White Pines Lake

White Pines Lake is a quiet little lake, well known to local residents, but often overlooked by visitors scurrying up to Big Trees State Park or Lake Alpine. Only a mile from Arnold, the lake makes a great family destination for fishing, picnicking, or just taking the kids to a playground. For hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians, the new Arnold Rim Trail leads south from the lake 10.5 miles to Sheep Ranch Road near Avery.  As you enter White Pines off of Blagen Road, you may see a small sign proclaiming, “White Pines is not Arnold.” Although the two communities share a zip code, White Pines has a proud history all its own. The area around White Pines Lake was originally a lumber mill. After the mill closed, a dam was put in and a lake established with thoughts of selling lots around the lake. When the plan fell through, the lake and surrounding property were sold to the Calaveras Water District.

The Sierra Nevada Logging Museum on the western shore of White Pines Lake draws hundreds of visitors every year. Across its six acres are spread many of the old machines used in logging in Calaveras County. The 2400-square foot museum building contains exhibits which convey the history of logging and the lumbering industry in the Sierra Nevada. Around the grounds is an array of fascinating logging machines, from a 66,000 pound steam donkey to a Shay locomotive. Visitors can also view crawler tractors, logging arches, a logging cabin, and various saws. I highly recommend checking out White Pines around sunset, which was when the below photos were taken. Calaveras county is definitely more beautiful in person, so make a trip up to the area when you can! Perhaps go during the famous county fair and jumpin' frog jubilee  that Mark Twain based his short story on. Cheers!

Portraits of Pig Dog

Sorry I've been missing again for these past couple of months, but now that the semester is finally over I can actually get back to writing regularly and photographing the various oddball things in my life. Since Finnegan is on the verge of becoming morbidly obese, I have taken to walking him daily compared to every other day or so when my schedule permitted. While out walking him, I would snap a photo of him in front of some interesting scenery for a few laughs. It does not take much to pose this pig dog since he thinks of himself as a little elite doggie model already. Below are some photos that I have taken the past couple of weeks. You can see more of them either on my instagram or vsco grid. If you really want to see what a true crazy pug lady I am, you can also check out Finnegan's own dedicated tumblr. Enjoy!

Pug Walk

One of the main reasons we picked the apartment that we currently reside in is its close proximity to a park and then a larger unleashed  dog park hill for hiking. Even though Finnegan cannot walk as much as he used to as a young pup, he still loves romping around in the grass while bugging couples who are quietly reading a book or picnicking.  (This can be quite embarrassing at times because Finnegan is such a ham for attention and petting.) A new cafe just opened up next to the park so the park is a nice, less crowded alternative to Dolores Park for people and dog watching. Here are some photos that I took of what can be seen in our neighborhood. Hope you all are having a great week thus far!