Overview

Lake Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places to visit in California. It offers recreational opportunities year-round, from water sports in summer to skiing in winter. The Pacific Crest Trail passes nearby, and there are several protected wilderness areas around. Since half of the lake is technically located in Nevada, there is plenty of gambling available to those who like it.

In More Detail

For some basic hiking, you can take the Eagle Falls trail. After you pass the falls, Eagle Lake is a short hike further up. The Eagle Falls trailhead is a nice area in itself: it offers nice views of Emerald Bay and the rest of Lake Tahoe.

If you like water, you can rent a kayak pretty much anywhere on the lake. There are many remote areas that you can paddle to, so choose carefully where you rent from and budget enough time. Windsurfing is also available. Notice that we are not mentioning anything about powerboats: the ones already found in the lake cause enough annoyance and pollution, so please don't add your share of it if you can learn to sail or kayak instead.

If you already live near water, you are more likely to visit Tahoe in winter and go skiing or snowboarding. It is really sad how majestic peaks get stripped to make way for downhill ski runs. We are much more in favor of cross-country skiing because it seems friendlier to the forests (trails are not wide at all), and in addition it is a more honest exercise with a portion of well-earned excitement. Many areas near Tahoe have cross-country skiing: search for Tahoe Donner Association, Royal Gorge, Squaw Valley.

The elevation of Lake Tahoe is approximately 6000 feet. Because of the elevation, clean air, and the relatively low light pollution, Tahoe is a great place to try making star trail photos. It is quite easy to do that and we have successfully done it in a campground. You need have a SLR film camera (digital cameras have too much noise at long exposure times, as of 2004) with a wide-angle lens.

First, make sure your camera can take exposures of several hours. Most cameras draw current even during bulb exposures, so the best solution for a long exposure seem to be lantern batteries. Assuming your camera normally requires two 3V batteries, you can buy a big 6V lantern battery and two wires with a probe tip on one side and a crocodile clip on the other. The probe tips attach to the camera contacts (the battery door stays open), and the crocodile clips attach to the battery. Make sure you get the polarity right. Anyway, this kind of setup will give you enough "juice" for many several-hour exposures, and costs a total of about $10 (battery and wiring). If you have a 35mm film camera, and a 28mm f/2.8 lens, you can try 2, 3, and 4 hour exposures at f/3.5. Make sure your focus is at infinity (at night it will be hard to focus, so prepare while there is still light). Obviously, you need to use a tripod. For extra credit: how many hours did it take to make the photo on the right?