It is Good to be back to Work: Some of you may have caught my post “Time for a Break.” In fact I have been back since Monday, but so busy I had not had time to get this post in.
I took my two oldest sons up to a place called Sterling Lake off Interstate 80 at the Cisco Grove Exit. You need to follow a dirt road about 6 miles in. I also took one of my old buddies from church for adult company. He took the pics.
I started coming up this way when I was in Boy Scout Troop 102 out of El Cerrito California. We used to park the cars at Sterling Lake and haul everything into a base camp at what is known as Upper Eastern Brook Lake. We set up a regular summer camp run just by our own troop. We had canoes, row boats, swimming area, lashed up a camp kitchen, it was all pretty impressive. If any of you guys read this and send some pics I will post them and write more on the camp. My troop had first did this in about 1968, but I had not been here and my troop did not revise the tradition until 1978.
Off the trails leading out of Sterling Lake is a small area of only a few square miles containing maybe a dozen nice lakes. Many of the lakes are not on the topographical maps and the best view of the area is a Google Satellite view. (The link takes you to Sterling Lake. Scroll North and zoom in to see some of the other lakes.) The two main trails (Red Trail and Blue Trail) lead back to Mosey Pond. This is just a fantastic area to hang out.
My kids in the raft at Sterling Lake. I am swimming near them in a couple of shots.
It was very hot up there. In the old days there were a number of logging roads, many have been shut down and you can no longer drive into Mosey Pond. You can no longer park next to sterling lake and have to haul all the camping gear down from the road, probably only about 100’, but a steep 100’. I am not the hiking machine I was when I was younger.
Heading out on Our Hike near Sterling. Me in foreground and My oldest Nelson on rocks above!
We had borrowed a raft and my kids paddled all over the lake. Saturday we hiked about 2/3’s the way to Mosey Pond on the Blue Trail. But we got hot, so we stopped for a swim and lunch and headed back.
Panorama of Sterling Lake. I am barely visible in the raft with my son Corbin.
My kids worked on their Royal Ranger Badges, Camping, Camp Safety, Fire Craft, and Dutch Oven Cooking. My 11 year old needs his Firecraft badge and he really got into chopping wood and starting fires. It is always good to have one like this as it saves me work. The kids made a really good stew and cobbler using the Dutch Ovens.
A good time was had by all. The best part is that many of the problems I left behind resolved them self. After a good rest I came up with some solutions for the others. One of the dichotomies of life is God wants us to work hard, but we also need to know when to take a break and trust him.
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