20 August 2008

Water Skiing California Foothills

We went water skiing today! We spent yesterday afternoon making sure the boat was ready to take out, then got everybody together for a day-trip. We were talking about how long it has been (waaay too long), and I realized that I had not been water skiing in over TWENTY (yes, 20) YEARS! That is just stupid. Well, so I finally did it again :).

We started off the day by getting groceries (how mundane - but necessary), and then gas (now we *need* the shock of cold water), and left town with a full load by 10:30.



We headed out Highway 20 East (towards Grass Valley); about 20 miles outside of Marysville is Englebright Lake - aka "The Narrows." It is a narrow, deep, cold lake-from-dam on the Yuba River. Upriver is Bullards Bar, and all is fed by snow-melt. Now days, the route is pretty well marked (with actual signs!). The downside is that now there is a fee - a whole $4 per day (day use and boat launch - self-registered). We especially like Englebright because the campsites (and picnic sites) are all boat-access-only. No cars can get near you. Hikers don't even come by.



We had a very easy time of it - it was not crowded at *all* - and it is still the middle of summer (although some of the schools started this week), but it is also a weekday. But usually, the lake is crowded, and all the normal picnic sites are taken by the weekend.



You can see just how amazing the water is - pure glass!





We went all the way up to the "no wake" area, farthest from the dam. We pulled in and checked out several campsites along the way, but had an opportunity to be picky ;D. Ended up at "Missouri Bar."



We got settled in, had some lunch, then went out to SKI!

It still works! Had to start over again with 2 skis - no slalom for me just yet...



And the glory didn't last all that long either. Here is the splash before the fall :)



Here's Karl's turn:



And Rachel getting ready to hit that *cold* water:



We all had to rest up after this:



Then we went exploring farther upriver.



We left the marina by 7:30, and caught a nice sunset on the way home. All in all, a *very* nice day!

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