Lake Tahoe in Nevada and California, October 2024

Our first destination this season is at Lake Tahoe, which borders California and Nevada. Tahoe is famous for its clear waters, incredible scenery, and epic skiing. We stayed at Zephyr Cove RV Resort and Campground on the Nevada (east) side, just north of South Lake Tahoe. Our elevation here is about 6,000 feet (1,800 metres), so nights are cold, but days are warm and sunny. The dry air and the smell of the huge pines are a welcome reprieve from the east's humidity and crowds.

Truckee River Bike Path
	Our friend Jody from Idaho joined us for the beginning of our trip. We are pictured here at an overlook on the drive up to Tahoe City on the west side of the lake, where the Truckee River Bike Trail begins. Jody is holding her little Yorkie/Shih Tzu mix, Jazz who is only 6 months old. Behind us is beautiful Emerald Bay and Fannette Island, on which there is a stone tea house built by Lora Josephine Knight in the late 1920s. Her castle, Vikingsholm, is on the shore of the Bay (not visible from this overlook) in what is now Emerald Bay State Park. Unfortunately, it is closed for the season.
	A gated bridge along the Truckee River. While the setting is peaceful and serene, Highway 89 follows the river, and hence the bike trail, so we always have some traffic noise. Oh well, it is beautiful anyway.
	We followed the 6 mile (10 km) trail to Olympic Valley Park. This sign commemorates the 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held here.
Virginia City
	We planned to go to Carson City and walk the Kit Carson trail, but realized it was just a walking tour around the historic part of town, and the buildings didn't look that old. So we opted to continue on to Virginia City where there was a tour of the Chollar Mine for Brad. As with most old mines, there is a lot of old equipment to walk around as well. This is an old stamp mill. A sign on the side reads "Five Stamp Mill Crushed gold and silver ores Yield 15 tons per day 1860 to 1920".
	The church behind me on the right is Saint Mary in the Mountains. There is another church behind it to the left called St. Paul the Prospector Episcopal Church.
	This town was fun to walk around, with many little shops, bars, restaurants and cafes. The Tahoe House Hotel was built in 1859. Samuel Clemens stayed here before he became Mark Twain. Rooms are still available to rent today.
Kayaking at Sand Harbor
	Brad overlooking the lake at Sand Harbor Beach. The water is so clear, in fact, it is 99.994% pure. Lake Tahoe is the second largest alpine lake in North America with 39 trillion gallons of water; the second deepest lake in the United States (averages 1,000 feet or 300 meters); and it never freezes over.
	The most exciting thing we wanted to do on Lake Tahoe was kayak in one of the glass bottom boats. There are several companies and tours to choose from. We chose Clearly Tahoe and the Bonsai Rock tour. Our guide was excellent, in fact, he took this photo of Brad and me.
	Another view from the beach at Sand Harbor looking northwest. It would have been prettier with snow on the mountains.