Dog Friendly Parcher’s Resort Cabins
The Eastern Sierra is Dog Friendly and absolutely beautiful – any time of year! Nature, Lakes, Streams, Fishin’ and trails…the Eastern Sierra has all that and more!
Late Spring, Summer and early Fall are the best times for PawCations in the Eastern Sierra. Winter through early Spring are cold and full snow so it’s hard to be out in nature for very long. Us furSmithsDog Friendly all the way – which led us to the mountains West of Bishop, CA. We like being near or on water which led us to Parcher’s Resort Cabins www.partchersresort.net. Parcher’s is open May to mid October each year. They even have online booking so you can “view” each cabin and what’s available during the Summer season. If you want to find the “perfect” cabin for your vacation just give them a call. Everyone is super helpful.
The drive up to Parcher’s was breathtaking (Mom’s word). The grounds had running water on both sides so the sounds of Nature were all around! There’s even horsies and mules next to the property and I LOVE horsies! Woo hoo! We had a great cabin, with a kitchen and it was super cozy.
I made 2 new horsie friends at Rainbow Outfitters whom I visited daily to get caught up on the local scoop. Or should I say poop…..
Did I say WATER? Yes! There’s a bigger stream on East side of the property and a smaller one on the West side. There’s even a trail that takes you all the way to South Lake. Pretty cool. There are actually streams everywhere! You can pretty much pull over for a picnic or for some fishin’ almost anywhere and relax! We could hear the big stream behind our cabin all day when we opened the windows each morning! Soooooooo relaxing!
Another lucky thing is we seem to have picked a great time to visit – late July. It’s warm enough to get in the various lakes during the day (high 60’s to high 70’s) but it’s super chilly (40’s) at night. So, pack lots of layers! If you’re taking human kids, we saw lots of families with giant round floats / rafts which they took to Lake Sabrina to float around in. They for sure were having a blast! Dogs are welcome at all lakes, streams and trails as far as we could tell – on leash of course – which is another reason Mom chose Bishop Mountain area for our vacation. I loved drinking from all the streams and lakes and laying in the shallow part of the lake. AWWWWWE-Some! I recommend visiting all the lakes – Lake Sabrina, North Lake, South Lake and Grass Lake. We didn’t make it to Grass Lake because it was more of a walk than we wanted that day but we will go next year! Our favorite was North Lake because it was quiet and peaceful with lots of people fishing in their own little private coves all around the lake. You can pretty much have your own “secluded” lake front privacy. I relaxed in the water and shade and Mom read her book about some lady who moved to France. What’s so great about France anyway? I digress….
My next favorite part of vacation is EATING! YUM! FYI, Parcher’s has a restaurant which is open for breakfast and lunch. If you fish, they will clean the fish you catch so you can cook them up for supper – I mean dinner :). They also have a little store for milk, cheese, deli meats, beer, condiments, etc., in case you need something. Mom packed so much food for us that we didn’t need to eat anywhere. I recommend taking good food for picnics at the lake (which is what we did – Num, Num Num, oops, sorry)! Each cabin has an outdoor bbq / fire pit area so you can make dinner outside if you want. Most of the cabins have full kitchens and refrigerators with freezers so you take all the food you want for your vacation. Mom used the kitchen for dinner and we ate on our beautiful porch! Mom also took some fancy Belgian & Saison beers and said it was heaven on our porch each night watching the sunset. (I think beer is stinky don’t you)? Mom packed extra treats for me so THAT’S what I call heaven! Thank goodness Mom always packs my dog blankies and bed. It gets COLD at sunset and colder at night (40’s). So, I got to snuggle in my blankie and dog bed for my version of sunset on the porch and watch what my new friend, Wiley, was doing on his job as “watch dog”.
Warning: This next part had me shakin’ in my doggy boots (ok, I won’t let Mom put them on)…. Be sure to close your windows and check that your door is locked and latched shut at night because bears come a knockin’! You can’t leave food, hand lotions, candles, (anything that smells) outside in cars or coolers because the bears will want it! Also, make sure you check your area before dark. Bears are cool and all but they are BIG! Um, I mean BIG! Nice from a distance but not when they are too close to even take a picture of (see bear paw print on our front door at 4am below….). This bear must have thought she was Goldilocks or something!
More Fun Things to Do: Hike, Photography, Fish, Raft / Swim, Bird watch, Read, Paint & Relax!
Vacation Tips:
1. Give yourself one extra day! We went Monday – Thursday and could have used an extra day. Next time we will probably go Sunday – Thursday.
2. You and your people will need at least 1 – 1 1/2 days to acclimate to the altitude. So, take some books, kindles, ipads (pre-loaded) games (see #3), food to cook ahead and chillax!
3. No cell or wifi! – Yes, you read me correctly! Mom took a “jetpack” from Verizon and it didn’t get any signals. So, don’t waste your money. Pre-load books, movies, music (not in the cloud) on your iPads, laptops, phones and kindles before you go because you can’t access the cloud on your vacation! We were told you can purchase wifi time from Bishop Creek Lodge and occasionally you will get 1 maybe 2 bars driving between Parcher’s and Aspendell but it’s sporadic. There’s a little store at Creekside RV Park that offers free wifi – so you can download some things if necessary but it’s SLOW!
4. Back to FOOD (my favorite topic!): Mom said next time she’s going to take pre-baked, stuffed potatoes for the first couple of nights. She also took pre-made egg salad and boiled eggs (for me) and they were YUM! (We think the bear thought that smelled great too so maybe not on next year’s menu)! Also, shred & cut lettuce and salad & veggies (I wuv bwocolli) and pack them separately so you can make salad variations all week!! Pre-cutting reduces work during your trip so you can RELAX! Plus, you have instant food. You can also buy a cooler that plugs into the car cigarette lighter so you don’t accidentally freeze your food! Talk about high tech!
5. We recommend researching the area online before you go to have some sort of idea of what you want to do so you’ll know what to take. If you’re going to fish you’ll need a license so call Parcher’s to get the scoop. We also recommend Jared Smith’s book “Fishin’ Trails” which details all the best places to fish – or to get some relaxation. Jared is the GM of Parcher’s. Jared and Seth (who works at Parcher’s too) are finishing the next book “Fishin’ Trails 2” which we can’t wait to buy! The books are pretty much the “insiders guide” to little known and best areas in the Eastern Sierras. We will certainly purchase “Fishin’ Trails 2” before next year’s trip!
6. Best Potty Break!: Parcher’s was about a 6 hour drive from South OC. There’s a nice public park with public restrooms in Lone Pine which was perfect timing for a potty break for me and Mom! She said to also tell you to gas-up in Lone Pine so you have a full tank to drive around in the mountains while you’re there.
7. If you don’t want to cook dinner, Bishop Creek Lodge www.bishopcreekresort.com is open 5 nights as week (I think) so you can go have dinner and a beer or wine. Otherwise, you’ll have to drive all the way back down to Bishop.
8. Take Board Games, DVD’s and your laptop to watch movies after dark! (8ish). A couple of the cabins have DVD players and a screen but not many. Mom took old school Steve McQueen DVD’s and we watched them every night. That Steve McQueen was one cool dude!
For our next time at Parcher’s we are going to try late September for Fall Foliage! Hope to see you there!
XOXO,
Scoobs