California Blog #22: Welcome to Lake Tahoe

 Living in Northern California in the future can be a bit of a challenge. But when I think of living here once again, I've thought about one thing that my aunt Leta suggested. She and uncle Mark suggested visiting Lake Tahoe for the very first time. If you can look closely, you can see the beautiful lakeside. That's the south shore seen on the west.

At Lake Tahoe, you can also see the view of the shore from California from here. If you liked my blog about camping in California, then get this. There's also hiking here in Lake Tahoe! And that part of Lake Tahoe is Fallen Leaf Lake. How's that for another scenery.

Now if you look closely at this map, Lake Tahoe is located in both California and Nevada. As you look closely at these pictures taken from space, you can see the clear blue water in this lake.

According to Wikipedia, Lake Tahoe has a dry-summer continental climate, including warm, dry summers and chilly winters with regular snowfall. It's the youngest of several extensional basins of the Walker Lane deformation zone that accommodates nearly 0.47 inches per year of dextral shear between the Sierra Nevada-Great Valley Block and North America.

It also says that some of the highest peaks of the Lake Tahoe Basin that formed during the process of Lake Tahoe creation are Freel Peak at 10,891 feet, Monument Peak at 10,067 feet, Pyramid Peak at 9,984 feet (in the Desolation Wilderness), and Mount Tallac at 9,735 feet. The north shore boasts three peaks at over 10,000 feet: Mount Rose at 10,785 feet, and Houghton and Relay peaks. Mt. Rose is a very popular hiking and backcountry skiing destination.

The Sierra Nevada adjacent to Lake Tahoe were carved by scouring glaciers during the Ice Ages, which began a million or more years ago, and retreated 15,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene. The glaciers carved canyons that are today iconic landmarks such as Emerald Bay, Cascade Lake, and Fallen Leaf Lake, among others. Lake Tahoe itself never held glaciers, but instead water is retained by damming Miocene volcanic deposits.

According to native legend in Lake Tahoe, The area around Lake Tahoe was previously inhabited by the Washoe Native Americans. Lake Tahoe was the center and heart of Washoe Indian territory, including the upper valleys of the Walker, Carson and Truckee Rivers.

Up here, you can see Cave Rock, which is a large rock formation located on the southeastern shore of the lake and considered a sacred site for the Washoe Indians. The Washoe people called Cave Rock deʔek wadapush. It's Washo for Standing Gray Rock. Part of why the Washoe felt the Cave was sacred was due to "The Lady of the Lake" a rock formation on the side of the Cave which looks like the profile of a woman's face gazing out towards the lake. Washoe ancestors performed religious ceremonies inside the cave. There were significant but ultimately unsuccessful protests from the tribe when a tunnel was blasted through the rock in 1931 for Highway 50.

The only outlet of Lake Tahoe and the headwaters of the Truckee River at Lake Tahoe Dam which you can see in this picture.

You can also see that Lake Tahoe is divided by the prominent interstate boundary between California and Nevada, where the two states' edges make their iconic directional turn near the middle of the lake. This boundary has been disputed since the mid-nineteenth century.

There's also a place called Emerald Bay. They say that Emerald Bay is the home of Secret Beach, which is on Lake Tahoe's Nevada side.

Much of the area surrounding Lake Tahoe is devoted to the tourism industry and there are many restaurants, ski slopes, golf courses and casinos catering to visitors. So to top all this off, here's are the top 6 reasons on why we wanna visit Lake Tahoe for the first time in California future.

1. Winter sport activities

If you can focus on the view from the east shore of Lake Tahoe, let's review some of the winter sports the location has to offer. During ski season, thousands of people flock to the slopes for downhill skiing. Lake Tahoe, in addition to its panoramic beauty, is well known for its blizzards.

