Drive To Lake Tahoe

Got chores done yesterday and by noon said - lets go do our shopping - groceries, cat food, Costco, etc.  I told Dave I'd drive and said we would be doing a little road trip while out, bring your camera.  Off we went to drive to Lake Tahoe.  Talk about money.  People living on top of each other in tiers going up the mountains around the lake, expensive, expensive, expensive!  Just about every car was a Beemer or Porches or Benzes. We were out of place with our American Truck - oh well. Drove over the Sierras to the western side of Lake Tahoe and drove through the little towns that dot the lake.  This is not a little lake.  195 square miles, 21 miles long and 12.2 miles wide.  Average depth is 980 feet, deepest area is 1,644 feet, sitting at 6229 feet of elevation, it is the largest alpine lake in the US.  And it's blue.  Not the blue of Crater but close.  There is a concerted effort to stop the pollution around the lake.

Swimming beach - north end of Lake Tahoe

Lots of people!

It's blue

Too many people!  During the winter the temp of the water is 40 and summer it is 70 and we saw many people swimming at the beach on the north side as well as boats, para-sailors, sailboarders being pulled along with their parachute, surfers, kayakers.  As we drove around to the north side of the lake you drive through small little towns that are 100% tourist meccas - selling anything and everything with rental shops for boards, kayaks, boats, bikes, whatever.  And I believe the big tourist season has not started yet - about 3 weeks from now - snow!

What was the wow factor - in order to get to this area - especially in the winter - you have to drive up and over the mountains to get into the basin or towns of Lake Tahoe.  That means snow and alot of it.  High snow markers on the road, chain up areas abound, gates to close off the roads if need.  I have to say the lake was pretty, but could not afford to live there or vacation there.

Mt. Rose - where Olympics where held

Once we started our drive out of the lake area and up and over the mountain towards the east, we had to drive switch-back roads past Mt. Rose which is where the Olympic games' skiing was done. Our elevation there at the ski lodge was 8200 feet.  Stopped at an overlook back down into the lake - impressive that we were that high, could see quite a distance to the south end of the lake even though the smoke from the Rim Fire of Yosemite was still pouring into the area.

On our drive back to Truckee on Interstate 80 I thought I smelled smoke and came around a bend of the road which follows the Truckee River and there was a wildfire that was going on - saw fire trucks somehow up on the ridge of the mountain, a helicopter with bucket pouring water on the fire.  This is a bit unnerving for us.  We wonder how that fire started - on the side of a mountain.

Another wildfire

Helicopter and bucket ready to dump