Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay (near 63)

We had only allocated 2 nights in Lake Tahoe because the cold front was on track to arrive on Sunday – today was Wednesday so leaving on Friday still allowed us 2 days grace. We weren’t sure how fast the front was travelling to the east, but we were also still headed east towards Elko, then Salt Lake City and from there south east to Moab. Fingers crossed that we could stay in front of the front, so we just had tomorrow to do some sightseeing.

Following the lack of diesel coming into town we had two priorities, to purchase an emergency fuel tank and see Lake Tahoe. Somewhere along the way we had also picked up a nail in the Chev’s rear right tyre and although it wasn’t losing pressure, I decided we also needed to buy a small air compressor to pump up any deflating or low pressured tyres. We certainly can’t rely on having as much luck as when we shredded a Sierra tyre in Canada.

Lake Tahoe was almost 45 minutes drive from the campsite at Truckee, and as the name suggests there was an auto parts shop in town; the fuel tank had to take priority over sightseeing. Grace and Meryla sat patiently in the Chev outside the auto parts shop/hardware store while Chantelle and Rochelle accompanied me inside, well they sat patiently for the first 30 minutes or so. I really don’t know how long we took inside because there were sooo many things to see.

Anyway, after quite some time we returned to the car with the fuel tank, and an air compressor, and some extra electrical cable and connectors to lengthen the power to the compressor, and a great pair of waterproof gloves (thermal and good to -4°F), and water pipe insulation, and a big roll of duct tape, and.....you get the story, men and hardware shops!!

There was still plenty of time to explore Lake Tahoe and what a beautiful day again. I’ve said a number of times before; we’ve been blessed with good weather for the majority of our journey so far. Following a little research, we discovered the Washoe Indians previously used the lake, although there was no sign of them now (unlike what we were yet to discover with the Navaho in Monument Valley).

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada range and is at a surface elevation of 6,225 ft (1,897 m). It’s the largest alpine lake in North America and its depth is 1,645 feet (501 m) making it the USA's second-deepest lake, the deepest being Crater Lake in Oregon which is 300 ft (91 m) deeper at 1,945 feet (594 m) deep.

It is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides. The area surrounding the lake is also referred to as Lake Tahoe, or simply Tahoe. Tahoe is also the 16th deepest lake in the world and the fifth deepest in average depth. It is about 22 mi (35 km) long and 12 mi (19 km) wide and has 72 mi (116 km) of shoreline.

Emerald Bay was a further 22 miles from Tahoe City and it was highly recommended we drive the extra distance around the lake’s shoreline to view it. It became a National Natural Landmark in 1969 and is home to Eagle Falls and Vikingsholm, a 38 room mansion that is apparently one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the United States.

In 1994, California State Parks included the surrounding water of the bay as a part of the park, making Emerald Bay one of the first underwater parks of its type in the state, protecting the various wrecks and other items on the bay's bottom. During harsh winters, the bay freezes over. The bay is about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in length, and about two-thirds of a mile (1 km) wide at its widest point.

The road was quite narrow and windy but the view looking down into the bay was certainly worth the drive. We very thankful of the recommendation to visit the area because the natural beauty and geology of this unique bay and island made it one of the highlights of our visit to Lake Tahoe.

To visit Vikingsholm you need to walk down a trail one mile in length and it drops 500 feet in elevation from the car park to the house. As it was nearing dusk, we reluctantly decided not to walk down to have a look, so headed back home in preparation for the drive to Elko.

Although our stay in Tahoe was brief, it was one of those places that, at some future time you really want to return to – it’s difficult to explain precisely why, it was just… special.