Part one: Skiing

Now some of you may not know this, but somehow during winter days, and someday I would like uncle Mark to teach me how to ski. Because to be honest, I really don't know how to ski. And that's why I'm telling you so to help me out on this. One of the ski areas that I wanna see is the Heavenly Mountain Resort on the California–Nevada border in South Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It's bigger and it's got everything...I think. Let's hope that I'm right about this. That's my first top choice for spending time whenever it comes to skiing and snowboarding. Up there, there's even a gondola ride whenever there's a spot.

Many ski areas around Tahoe also have snow tubing, such as Squaw Valley. Throughout Tahoe, cross-country skiing, snowmobile riding and snowshoeing are also popular.

Part two: Snowmobile rides

The second half of the 20th century saw the rise of recreational snowmobiling, whose riders are called snowmobilers or sledders. Recreational riding is known as snowcross/racing, trail riding, freestyle, boondocking, ditchbanging and grass drags. In the summertime snowmobilers can drag race on grass, asphalt strips, or even across water such as Snowmobile skipping. Snowmobiles are sometimes modified to compete in long-distance off-road races. In case you didn't know, a snowmobile tour was in Yellowstone National Park.

Part three: Snow tubing

Not just in Lake Tahoe, but it happens in many locations in the United States in snow and in water. For instance, snow tubing happened everywhere such as Adventure Point at Keystone Resort, the Mississippi River, free-floating tubing at the Esopus Creek in the Catskill Mountains of New York, also summer tubing in Neveplast, on Mr. Snow modules, Pleasant Lake in Minnesota, anywhere.

My second choice is Squaw Valley where the Village is located. Did you know that the Squaw Valley Ski Resort was the host site for the 1960 Winter Olympics? Now you do. It's even located in Olympic Valley, California where it covers 3,600 acres, employing 30 chairlifts and it's the only funitel in the U.S. It is the second-largest skiing complex in the Lake Tahoe area.

2. Water sports

In Lake Tahoe during late Spring to early Fall, the lake is popular for water sports and beach activities. The two cities most identified with the Lake Tahoe tourist area are South Lake Tahoe, California and the smaller Stateline; smaller centers on the northern shoreline include Tahoe City and Kings Beach. Other popular activities include parasailing, jet ski rentals, kayaking, stad-up paddle boarding, eco-friendly paddle sport rentals and fishing.

Boating is a primary activity in Tahoe in the summer. The lake is home to one of the most prestigious wooden boat shows in the country, the Lake Tahoe Concours d'Elegance, held every August. There are lake front restaurants all over the lake, most equipped with docks and buoys. There are all sorts of boating events, such as sailboat racing, firework shows over the lake, guided cruises, and more. As an interstate waterway, Lake Tahoe is subject to the United States Coast Guard. Lake Tahoe is home to Coast Guard Station.

SCUBA diving is also popular at Lake Tahoe, with some dive sites offering dramatic drop-offs or wall dives.

In 1955, Fred Rogers became the first person to swim the length of Lake Tahoe, and in 1962, Erline Christopherson became the first woman to do so.

3. Hiking and bicycling

There are numerous hiking and mountain biking trails around the lake. They range widely in length, difficulty and popularity. One of the most famous of Tahoe's trails is the Tahoe Rim Trail, a 165-mile trail that circumnavigates the lake. Here you can see the view from the Tahoe Rim Trail.

Directly to the west of the lake is the Granite Chief Wilderness, which provides great hiking and wilderness camping. Also, to the southwest is the very popular Desolation Wilderness. One of the most popular trailheads used to access these popular destinations is Eagle Lake trailhead, located near Emerald Bay on Tahoe's west shore. The Flume Trail of the east shore is one of Mountain Biking Magazine's Top 10 Trails in the U.S. There are also many paved off-road bicycle paths that meander through communities on all sides of the lake. Uncle Mark and Aunt Leta would like to take me on a hike there for the first time and someday in the future when I move back here in California.

