Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

We woke up to one of the team down with ‘injury’…Cooper seems to be a bit hobbled today.  He is gimping along on what we suspect are sore feet from the hike yesterday.  He doesn’t like hard surfaces especially the rocky areas and wants to walk only in the softest, dirtiest areas he can find.  Rather than another hike we’ve decided to take a drive…to Lake Tahoe.  It’s been driving us a bit crazy trying to figure out if we’d driven through this area back in winter 2009.   

Sore tootsies

Cooper "People watching"

Cooper was pretty laid back all day.  He spent his time napping and looking cool.   We stopped at a park for lunch and he was happy to lay in the back seat and wait for his yogurt cups to be delivered to him.  While driving around Lake Tahoe he sat in the back seat and was totally unimpressed with all the people...especially those in improper foot wear for hiking.

Hiking in heels?

Yum!

He had is very own waste disposal can on the trail beside our picnicking spot....only seen in the California State Parks.  An added plus you'll notice that the darn thing is bear proof.  Why would a bear want dog waste? 

Bear proof...really

Zephyr Cove

We drove along and wondered why so many people were heading to the various beach parks...all lots were full.  The water at Lake Tahoe is mid 60’s…with temperatures in the low 80’s it seemed too chilly to be swimming.  We did see quite a few boats zipping about the lake, but few water skiers.  Still trying to figure out why would one use paddle boards?  Kayak or canoes would seem to be more fun and useful way to spend time on the water…must be missing something.

Zephyr Cove...blocked

Castle on island in Zephyr Cove

The water is a deep blue very much like Crater Lake…lots of sky reflecting in the clear lake that’s for sure.  The most surprising thing was that the overlooks had a tremendous number of people, but trees blocked most of the views.  One story we read at an overlook was about a hermit who was the caretaker of one of the mansions.  He would row each evening down the lake to the saloon, drink and row back.  One night during a storm he was tossed overboard.  Somehow he made it back to shore and his caretaker’s cottage.  He thought it would be a good opportunity to build himself a small castle-like mausoleum on a small island in the lake.  Unfortunately, on one of his excursions to the saloon he was once again tossed overboard and his body was never recovered…his finished castle on top of the island is unoccupied.  Poor guy.

Views from Nevada

More Nevada side views

We made it all the way around the Lake…jeez, the traffic rivaled big cities.  There were lots of cars and people trying to find a place to park and get to the beach.  Thankfully all we needed was gas and a few groceries...then we got the hell out of there and back to the serenity of the mountains.

It's past my nap time

Oh and a trip to McD’s cheered up Cooper…he had a burger and then napped all the way back to the campground.