Stoney Ridge
There is nothing better than a nice summer hike where the top leads you to this....
I would say living in Northern California we are known for our HOT summers. I am talking we live in 100 degrees days for close to two months of the summer. Some days it will get up to 120 degrees!!! Those are the days that you either stay inside or only go somewhere that has a body of water. Luckily we live with two lakes nearby and a couple others within a an hour or two drive. This weekend we headed up to Trinity Lake to camp with the family and enjoy the weekend!
We do a lot of our hunting in trinity county and hike the Trinity Alps multiple times throughout the year. Every time we get up there we like to try another hike or check out a scouting area for hunting season. So anytime we can escape the heat or get out of town we jump on it!
We met the family up at Tannery Gulch campground and had reserved a couple spots. If you are ever in the area you should definitely check out some of the campsites around the lake, this one I do highly recommend. Where our campsite was located it was just a short 3-5 minute walk to the water. It is dry camping, no hook ups, but does have running water and communal restrooms.
Here is Jax, our pup who loves to tag along on all the adventures he can! We decided to just tent camp since it was a quick trip and Austin's mom and Aunt had brought up their trailers. We spent the weekend enjoying the lake, eating, drinking, and of course campfires! We have been getting into this game lately where you have two poles with a bottle on top. Then you throw a frisbee with two teams, one on each side attempting to hit the pole or bottle off.
Here is a little snip it, I am sure once you see the video you may have an idea of what I am talking about! We enjoy it, it is a fun way to get everyone up moving and share some laughs!
The one thing about Trinity Lake I should say is that the water can have red dirt near the shore. It doesn't bother me but just don't bring your nice outfits, this is more of a true camping experience!
Those are our parties kayaks and Uncle Dan's boat. We just brought our lawn chairs and beach towels right down to the water and enjoyed the day!
There is Jax, just entertaining himself all day playing in the water and finding logs! Lake days are always the best days! Getting family together and enjoying the outdoors is definitely one of the things we enjoy most! With busy schedules and daily stress making sure to schedule time to connect and unplug always revitalizes me and helps me reset for my work week.
I almost forgot!! While we were on this weekend camping trip we also celebrated Jax's 6th birthday! We stopped by a local pet store in Redding, CA (Where we live) and picked him up some homemade treats! The store is called Treats, and here is a link to their website:
Believe me I have no affiliation with this company but I do enjoy good local businesses and try to help support them whenever I can! If you are every in the area if your fur friend give this place a visit!
Jax would not quite hold still for the picture but here is one of his natural dog biscuits we got for him as his "Birthday cake".
The next morning we packed up camp and headed a few miles down the road to a trailhead we had looked up prior to coming up, Stoney Ridge. We use Onx Hunt app to find trails and scout and also All trails which is another app with trials, pictures, length, difficulty, and maps. This trail takes you over Stonewall Pass. There is also a loop you can do from this trailhead that takes you to four lakes. The only people we saw on the trail were a group of three people who were doing loop and it is definitely on my radar for next time!
There were multiple little streams along the way for Jax to get some water and some even big enough he could cool down a little.
I have to say, this is one of my favorite views. I love watching Jax following Austin in the outdoors, Never wanting to miss a thing. Sometimes slowly down and enjoying the view is what it is all about. I think Jax had the best birthday weekend he could have asked for!
This green area had a nice stream running through it that Jax took a little swim in!
A few miles later we made it to the top of the pass and someone enjoyed the cool elements and we all took a break to eat a snack and do some glassing!
I was hoping to see some deer or animal movement but I can't say I was surprised that I didn't since it was the middle of the day at this point. But Austin and I agreed that this would make for a great place to come back to and explore further!
Here is us, hot, sweaty and smiles enjoying the outdoors! Ohhh, I almost forgot. That little cut on my face, under my lip.... Yeah, I got hit with the frisbee the night before but that wasn't stopping me. I still have a little scar but that doesn't bother me much.
Here is a beautiful view of a small channel of Trinity Lake from up top. We were actually camping on the far side of this picture! After a fast paced hike back down we made it to the truck and hit the road back home!
And that is the look of a job well done wearing out your pup before your work week starts! If you have any questions about the hike or post please feel free to email! Hope you enjoyed our weekend adventure!
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