Much to our dismay, the further North we drove, the more smoke dominated the atmosphere. We decided to call the Ranger station nearest our anticipated campground and ask about the current air quality and the location of the nearest fire. Apparently there was a fire, oh, about a mile or two from where we were headed. This was a total bummer, but we were determined to find a campground (with the truck packed and the dogs sandwiched in the back).
After a bit of discussion - and some waffling on my part - we decided to head East to a place we had been once before. (**It was tough trying to decide whether or not to post about this secret spot after chatting with the locals. Thus, I've decided to leave the exact location out of this post in order to protect the solitude and antiquity of our secret desert campground - or "SDC".**) We've decided that we should only reveal the destination of this place if we are camping with others. The locals we met were quite surprised to find that some folks from the Bay Area even knew this place existed, let alone specifically the spot we were at. We learned that this is a favorite of the descendants of the Indian tribe that claims this land. And we already knew that this was definitely a place that you find solitude.
The first time we ventured out to the SDC, it was not a very pleasant experience. We hit a snow storm in the Sierras, had little shade during the day, froze at night when the wind picked up, couldn't shower or find any "fresh" water, and felt dirtier after dipping ourselves in the frigid water. It was miserable. We weren't prepared for anything like that. We had been told (by friends that apparently camped here all the time) that the weather was "perfect," the landscape picturesque, and the water inviting. It wasn't anything of the sort... that time.
When we landed at the SDC, I hurried to unpack the truck and set up camp while my partner took the dogs down for a swim in the lake. It was hot enough to fry an egg in less than 3 minutes on the roof of my truck and setting up camp was not an easy task. But setting up camp in the dark (the real dark of the desert) is possibly even less fun. It took more than 2 hours since I was moving sooo sloooow due to the heat and blazing sun.
We decided to set up camp atop the huge rock - a place where a friend of ours always sets up. This rock is like a frickin mansion with tons of rooms. There's a bathroom area; kitchen with a stove-like depression for a fire and a gathering space that's a lot like an amphitheatre; a bedroom with a space that acts like a shady closet where you can store your cold items through the majority of the hottest part of the day; a dog space where we set up their crates (we used collapsible crates that acted as shade and were totally optional for the dogs); a balcony from which you can view most of the lake; and other miscellaneous spaces others could set up tents, etc.
The lake itself was very warm. The dogs didn't even need coaxing or toys to get them in the water - they just jumped right in and swam around, exploring on their own. The second day we were there we embarked on our own mini-expedition along the shore. We found numerous ground springs pouring cold, salty, sulfuric water into the lake. This was a trip - one generally finds these springs are warm, not cold. We also found that we could walk out well over 100 ft. in some areas and not even be up to our waists in water. The floor of the lake even rose as we ventured further out into the water in some areas.
I spent most of my time fetching things like water, beer, wine, snacks, books and other miscellaneous things, and relaxing in the shade of the lone tree at the base of the rock. My partner and the dogs spent most of their time swimming.
The lake is known for its excellent fishing. The last time we were here I watched in awe as a guy on a kayak pulled at least a dozen good-sized trout out of the lake in less than an hour. I didn't get a chance to do much fishing as we didn't plan to go out to the SDC (thus, I didn't bring my fishing kayak), but I did support the local tribe by purchasing a two-day fishing pass.
On our last evening at the SDC, the smoke blew in from the fires in our home state. And though this wasn't necessarily something we were thrilled about, it did block the mountains on all sides from view, making the lake look like an ocean (which was totally eerie).
All in all, it was a very worthwhile trip for us (and seemingly so for the dogs as well). We were dead tired from the heat and climbing the rock over and over again. The dogs slept the entire return trip and didn't do much when we got home either. Not your standard forest camping, but a great learning experience and well worth the trip.
Lessons learned about desert camping with dogs:
- ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR EXTREMES IN THE DESERT!
- It's imperative you have at least 1 gallon of fresh drinking water per day for you and at least 1/2 gallon of fresh drinking water for each dog per day
- Find shade and bring tons of sunblock (for you and the dogs)
- Drench your dogs in water if they refuse to swim - or can't swim for whatever reason - it could save their lives
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