A Simply Delightful Day

Spent a nice relaxing rest day in South Lake Tahoe yesterday.  On Friday night we had celebrated our guide Patty's birthday with a baked salmon feast, cheesecake, and oh yes - margaritas.  Lots of visitors on Friday & Saturday.  Some of the ladies live not too far away so they had family & friends come by.  One hubby flew across the country for a visit and another drove 12 hours through the night.  Also - ladies who had travelled with some of us on previous WT trips came to visit.  A few other of our crew caught up with friends in the area from either long ago or from other worldly travels.  I managed to waddle down to the lakefront

and then to the main drag where I thought I might trade my bike in for the bike below.  Maybe Linda would like to be my tandem partner (I would let her have the front seat and do all the work).

Of course then I had to retreat to my bed for a few hours and watch the snow flurries come & go.   But - I managed to find out a few factoids about Lake Tahoe.

• Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the US and the 10th deepest in the world
• it is 22 miles long (north/south) and 12 miles wide (east/west)
• average elevation is 6225 feet and it is the highest lake of its size in the US
• the lake never freezes over
• an average of 1.4 million tons of water evaporates off the lake every day
• if Lake Tahoe were emptied out into California, it would cover the entire state with nearly 14 inches of water
• the lake is fed by 63 streams but has only one outlet (Truckee River at the NW end).  
• it is a terminal lake - which means its waters do not flow to the sea
• the stateline with Nevada splits the lake, although more of it is in California than in Nevada
• Stateline, Nevada is contiguous with South Lake Tahoe, California
• gambling has been legal in Nevada since 1931, so as soon as you cross the street into Nevada you are confronted with some mega-casinos
• there is a gondola from main street South Lake Tahoe to the Heavenly ski area, and there are now over 30 ski areas in operation in or near the Tahoe Basin

On to today...........  just when I thought people couldn't possibly cycle in more layers than I saw on Friday, new layers appeared this morning.  Obviously a lot of us were out stimulating the Tahoe economy on our rest day!  Bright sunshine but chilly temps to start out.  5C.

We rode west along the southern shoreline of the lake.  Lovely views for most of it, although we were on a fairly major road and had to keep our eyes on the traffic.

We were on bike paths on and off during the day.  I was on one for about 4 miles from mile 5 until mile 9.  Along that path I met a couple fully loaded/self-supported who had left from Florida on February 1st, turned right near the Pacific Ocean and were now following the Sierra Cascades route to end in Friday Harbor in July.  Makes our trip look like a cake-walk!  About mile 10 we started our climb to outstanding views over Emerald Bay.  Emerald Bay is 3 miles long and 1 mile wide.  Fannette Island sits inside the bay and is the only island in Lake Tahoe.  The small stone structure visible on the island is a 16 square foot private teahouse, built in the 1930s.  It and the associated home/mansion were eventually acquired by the California park system.  Lots of pictures from this area today.

Here are 5 of us at one of the roadside lookouts.  Me, Diane, Ann, Gail, Linda.  We're working on our glamour poses.  How are we doing??

We continued up the west side of the lake.  Bike path on and off, paralleling SR 89.  Saw these lovely little snow plants along the path and some parting looks at the lake.

Looked like these folks were doing a scuba diving lesson.  And some of us thought riding was a cold activity today.........

Stopped in Tahoe City at a nice little coffee shop with Sheila, Ann & Linda, then through Tahoe City and onto a bike path beside the Truckee River.  At the end of the bike path we went past the turnoff to Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Finally into the cute historic town of Truckee.  Stopped for another meal, Mexican this time.  Wonder why I wasn't starving at dinnertime........  But I ate well anyway.  Gotta love spandex!

"Delightful" is my word for today's ride.  Great scenery, not too hilly, not too long - great for a pokey ride with lots of time away from traffic.  The hotel was kind enough to offer us a room indoors for dinner so we didn't have to bundle up to eat outside.  Another cool day tomorrow, and maybe some moisture coming.  Really, really enjoyed the ride today!

Stats for the day:

79 km / 49 miles from South Lake Tahoe CA to Truckee CA 

2111 feet up

2524 feet down

Weather:  5C to 10C.  Bright sunshine for most of the day with some clouds building in the afternoon.  Light winds - in our favour if anything.