It was so beautiful. I couldn't have asked for a better place to have my first kayaking experience. No scaly predators to worry about, just calm waters and magnificent scenery.
So, the drive was about 8 hours and it took almost 10. Left the house at 5:30AM, taking the 395, stopping in Bishop (about halfway there) at Erick Schat’s Bakkerÿ for the infamous pull-apart bread. It was well worth it, and highly recommended. There were so many people, it reminded me of Knott's Berry farm.
Back on the road, I took hundreds of pictures. I just wanted to share a few.
A farm on the way. (cool pic right)
About 22 miles up the road from Bishop is the city of Lee Vining, just next to Mono Lake. We stopped there for ice cream at Mono Cone (which is on the 395). If you park and walk back down the road behind it, you can get a great view of Mono Lake.
This is a picture of the rapids along side of the highway on the way to Tahoe.
Upon arriving at Lake Tahoe, tired and happy to be out of the car, we ate dinner and crashed.
Finally we are at Lake Tahoe and about to get out there and paddle our selves sore!
We "put-in" at Camp Richardson. You have to pay for a day pass, but it was less than $10 and parking was not that bad.
Plus you can use the day pass for a discount at Beacon's Bar & Grill later that day (famous for their Rum-Runners).
We paddled to "The Point" but the wind and the current made the first day a battle. We did find a great little beach with a inlet so we could leisurely paddle and take in some of the scenery.
This lily-pad filled area was behind the little beach and secluded from the current and other larger boats so it was a great place to paddle.
The next day we took a drive towards Reno to make a stop at Cabela's (comparable to Bass Pro Shop).
On the way back we got to check out North Tahoe and see where we might want to kayak the rest of our trip.
Sand Harbor...
Sand Harbor is more beautiful than this picture. There was blue water and smooth rocks. You could see the bottom and the water was so clear.
Driving a little farther we were looking for Cave Rock because we saw the sign on the way to Reno and decided to stop on the way back. I was thinking it was a place we could paddle to. Searching all over for it, I turned to my husband and was just about to say, where is it?.....
There it was...we actually drove through it. There are tunnels going through it for both sides of the highway.
Sunset at Sand Harbor.
After checking out the different areas, we decided to go back to Camp Richardson the next day and try our luck paddling to Emerald Bay, Fannette Island (the only island in Lake Tahoe) and back, not realizing this is about an 8 mile round trip paddle. You can rent kayaks and follow a guide, but you are on their schedule. We would rather take our time.
We got up early and went to Camp Richardson to "put-in" our kayaks. I have to say this day was a lot easier. Less wind and current. Plus, we kind-of knew what we were doing this time. We started to paddle out and ran into some friends (Bill, Pat, and Lola).
We hung out for a little bit and then started our treck towards Emerald Bay.
There's "The Point" that we paddled to our first day, just a few yards from the beginning of Emerald Bay. We are going to make it today!
Some wildlife.
Were are close to the opening of Emerald Bay, there's one of the paddle boats.
Once we were inside the Bay, the water was so green, ere go the name Emerald Bay?
We stopped at a small beach to take a rest and grab a snack, and explore a little.
This is an old Scandinavian place built a long time ago, you can read about it, follow the link.
Lots of tourists this day...
Can you see it at the top left of the picture? That is where we are going.
There's my husband paddling to find a place to anchor our kayaks and take a hike up to the top!
These are a couple of pictures of the man-made stairs that were places all the way to the top.
Here is a view on the way up to the tea house that was built by the same woman that built Vikingsholm castle. She used to bring her guest's by boat out to the island to have tea and look out over Emerald bay. There was a Stellar's Jay sitting up on top.
There was a story we read about an old hermit that drowned in Lake Tahoe and his body was never found. You can read about it at this link. Hermit of Emerald Bay
My husband and I took a look inside.
This is the fireplace and one of the three windows. I looked out and below is what I saw.
Boats drift by all day long. Not too many will anchor and take a hike up though.
More views from the way back down.
Breathtaking scenery...
Getting ready to paddle back to camp Richardson.
Have a great day...paddle on!
