Day 487 - Walk the Loop With Me

To start off my Spring Break right, I decided to take the walk around the Loop (about 3.5 miles, extended a bit today) and thought I would invite you all to join me.

The first part of the trip is uphill, the street right across from our house (Country Club Lane). Like most streets in Clearlake, the pavement is very rough and there are no sidewalks, but it's a good climb about 150 feet higher elevation than Lakeshore Drive where we are. When you get to the top of the hill, you can see to the North the hills that make up the northern edge of the lake (near Clearlake Oaks).

These hills will all be a golden amber color by summer, once the water from all the rain moves on.

It is so lush right now, and is a joy to see all the green after 4 years of drought conditions.

After you round the bend, you see the lake again. The view up here is really wonderful.

The little enclave below is Oak Cove. Our Realtor and her husband live in one of those homes, and we've met many of the residents who live on the cove. With the lake so much higher, it's nice to see all the water in the cove - last summer it was almost all just mud!

Our first view of Mt. Konocti (kah-KNOCK-tie). You can see two of the three peaks from this vantage point.

The third peak comes into view just a little bit down the road. The peaks are privately owned, although the county has established an agreement so that people can hike up to the top of one of the peaks.

Looking behind we can see Lakeshore Drive down below. The hilly terrain makes such an interesting backdrop to the lake.

These are some of the other major mountains in the county are Mt. Hannah (right) and Siegler Mountain (left). Cobb Mountain is barely visible behind Siegler Mountain and is our highest peak at over 4700 feet. Konocti is 4300 feet.

This time of year there are a number of wildflowers blooming. I'm not sure what this purple beauty is, but it is scattered all over the hillside.

This is our friend John's house. He has two apartments that he rents out as well as his own space in the middle. His views from up here are spectacular, although it's hard to tell from where I'm standing. The door is to the upper apartment, not the one where John lives.

This is the house next to John's place, but you get a better sense of the view from here.

This is the halfway point. Lakeshore Drive makes a double-hairpin turn at what is known as the "goose neck". We are walking back down to the lake level again from the upper elevation. At the bottom of the goose neck is Holiday Island Mobile Home Park.

This is one of the nicest mobile home parks in the county, situated on a little peninsula with a gorgeous view of Mt. Konocti. When we were househunting up here, there was a place in the park for sale for about $100K. I thought my parents would have loved moving up here and seeing that view every day, but I couldn't convince them.

Holiday Island even has boat and trailer parking for the residents and a boat launch. It is a charming little community where everyone is really friendly.

The lake is up about 7 feet from where it was at the beginning of the year. It is really marvelous to see all the water coming right underneath everyone's docks.

This dock is particularly charming with its Japanese-influenced style.

This is "witches broom" - a flowering shrub that is very common in this part of northern California.

And California poppies - our state flower.

This house was built right at the lake's edge. The water is almost at the top of the wall!

This house has a weird contraption that allows them to hoist their purchases from the street up to the house on a platform. After taking this photo and continuing the walk, I heard a woman yelling at me. "Why are you taking a picture of my house?" She took her three young children (all under the age of 5) and got in her car, then drove up to me to continue to yell at me for taking a photo of her property. I told her to have a nice day and smiled.

Here's a fixer-upper with great views of the lake and Oak Cove. It's not for sale, although I'm sure it could be bought for a great price.

This is the Clearlake Boat Works, a wonderful double quonset hut building, 3-stories tall, that would make awesome condominiums. I heard that years ago, some guy started a business assembling computer circuit boards inside the building, but he couldn't find employees who would come back to work after lunch.

Adjacent to the Boat Works is a cute little marina. These sailboats were touching the lakebed and leaning precariously to one side or the other before all the rain.

Another shot of the boat works building. There are balconies on the lake side.

We love the old sign!

Here's our dock from the neighbor's yard. The big log was out in the middle of the lake yesterday (we thought it might be the Clear Lake Monster), and it ended up right by us on the shore. I'm not sure where it's headed to next.

This is the house right across the street from us. It is currently listed at $135000. No waterfront, but great views of the lake.

This is The Cobblestone. It has been for sale since we first started looking for homes up here over 2-1/2 years ago. It is down to $275,000 from a high of $500K. It needs a good $300K in repairs and renovations. Built in 1944, it was quite the nightclub back in the 50s and 60s.

I walked up to the post office, just across the street from the Cobblestone, to get the mail. Our friend Cathlene was working there today, so we chatted for a bit. I told her the story of the woman who yelled at me for taking a picture of her house. Cathlene said that a friend of hers lives near that family, and the friend was tempted to call child protective services because the mother yells at the children all the time, terrible verbal abuse. I can't say I'm surprised. The young woman came across as a bit disturbed. It made me sad for the little kids.

Home Sweet Home. Thanks for joining me on my walk around the Loop. If you'd ever like to join me in person, just let me know!

Have an awesome Wednesday, friends! Keep Sparking!