4. Gambling

We all know that somehow gambling is wrong and sometimes there are gambling problems in Lake Tahoe. But sometimes gambling is legal on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. Casinos, each with a variety of slot machines and table games, are located on the South Shore in Stateline, and on the North Shore in Crystal Bay and Incline Village.

Aunt Leta suggested a dinner and a show at one of those Lake Tahoe casinos.

The Cal-Neva was rebuilt after a fire in 1937 and expanded several times, most noticeably in 1969 when the high-rise hotel was built. Along the way, Frank Sinatra owned the property in the early 1960s, shared his cabins with the likes of Sam Giancana and Marilyn Monroe, and sold out at the height of the area's popularity.

Other casinos at the North Shore include the Crystal Bay Club, first built in 1937 as the Ta-Neva-Ho; the Tahoe Biltmore, and the Nugget. The Hyatt Regency is found at Incline Village.

At South Shore, Bill Harrah purchased the Stateline Country Club, which had stood since 1931 and built Harrah's Tahoe. Other casinos include Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Lake Tahoe, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Montbleu, and the Lakeside Inn.

5. Highways

Visitors can reach Lake Tahoe under ideal conditions within two hours from the Sacramento area, one hour from Reno or thirty minutes from Carson City. In winter months, chains or snow tires are often necessary to reach Tahoe from any direction. Traffic can be heavy on weekends due to tourists if not also from weather.

The primary routes to Lake Tahoe are on Interstate 80 to Truckee, U.S. Route 50, and Nevada State Route 431 to Reno.

California State Route 89 follows the western shore of the lake through the picturesque wilderness and connects camping, fishing and hiking locations such as those at Emerald Bay State Park, DL Bliss State Park and Camp Richardson. Farther along are communities such as Meeks Bay and Tahoe City. Finally, the highway turns away from the lake and heads northwest toward Truckee.

California State Route 28 completes the circuit from Tahoe City around the northern shore to communities such as Kings Beach, Crystal Bay, and into Incline Village, Nevada where the road becomes Nevada State Route 28. Route 28 returns along the eastern shore to US 50 near Spooner Lake.

6. Transportation & Airports

As always, Lake Tahoe can be reached directly by car, and indirectly by train or air. The nearest passenger train service is the Amtrak station in Truckee, and is served by Amtrak's train, the California Zephyr, which runs daily between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. The closest scheduled passenger airline service is available via the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. But can Lake Tahoe be reached directly by the Bart train? Well, not really on that one.

There are major area airports in the Lake Tahoe area. There's:

Reno-Tahoe International Airport/KRNO (Reno, Nevada)

Sacramento International Airport/KSMF (Sacramento, California)

Lake Tahoe Airport/KTVL (South Lake Tahoe, California)

Truckee-Tahoe Airport/KTRK (Truckee, California)

Minden-Tahoe Airport/KMEV (Minden, Nevada)

Okay, enough of that. Let's get to the point about my first time visiting Lake Tahoe in the future. The reason I've thought about visiting Lake Tahoe is because of the beautiful nature and the activities that happen here, and outside it's very quiet and breathtaking. The air is so clean and so fresh. Maybe for the first time in the future, I wanna have my aunt Leta and uncle Mark to take me and my family to Lake Tahoe to visit there. And who knows, maybe I'll bring my cousins Ryan, Brendan, and Shanann along with Miles and Kieran with me on our first journey to the great outdoors of Nevada.

So if you're looking out to see a grizzly bear and not mess around with it, please be careful and don't get too close to it. So stay away from a grizzly bear. But, black bears are harmless to people though. If you're looking for another idea for the next puppet from Axtell Expressions, then consider the grizzly bear puppet the next choice.

So anyway, now you know the next suggestion for my next blog this time about Lake Tahoe. And maybe if we're lucky when I'm living in California once again, we can take a trip to Lake Tahoe for the very first time. My family will love it and enjoy the great outdoors. It'll be just like when I say the Country Bears Jamboree in Disney World.