Outside My Southern Comfort Zone: 72 miles on a Friday afternoon

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here lately. Afternoon temperatures are in the upper 40's with the brightest, bluest skies you've ever seen. Mike and I spent our Friday driving around the lake... which is a total of 72 miles on the roads that circle the lake.

We started with a morning paddleboard session in South Lake Tahoe.

The water was calm when we put our boards in and the winds were minimal. The water temperature was 42 degrees and the air temp was approximately the same. Needless to say, we appreciated the calm water to minimize our chances of falling in (fully clothed in winter attire because we don't have wetsuits).

After paddling down the shoreline, we turned to head back to the dock and immediately noticed the north wind was picking up. Thankfully it didn't get too rough, but it was a little choppy and some small waves were splashing up onto the decks of the boards (getting Mike's bare feet wet... I'm sure that was "refreshing".... I had on water shoes).

I have never seen my reflection on the bottom of the lake with such clarity ( or at all for that matter).

At one point, my legs were trembling... partly because I need to build up my stamina for paddling, and partly because I was stabilizing myself against the chop, and partly because I was seeing rocks under the water that seemed SO close, but in reality were MUCH deeper than they appeared. I was in constant fear of hitting my fin on a rock, losing my balance, and plunging into the icy water.

I really can't explain how amazing it feels to paddle on Lake Tahoe. With every stroke of the paddle I would stare at the crystal clear water, and the sand beneath it. It's truly indescribable. I kept thinking that it felt like I was flying, but on a stand up paddleboard.

So, from South Lake we headed up to Emerald Bay. This is a pretty popular tourist spot with amazing views, Vikingsholm (which is this castle type structure on the top of Fannette island), and lots of easily accessible water falls. We parked on the side of the road an ate our lunch on the tailgate of the truck while overlooking Emerald Bay/Fannette Island/Vikingsholm.

Fannette Island

We hiked 1/4 mile from the road to get to Eagle Falls. During the summer/fall this would be a very easy hike but the soft snow made it slightly more challenging.

The falls are under the bridge

You could see the water running under the snow... headed toward the lake.

The view from the bridge, looking down at the falls.

The trail continues into the Desolation Wilderness and according to the map, another 2 miles of hiking would have brought us to Eagle Lake. As much as I wanted to see Eagle lake, we decided that we will come back when there is less snow, or we will come back with traction cleats for the snow/ice so we don't risk slipping/falling. So naturally, since we couldn't hike very far, we stretched out the hammocks and took a little siesta by the rushing sound of the waterfall.

On the other side of the road (visible from the main road), you can see another part of Eagle Falls. This place is truly breathtaking.

After leaving Emerald Bay, we continued heading north along the west side of the lake. We stopped in Tahoe City to walk around a local ski shop, and to admire the Tahoe City Dam that regulates the water level in the lake.

The water flowing toward the dam from the lake.

After passing through the dam it becomes the North Truckee river.

We made another stop in Kings Beach at a local stand up paddleboard shop... Adrift Tahoe. We've been searching for booties and/or wetsuits and luckily, they had 7mm booties in stock... in Mike's size... and on sale. So, no more cold feet for Mikey! Naturally after purchasing them, he was ready to "try them out" and after one look at the glassy, calm water of the lake, I was ready to go paddling again too.

We drove down the shoreline to Sand Harbor. A place that we have always enjoyed visiting because of the large rocks on the shoreline. You can climb out on these rocks and stare at the rocks below the water surface. I thought it would be the MOST amazing place to paddle. The truth is, once the boards were in the water, I got SO nervous that I spent most of the time paddling on my knees. The rocks below the surface are HUGE and so... VERY... VISIBLE! It really freaked me out. Some of them were just below the surface of the water and it seemed like they came out of nowhere! All of a sudden you were headed directly for a WHALE sized rock and you had to use your paddle to push away from it or paddle around it. It was crazy. Crazy BEAUTIFUL!

This place is truly beautiful. It is one of my favorite places on the entire lake. And paddling as the sun was setting... I can't even put those feelings into words.