Lake Tahoe, California (and Nevada)

After a lot of wine and big city life I visited Lake Tahoe. I was lucky to stay near South Lake Tahoe in the Fallen Leave Campground, because most of the interesting things are in the southern part of Lake Tahoe. And the campground was really beautiful, just a couple of minutes to walk to the Fallen Leave Lake, where Eyra could take a swim and I could admire the views. It is a famous summer (and winter!) holiday place and the summer season just started. So especially on the weekends it was quite crowded on the roads and the famous hikes like Cascade Falls.

Fallen Leave Lake:

…and we found a Redwood Tree on our hike around the lake:

Hike to Cascade Falls:

Since Sarah likes “glamping” in our RV better than backpacking (and she is not here at the moment…) I went on a two-day backpacking trip. The good thing about Lake Tahoe is, it’s not a National Park, so it’s really dog-friendly. I picked a remote hike, bought a “Desolation Wilderness Overnight Permit”, and started the hike at Meeks Bay. I climbed from 6,000 to 7,500 feet in 7 miles and set up camp near Crag Lake. On my way up, I only met 5 other hikers – and at my campsite I did not hear or see any other human being – just wildlife and nature. Since it is bear country I followed the park ranger’s recommendations and packed all my food and other smelly objects in air-tight containers. To be on the save side, I stored them 100 feet away from my campsite. But I didn’t see any bears… maybe later…

For a Swiss guy like me, it’s funny, that a lot of businesses advertise with Switzerland. I haven’t seen one shop or hotel which was advertising with Austria, France or other European countries with big mountains…

To see a little more of the lake, I drove around it. It was a pretty long but really scenic drive. It was interesting to see, how especially the houses changed, when you crossed the border from the California part to the part of the lake which is in Nevada. On the Nevada border they built a couple of high-rises and casinos of course…  Especially on the California part of the Lake, a lot of the villages are built in the forest, that means, most of the trees are still there, but all the houses are nestled around the trees. That is a picture I’m not used to see, since the law in Switzerland makes it not possible, to build this kind of villages.

See you on the road… maybe further north?