Adventure Camera - Kayaking Lake Tahoe - Day 2

After a good night's sleep, we were woken early by the McDonald's delivery truck (as I said yesterday, there's a strip mall right next to the Tahoe SRA campground!).  We packed up our slightly soggy tent and carried the boats back down to the water.  The sun was just peeking over the mountains across the lake, and the water was once again peaceful and glasslike.  We launched our boats from the campground beach, right next to the park pier.

As we hit the open water, the sun shone on one of the larger lake cruise boats, the Tahoe Gal, and it seemed like we were taken back to another age as the boat twinkled in the warm morning light.

We paddled along past the rest of Tahoe City, Homewood, Tahoma, and various other smaller settlements over the course of the morning.  The houses were of a less extravagant size along this part of the shoreline, and the lake was extremely quiet all morning.  It made for truly peaceful and very enjoyable paddling.  We stopped at the gorgeous beach at Sugar Pine Point for lunch, and once again, it was deserted.  It was like having a little slice of paradise all to ourselves.  (You may recognize the beach from Angela and Paul's engagement shoot back in May-- the water level has risen considerably since then, and many of the rocks and logs we used as props were under 4-5 feet of water!)

We sat and enjoyed the gorgeous weather for a while, then headed on out towards Meeks Bay.  Meeks Bay has a nice public beach (and clean bathrooms!), and everyone from sunbathers to paddleboarders was out enjoying the warmer water.  After Rubicon Bay, the shoreline is part of DL Bliss State park, and the wild coast returns in a series of stunning, boulder-strewn cliffs, tall trees, and giant rock gardens. It's an amazing sight, and one best seen from the water.  The cliffs rise nearly vertical from the water in some places, and extend down 50-100 feet underwater as well.  It's definitely a place that makes you feel wonderfully small in a very big, wild world.

A few hours later, we rounded the bend into Emerald Bay, and wow, what a place!  I'll go into more detail for tomorrow's post, complete with photos, but we stayed at the boat-in campground on the north shore of the bay, and had one of my favorite established campsites to date.  We were at the very edge of the campground, with a huge site, and a "private" set of steps down the rocky cliff and right to a little pocket beach (well, there would have been beach if the water level was lower!).  It was perfect for a chilly after-dinner swim, and, after two great days of paddling, we slept very well.

Day 3 to come tomorrow!