I arrived in Truckee, California last week and as planned secured a site a Prosser Lakeside Campground.  The campground was pretty full and in circling the campground I bottomed out in a wash and got stuck.  I called my son who lives in the area and we worked for nearly an hour trying to get the darn thing out.  This was after unhooking the Jeep and taking off the hitch and numerous other things to lighten the load.  I called it quits; put down the jacks and leveled out and then and found a pizza dinner with my son Craig then settled in for the night at a perfect;y quite spot out in the middle of nowhere.  The next morning I called the tow truck and lead him to the area and he had me out in 20 minutes and no damage.  Whew! 

This is a Forest Service campground in the Tahoe National Forest with absolutely no amenities other than a gorgeous spot on Prosser Reservoir.  Its a quiet little reservoir where only small fishing boats are allowed that can motor at less then 5 mph. Children can safely play in the water with tubes and kayaking around the lake is the normal pass time of the day.  Its also very close to the very popular emigrant mountain biking/hiking trail.    My spot allows me to view an unobstructed sunrise in the morning while having coffee and watching an occasional hot air balloon pass by. I can hop in the Kayak and Sadie can swim along side with notproblem. Mostly locals stay here from Reno or Sparks.  

At 6000 feet I am here to acclimate to elevation.  Having been at sea level for the past several months it's important that I get some high altitude hikes in before attempting Mt. Whitney which is just a few days away.  So, I put on the hiking boots and have ventured out to conquer and few steep "hills" and a couple of peaks.  The first day hiking Loch Leven Lakes  was a killer hiking from 6000 feet to 8200 feet.  My lungs were telling me that you can't go from sea level to high elevations with out some consequences.  Anyway, I'm making progress.  Today, I hiked with my good friend Maureen up to Snow Valley Peak, which is 6 miles up, and up and up.... to an elevation of 9200 feet (I think it is a gain of about 3500 ft)  It's not Mt Whitney, but my lungs didn't complain too much.  The return decent was swift, although Sadie dog was dog tired and she kept stopping in the shade every chance she got.  

Tomorrow is shake down day.  I'll spend the time pulling the back packing stuff together and determine what I'm missing and if I need to make a visit to the  dreaded storage locker.  It was so organized...at one time.  Do I really need all that STUFF?  With the fourth of July weekend coming up, the campground is going to fill up fast.  I'll relocate to Jason's house until I get back from Mt Whitney.  I plan  to head out  to Lone Pine very early on Saturday, July 4th (bad timing) to pick up the permits which are valid for th 5, 6,7. and then return to Reno on the 8th.  

My other biggest challenge has been arranging dog sitting for Sadie.  The kennels are full and  some of my  children are busy, so Sadie is going to be shuttled from sitter to sitter  to kennel.