We found it!
For years, we have been attempting to locate a resort we enjoyed off of Hwy 24 when we visited the area originally in 1994 and the kids were little. It was an authentic 1950's style fish-camp complete with tiny red single-room cabins, outhouses, lakeside camping and fishing that would fulfill the dreams of the most dedicated fisher-people we know - huge trout that could, of course, only be caught by those talented few. In 1994, we camped on the lake, watched the fishermen bring in their trophy fish, and observed the loons that floated by in the evening. It had been a devastating week, My brother had passed away from cancer just days before (in Indian Wells) and we had to suddenly fly his son, Paul (who had been with us on our trip and who was the motivation for our fishing adventures), home from Canada to be with his father at the end. The fish-camp was our gift to Paul in absentia and this quiet, gentle, natural place helped us begin to heal.
We were upset in 2014 when we spent a day searching for this wonderful place and found only over-fished, over-populated, heavily-logged lakes and ranch developments. We were so disappointed and frustrated. But this year, we started the search from the other side of hwy 24 and because of Ernie's diligence with Google, located the most likely lake, Lac de Roches. We stayed there Tuesday and Wednesday. And, it was the same lake! It was beautiful and perfect and even had Loons!
We had intended to camp at Peaceful Cove for two nights, but when we arrived, it was raining and in the 40's and since there was a darling, warm, woodstove-heated little cabin available for two nights right on the lake, with a gorgeous view, Ernie decided we deserved a treat. So we upgraded to luxury accommodations. Why not?
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| Reflections on the interior of our cabin |
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| Rainbow #1 |
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| A great place to enjoy the view when the sun peaks out |
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| Washing dishes is tough with this view! |
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| Rainbow #2 |
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| Want to go boating? |
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| A tough day at the office! |
Out came the scope, the binoculars, two cameras, the wine, the music and speakers, the candles and the books. We had it all. What an incredible two days we spent relaxing and enjoying the:
- Artistically-decorated black and white loons drift by
- Fabulous sunsets as they transformed the clouds across the sky
- Baby swallows nesting in the birdhouse near the big picture window
- Two beautiful rainbows that arched suddenly across the lake just outside the kitchen window
- Changes in the lake colors as the sun/clouds/rain drifted overhead.
Magic!
On Wednesday, we took a hike down the road and discovered another fish-camp, Eagle Island Resort, that matched even more perfectly our memories of the original. It was still a fish-camp and already had tons of fisher-people there enjoying their passion. We found the campsite that actually appeared to be where we originally camped. We hiked back, happy that we had found it, but also very pleased that we were staying at Peaceful Cove, which was much quieter and matched our need for solitude.
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| Perfect place to wait |
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| Turquoise bay where the trout can be seen |
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| Our original campsite in 1994 |
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| Eagle Island Resort - where we camped in 1994 - still quite popular |
So you can go back again...and you can rediscover the magic that was there originally! We call it our Loon magic!
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| Perfect sunset on our final evening there - gorgeous! |
