Fallen Leaf Lake - Larry's Final Resting Place

Soon after Larry was told that his cancer was terminal, I asked him where he wanted his ashes to be placed. Without hesitation, he said "Fallen Leaf Lake if it can could be arranged" so that was always the plan. And on July 2nd, the time came to fulfill Larry's wish. There are some things in life that you look back on and say "we could not have planned it better - it was perfect."  That is how Larry's sister and I felt about the trip up to the lake. We got a phone call from the friends on Sunday inviting us to the cabin for dinner when we got up to the lake. Another friend of Larry's from Sacramento was coming up for the event and would also be there for dinner.

The road leading to the cabin is a 3 mile, paved, one-lane road and at times very narrow between tall trees. Fortunately there are some pull-outs if you meet traffic. It seems like you will never get to the cabin.  Once you do, it is 56 very steep steps down to the cabin from the road above. The view from the cabin is amazing and we had a wonderful steak dinner on Sunday night while reminiscing about Larry who was sitting nearby and listening to it all. His friend said that he was thinking that the next morning, we could take Larry for one last trip around the lake in the boat before he went for a "swim". When we got up there on Monday, July 2nd, the weather was just perfect - surprisingly warm for that time of the year and the lake was smooth. The lake is 3 miles long and about 1 mile wide.  It is 415' deep at the deepest part and is about 152' above Lake Tahoe which Fallen Leaf Lake flows into. The elevation at the lake is about 6, 345 feet.

And off we went for the cruise around the lake. The whole trip was so full of memories for me.  We were there last June and had no idea of the circumstances under which I would be back there a year later. In the 12 years that Larry and I were together, the placeswe traveled to where he was the happiest was at the lake last year and in Little Rock last summer. He had been going up to the lake with his friends since in the 1970's and loved it there. After the trip around the lake shore, his friend took the boat back out to the middle of the lake and we set the container of ashes in the water.

This is the view from where we set the container in the water. The only sound was water lapping against the boat and a sniffle once in a while while we remember the person who meant so much to us. So....Larry had his last night in the cabin and a ride around the lake before going for his swim... 8-)                      For me, as I write this a week later, life continues to be One Day at a Time but I have the peace of knowing we fulfilled his request and that gives me great comfort.