Utica Reservoir
This time it was a solo trip to one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever been - Utica Reservoir. On Wednesday morning I kissed my girl, petted the dogs and with the kayak strapped to the bed of the truck I set out for a 5 day camping trip in to the Sierra Nevada mountains.
It took me about 3 beers to get there, but by 10am my kayak was loaded with camping gear and in the water...
I came alone today, but tomorrow some of my friends will be joining me for the weekend. So my job was to find a good camping spot, set up a camp, and enjoy peace and quiet...true vacation.
This lake provides many great camping spots and by coming early in the week I was able to claim the best spot on the lake... I have been camping on this lake many times in the past 13 years and tried different locations. All of them great but this one is fantastic...
After camp was set up I had a cold beer with delicious salami sausage and caught up on my diary...
Enjoying the views from the camp...
The sunset was beautiful and quiet.
Next day Freddy and Kristie showed up...
Looking forward to a good weekend with good friends...
The lake is a pleasure to kayak. It has tons of coves and islands to explore...
Warm weather, refreshing water and granite boulders makes it perfect for swimming....
The sunsets are simply breathtaking... and good company make all those things listed above so much better...
One of the days we were treated with warm afternoon rain and thunderstorm...
Living down in the Central Valley we don't get much rain... As a matter of fact we don't get rain in the summers at all... so this refreshing afternoon thunderstorm was welcome at our camp...
The rain rinsed off the dust and air was filled with a sweet smell of pine trees...
Then add some of the tequila in to this equation and everything gets so much better (notice my improvised shot glasses) ...
Then just like that...clouds scattered, sun came out and Summer returned to us for the rest of the day. Such a relaxing mini- vacation...
Until next Time - Utica. I come here once a year and every time I promise myself to come more frequently, but life goes on and other places need to be visited, other adventures to be had...so see you next year Utica. Stay clean and beautiful as ever...
Started to sketch in my journal lately...
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Here is my map to the BEST campsite on the lake... Good luck and have fun while there...
For more information about this Beautiful place, visit this site - Utica Reservoir.
Enjoy and be respectful to the lake and surrounding area - leave no trace. When I came to this place for the first time13 years ago, it was wild and desolate...now there are several campgrounds on the West side of the lake. Area is crowded with people, cars and trash... if you truly want to experience the beauty of this place you have to kayak away from the mess, find quiet spot and enjoy...
THE END.
