didn’t like that there was always someone who passed by our place and I didn’t feel it as secluded as I expected it to be.
On the other side, the yurt was warm, bright, and clean with a heater inside so we didn’t feel night cold.
I woke half an hour before the sunrise to hike to the Fallen Leaf. I was surprised that I was the only person with the camera on that day. San Francisco Bay Area made me used to the crowds with tripods in every photogenic spot 🙂
I didn’t check in advance when and where I will see the rising sun. And even I didn’t know the view of the lake from the trail from campground before.
I was happy to find a clear beach surrounded by the dense woods and the wall of the mountains. From my standpoint, the sun should throw the first rays on the Maggies Peak.

09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake
09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake
09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake
09.24. Sunrise at Fallen Leaf Lake
09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake
09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake

09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake

09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake
09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake

I didn’t expect the snow so early in the mountains, and I didn’t wait for the hoar on the grass in the morning. The cloud of fog stayed above the meadow near the site. And the campfire didn’t want to start.
I made the breakfast with the thought in mind that it’s definitely the last camping in Sierras for this year and the season.
09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake Campground

09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake Campground
09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake Campground
09.24. Fallen Leaf Campground
09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake Campground

We slowly ate the breakfast, clean up the dishes and collected the things from the campsite. The road from the Tahoe back to the Bay awaited us, and we didn’t want to hurry up it.
I put the bag in the car when Eugene said: “Look, it’s a bear!”. You should understand that the night before we joked a lot about the bears. He made a fun of me previously with the same words so I didn’t believe him at first.
I don’t remember what I felt when I turned my head and saw a bear in 30 or 40 feets from me. I recalled the videos I saw with bears open the car but still rushed to it. Eugene took few photos on the way to it. We started the engine when turned heads back to the campsite to see the bear checking out if we left something for him in the locker (we did not). The sound of the car frightened him, and he run behind the yurt and then without any trace of the previous fear return to check the campfire place.
We drove away and lost a sight of the mighty animal.

09.24. Fallen Leaf Lake Campground

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