Labor Day weekend in Tahoe

Labor Day is the symbolic end of the summer and Lake Tahoe seemed like a good way to close out the season.   Hanna did her homework and found a nice hotel on Ski Run Boulevard about a block and half from the beach at South Shore and 1 mile from Stateline.  The reviews on TripAdvisor were excellent with much praise for the hotel owners themselves.  There was no misrepresentation there, we must have had a half dozen conversations with the couple (Chad and Layni) during our three day stay.  They were a married couple from Texas that grew tired of the corporate world and decided to refurbish and run a hotel in Tahoe.  Over the 1.5 years that has elapsed they have nicely remodeled all of the rooms, there is a nice pool/spa area with fire pits and complementary bike rental.  It is called the Alder Inn.

Hanna and I arrived in South Lake in the late morning on Saturday, the 4Runner armed with a couple of mountain bikes, a sea kayak and our weekend gear.  We hit a local bike shop and inquired about a good 8-12 mile single track trail and directions to get there.  If I don't write it down here, I won't remember how to find it--from eastbound Highway 50 exit Elks Club Drive and head east.  Make a right on Pioneer Trail and take the third left onto Oneidas St, which eventually becomes Fountain Place Road.  We parked before the stream crossing (38 deg, 52.256' N, 119 deg 59.034' W by GPS) and rode down the road, making a left onto a gravel road flanked with a steel gate.  Had I known the gate was open we could have driven the 4Runner another 1/2 mile down the dirt road and done what could have been a really fun sandy hill climb. 

This trail starts out following the electric transmission lines, aptly named "Power Line Road," which consists of nothing more than a sandy fire road that is completely annoying on a mountain bike.  This is why I should have brought the 4Runner out this far.  We followed Power Line Road to the pavement at a neighborhood, then immediately picked up the Railroad Grade Trail, a nice single track following the creek.  Now that you're back to Powerline, double-back up the hill to the left and turn right onto the Corral Trail.  We rode the single track Corral Trail, then turned left and headed up the Sierra Sidewinder Trail.  Sidewinder is awesome...think Mr. Toad's Wild Road (which is nearby), with sharp banked turns over a long decent.  When we got back to Corral we detoured to the right and rode the Incense Cedar Trail back to Powerline.  I will definitely come back to ride this again.  Hanna did really well both from an "in-shape" standpoint as well as a technical ability standpoint.

 

 We checked into our hotel, cleaned up and walked a block from the hotel to dinner.  We had a really nice dinner at Riva's with an outside table on the deck with a view of the beach and Lake Tahoe and the setting sun.

 Sunday morning we had breakfast and headed north to Sand Harbor on the north east side of Lake Tahoe.  I had reserved a sea kayak for Hanna and we were able to park, launch my own kayak from the beach and not have to worry about hauling the second kayak around on the truck.  The paddling from Sand Harbor south is the best paddling on Lake Tahoe.  The lake bottom is mostly sand and you can see the massive boulders through the clear water to a depth of probably 60+ feet down.  We pass the Thunderbird Lodge and a half dozen really nice beaches along the way.

We stopped for lunch on a beach (Secret Harbor, I think) and go for a swim.  As I was in the water a guy came in to the cove in a boat, turned around and started backing toward the beach.  I was waiting for disaster and lots of bad noises as the prop went aground.  It never happened.  Once he got moored I asked the guy...basically, "how'd you do that?"  He told me that Yamaha boats are jet drive, so they draft almost no water and there's no prop and outdrive.  We talked a bit (he obviously loved his boat) and after his third offer to take Hanna and I for a ride, we finally did.  So much fun.  Instead of the typical low-tech and usually Chevrolet powered pushrod engine, Yamaha uses high tech twin 1 liter jet ski engines connected to jet drives.  Anyways, super neat boat and we had a fun outing.

 

After our boat ride we paddled north again, returned the rental kayak, loaded up mine and headed back to South Lake.  We walked from the hotel to Chevy's and I proceeded to gorge myself with the "Taste of Chevy's" meal, which is basically one of every kind of mexican food in existence.  It was great, but I ate so much I was worried I would need to hail a taxi to make it the one block back to the hotel.  I made it though.  Afterward we walked back down to the pier in front of Riva's restaurant and watched the impressive fireworks show that originated from a barge off the beach of Zephyr Cove.  I wish I would have had my good camera to capture a single shot of the fireworks along with the hundreds of boats floating on the water watching the show.  It was pretty spectacular.

We played tourist on Monday.  We walked around the new development at Stateline and took the Heavenly gondola up to the new observation deck that provides stunning views of Lake Tahoe and the Minden/Gardenerville Valleys in Nevada.  We continued on to the top and had lunch at the newly constructed Tamarack Lodge.  If you haven't been up the gondola, it is definitely worth the trip.

Lake Tahoe is definitely a very special place.  Amazing views, endless outdoor opportunities and I had the benefit of excellent company...certainly a very good holiday weekend in my book.