Sugar Pine Point, a Spirit Bear & Squaw

When one vacations with us for an entire week, it allows for a more thorough explore. Today, we headed to the West Shore and began our day at Sugar Pine Point.

In 1897, San Francisco businessman I. W. Hellman began buying property at Sugar Pine Point and by 1913 had acquired nearly 2000 acres. His grand but informal summer home, called Pine Lodge, was completed in 1903 and was considered to be one of the finest in the high Sierra. His daughter, Florence Hellman Ehrman inherited the estate and she and her husband Sydney spent many summers here entertaining family and friends.

Lori toured the wonderful mansion. She loved the history and all the interior elements that transport guests back to the home's glory days.

In 1965, the house and 1,975 acres of the estate were acquired by the California State Park System. Today the estate is maintained as a house museum and as an example of the opulent tradition in Tahoe summer homes.

As always, I found the gardens to be enchanting.

I am always excited when I spot a Sphinx Moth. These hawkmoths first seem to be a hummingbird until you really observe them. So very cool.

As we were driving along, I spotted this little guy. We had seen a black bear with this same coloring in the Nature Center and I commented that I had never seen a bear like this and then there he was. Wow!

When I showed this photo to Jenny, she thought it was a Spirit Bear. I had to do some research... The Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei), also known as the spirit bear (particularly in British Columbia), is a rare subspecies of the American black bear living in the Central and North Coast regions of British Columbia, Canada. Kermode bears hold a prominent place in the oral traditions of the indigenous peoples of the area.

Whether or not our bear was a true Spirit Bear, it is a very cool tie-in with the specialness of our Native American experience Sunday.