View Eastern Sierra Lakes in a larger map

After some local info about camping locations gleaned from a guy named Josh we met at Fremont Peak (our hero forever),  we found a great camp on our own on Green Creek, a beautiful high altitude camp (7500 ‘) on the eastern side of the Sierras. This gave me the chance to check out the nearby lakes , of which there were many.

Lundy lake

Lundy lake was a beautiful lake, and I managed a few shots of a red breasted sapsucker.  It had a nest inside of an aspen on the lake’s edge.

Lundy Lake Put In

Night Heron

Lundy Lake

Lundy Lake

Osprey with fish

Red Breasted Sap Sucker

Twin lakes

The next day I went up to Twin Lakes, and had a short paddle in strong winds on the lower lake. It was a good workout, but not at all scenic as the waves were  causing a fair amount of splashing on board, and with my new camera in the paddling box, I decided to return the next day, which I did. 

Entrance to Twin Lakes

Common Merganser

Big Valley Lake (One of the Virginia Lakes)

The following day I headed to the Virginia Lakes area and had a quick paddle on Big Valley lake. It was very small, but a lovely location. I still had time on my hands after this so I went down to Lee Vining, and put in at Mono lake. 

Hume Lake - Sequoia National Forest CA

View Hume Lake Sequoia NP Ca. in a larger map

Hume Lake - Sequoia National Forest CA  7/7/14

We spent a couple of days in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada. The giant sequoias were absolutely awesome. Photos and words cannot describe them. Managed one paddle in Hume Lake (another lake made by the Army Corps of Engineers). It was a busy place, but there were many birds and great scenery. Apart from seeing rangers in boats as well as one diver in a cordoned off section which I took to be some research ( it later turned out someone had drowned there 4 days earlier and they were still searching for the body), it was an excellent paddle. I got some cool pics of a mother American Coot feeding her  babies.

On the road from Princess Campground to Hume Lake

Ruddy Duck 1

Ruddy Duck 2

American Coot Feeding One of its Chicks

And if you want to see those Giant Sequoias, here are a few shots with us for scale. 

Elkhorn Slough California

Elkhorn Slough

Elkhorn Slough (pronounced sloo for the uninitiated) , just north of Monterey was the next paddle  I had two paddles here. The firs,t with Bruce, I  paddled a rented kayak. It was great, but there were so many people also in rented boats, it detracted from the experience. Two days later (we were camped about an hour away at Fremont Peak State Park) I got up at 5:45 and was in the water by 7:15 am. It was brilliant. The whole are is a haven for seals, sea lions and sea otters and many, many species of water birds. I had my binoculars and our new camera with a great zoom. The pictures tell the story.
Any birder who can confirm or correct our  our identifications would be most welcome to do so. We are still learning the US birds. 

Otters in the entrance to the slough

A raft of otters from the shore near the put in.

From the shore

From the shore

While the wildlife is beautiful, don't expect the actual background to be quite as spectacular.

Early morning at Elkhorn Slough.  Looking east is more scenic that the previous shot.

California Sea Lions

Bruce rugged up for a paddle 

Sea Otter

Long Billed Curlew

Sea Otter

Harbor Seal

More Sea Otters

Snowy Egret

Willet

Lesser Yellowlegs

American Avocet

Harbor Seal