Oct 26 - Lake Tahoe, CA

We decided to drive the 1.5 hours up to Lake Tahoe.  It was a beautiful day, sunny, in the upper 60's in Lake Tahoe today, and tomorrow they were supposed to have a high of 38 degrees and cloudy.  It is only 58 miles from our campgrounds, but the last 30 miles was, of course, all curvy and winding, up the mountains.   So the going was slow, with lots of turnouts to let the locals pass, as the actual speed limit was 55 mph.  Yeh, my maximum speed, in the car, not the RV, was 45.
  Anyways, our first stop was at the Emerald Bay State Park.  This is an incredibly beautiful small bay on the south east side of Lake Tahoe.  Unfortunately, since it was such a beautiful day, and a Saturday to boot, the traffic was heavy, and finding parking was difficult.  I did luck out and find a spot along the road.  We walked over to the lookout called Inspiration Point.  It looks out over the lake, the south side of Emerald Bay, and also over the small, only island in the lake.  This lake became a popular vacation area in the late 1800's, early 1900's.  I can't imagine driving the roads getting to the lake, or around the lake back then!  There was one stretch of road that had a 10 mph speed limit, around the switchback, and then went over an isthmus of road, with steep drop offs on both sides.
  We continued up the road on the east side, to Sugar Pine Point State Park, just south of Tahoma.  A wealthy businessman built a beautiful mansion, the Hellman-Ehrman mansion, overlooking the lake, at the turn of the century.  The granddaughter sold it to the State, and it is now part of this State Park.  It has a lovely pier.  You can see how clear and blue the water is.  This lake is 1600 feet deep.  We sat on the pier and just enjoyed the day.  We chatted with some folks, and watched as a couple took engagement photos.
   We turned back toward South Lake Tahoe, and stopped at the north side of Emerald Bay, at a lookout by the road.  We saw the Bay and the lake, from the opposite side than we had from Inspiration Point.  Then, we stopped at a lookout area at Emerald Bay State Park, that had been too full to park at on our way up the road.  This area had a huge rock, that I, of course, had to climb.  And another great view of the lake.
  Our last stop along the road was at Taylor Creek.  Right by the road, there is a trail over a bridge, over the Taylor Creek.  Right now the Kokanee salmon are spawning, so there were hundreds of salmon just hovering in the water by the bridge.  I guess they lay their eggs, and then they die.  Their offspring will make their way next spring out into Lake Tahoe.  We then hiked the loop trail, through the forest, the wetlands, and the meadows.  Then back to the road.  However, on the way, by the stream, we saw a brown bear, just quietly doing his thing.
   We ate dinner at the Sprouts restaurant.  A nice health food restaurant, where I felt right at home.  Peter thought is was OK.
  The ride back to the RV was long, but by the time we got back, I was really getting the swing of all those curves.  Do a right curve, then a left one, then a another right one, then another left one, then slow down to 30 mph, then more rights and lefts, and on and on.  Another great day.

Lake Tahoe photos:

Salmon Spawning photos: