Lake Tahoe: In the Absence of Blue, A Perfect Sunset


I got myself mildly lost on a walk amid ancient pine trees, almost suffered frostbite traversing the Tahoe Rim Trail, survived a skiing accident at Heavenly Valley, and experienced a horrific auto accident on the summit of Highway 50, my car and family saved by the packed of snow on the side of the road from plummeting into the abyss. Despite these scary stories, I have not totally given up on going to Lake Tahoe; I just make sure to leave the driving to someone else in the winter.

Dubbed as “Lake Tahoe Blue”, Lake Tahoe is literally the true blue gem shared by California and Nevada. The lake is deep, blue and alpine pure. Surrounded by the High Sierra mountains, it offers great outdoors activities all year round - world-class ski resorts in the winter, and all types of water sporting activities and great hiking trails in the summer.

Summer in Lake Tahoe is another story for me. It has always been filled with joy. The lake itself is the main reason why I make my annual trip to this high Sierra paradise at this time of year. Since I like to dig my toes in the sand, kayak and stand-up on a paddle board on the smooth water, I always stay at the same place (Hyatt), a gorgeous lakeside spot in the north shore, and a few steps away from the beach and the marina.  Surrounded with the sweeping vista of the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges and the blue lake, the air is clean and dry.

On a recent trip, however, I missed the alpine-perfumed air. Hazy smoke from the Yosemite Rim fire filled the air. Even the tide ebbing from the crystal-clear water that usually whips whitecaps across the lake seemed gray under the smoky sky. I thought the air was not so safe for staying outside all day, so we played indoors in the casino. Instead of losing myself in solitude, I ended up losing money in the casino.


We came to Lake Tahoe to play outdoors and bask under the sun, but found ourselves basking under a perfect sunset. It was clearly Lake Tahoe, where even for a brief moment it showed me the beauty of nature in its sunset, and made me appreciate Lake Tahoe even more.
Taken from Incline Village (North Lake Tahoe) - August 27, 2013
Taken from South Lake Tahoe - August 25, 2013


 Note:  All photos by the author

Comments

  1. What a perfect orange sunset and a very scary story about sliding off the road in your car on Hwy 50. Thanks for sharing! I'm from the Bay Area and feel lucky we have such a majestic place so close by for both Summer and Winter, truly one of my favorite places to visit with friends and family.

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