Lake Arrowhead

In the past couple days I stayed at the north side of Lake Arrowhead. Every morning and at free time in the afternoon I took a walk along the lake. There are two ALA trails along the lake shore at opposite directions. ALA means Arrowhead Lake Association. ALA trails are open to the public. Both trails are under the shade of big cedar trees. One is longer, around 1.6 miles. The other is much shorter. They both end when you reach those private big houses. I walked more times on the longer one. I have seen more manzanitas here than anywhere else. They are even close to the water, in contrast to my impression about them being California native plants. They must be very adaptive. This has also lent me confidence to have them in my harsh backyard. I like their red peeled trunk. They are definitely my favorite small-sized tree (California native oak trees are my favorite big ones). So bad I forgot to take photos.


I saw a lot of animals along the trail, too. Blue jays, squirrels, and gophers.

Blue jay

Gray squirrel

Gopher

Interestingly, they are much quieter than their urban-dwelling cousins. Remember how loud the squirrels, parrots, and peacocks can be in the city? Even the sounds of blue jay are more tolerable here. I haven't seen gophers in my backyard. Hopefully I won't see them ever.