We missed the reservation window for this popular spot so spent the first night camped down the hill in a Forest Service road pull-off. Luckily we were able to pull in at 11:30am just as some folks were leaving and scored one of the few walk-up sites.

They say beggars can't be choosers, but we felt like we won the lottery because our site had million dollar views. After exploring a bit, we realized that every site had million dollar views.

This 9000foot high lake is a gem for kayaking, fishing and overall zen-ing. The lake was busy with folks doing all of these things, it never felt too crowded or overused.

The camp host and her young son were friendly, helpful and diligent and we loved seeing him "help" the sites and pick up rocks.

The road up to the site is bumpy and steep and bit dicey when wet, but once you've made it up here, you won't want to leave.