Yesterday we spent a few hours blissfully unaware of the national chaos as we explored an unfamiliar portion of Folsom Lake shoreline. The area of the North Fork between Granite Bay and Rattlesnake Bar has always been a sort of black hole to me — with small ranches and multimillion-dollar mansions lining this portion of the lake, it didn’t seem like shore access was possible. Little did we know that there’s actually a trailhead with free parking, clean restrooms, and an array of intersecting trails to choose from, complete with interpretive signs that identify the various plants and trees.

After eventually finding our way down to the water and exploring the shore across from Anderson Island (more on that in a later post), we fumbled our way back up the hill to the Pioneer Express Trail — only to realize that nothing looked familiar. This wasn’t the trail we had come out on, but the scenery sure was nice! Needless to say, we finally did make it back to our car, and we both agreed this is a place we’re definitely going to return to for further exploration.