A Trip to the Big Blue :: Lake Tahoe

After the fun, frivolity and excitement of Austin and Kay’s wedding in July, we hired a car and drove three hours east to Lake Tahoe. Both of us were craving mountains and some time surrounded by nature, and Tahoe came through in spades.

We found ourselves a quaint little studio flat over a couple’s garage and almost immediately headed down to their private dock to take in the full view of the lake. Being situated on the North Coast, we had spectacular views straight down the lake towards the Nevada-California state line. We were lucky enough to see snow capped peaks, as the Sierra Nevadas had encountered a very heavy winter, one that afforded the ski resorts to stay open until July 4th!

The scope of Lake Tahoe is quite incredible. About 22 miles long by 12 miles wide at its maximum points, it has a surface elevation of 6,225 feet making it the largest alpine lake in North America. It has an average depth of 1,000 feet, but the water is so clear and clean that you can routinely see to depths of 80 to 100 feet! Lake Tahoe holds enough water that if it were emptied out, it would cover the entire state of California to a depth of five feet. In short, Lake Tahoe is a big, deep, gorgeous clean body of water.

We spent the two full days we had driving from beauty spot to beauty spot listening to a CD that our hosts left for us by a local singer/songwriter/ski bum – Tahoe’s equivalent to Jimmy Buffet. The CD was a mixture of songs about Tahoe and spoken history, including stories of the white man’s discovery in 1844, the meaning of Washo (the original Native American name), and other local legends, myths, and tales of Lake Tahoe.

We took a couple of nice, short hikes into the peaks, including a lovely picnic lunch on a smaller lake that drains into Tahoe, as well as a sharp climb up to a great view over the entire lake – complete with our own little furry chipmunk friend. The highlight for both of us, besides maybe relaxing each evening in the hot tub overlooking the lake and rising full moon, was our kayaking trip.

After renting kayaks, we spent four hours paddling between the massive boulders and small coves on the Nevada side of the lake. Kayaking was definitely a great way to feel in tune with the lake and truly get a sense of the depth and clarity of the water. It was amazingly tranquil and was exactly what we were looking for. If we had had longer we definitely would have done it again on a different part of the lake.

We were hoping to see a bit more wildlife, but we settled with seeing a very friendly yellow lab (go figure), a curious chipmunk, a regal eagle (seen at a distance) and a ‘whale’ who you may find featuring in the slideshow below!

Experiencing Lake Tahoe was a great little getaway and we only wish we had had more time to enjoy the fantastic natural beauty of this beautiful blue giant!