After the bluegrass festival and our time in the foothills we were eager to head back to the mountains. This time our destination was to be a month at Lake Tahoe, on the border between California and Nevada near the northernmost part of the Sierras.
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| Lake Tahoe looking Northeast, with Cascade Lake in the foreground |
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| Lake Tahoe from above Emerald Bay |
Lake Tahoe is a true wonder of nature. About 75 miles around the circumferance, it is over 1,600 feet deep and surrounded by peaks that are 3,000 feet above it's 6,200 foot elevation. There are 63 inlets to the lake--streams and rivers--and only one outlet, the Trukee River, which flows into Pyramid Lake in Nevada where the water evaporates. Lake Tahoe in one of the few lakes in the country whose waters never flow into the sea! There is enough water in Lake Tahoe to cover the entire state of California with 18 inches of water. It is said that more pictures are taken of Lake Tahoe than any other place in the world. Not sure about that, but it sure is beautiful.
But it is the water clarity that really is amazing about Lake Tahoe. In the 1800's, the clarity was nearly 200 feet. Now it is about 90 feet, and it has actually improved over the last few decades. The various government agencies responsivble for the lake--the towns around it, the US Forest Service and the State of California--are working hard to protect the purity of the lake's water. Right now there is a major project to improve the road drainage around the lake to remove the main cause of pollution in the lake.
We are staying for two weeks at Meeks Bay, in a National Forest campground on the west shore. The campground is no great shakes, but there is a marvelous beach right at the campground, so we walk over to swim, bask or paddle any time.
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| Our beach at Meeks Bay |
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