Lake Tahoe!!

he says:

An outdoor playground, no matter the season. The cobalt blue lake, at 6,250’ above msl, is perfect for sailing, kayaking, swimming... you name the water sport, and it is happening on Lake Tahoe. The lake is ringed by mountains... granite massifs that contain some of the best big moderate rock routes in the west... places like Donner Summit, Lover’s Leap, and even the lil’ Pie Shop, just south of town. And the mountains, national forests, and the Desolation Wilderness, are all fantastic backpacking.

Add to that world class mountain biking and road riding, big mountain ski resorts, and casino’s on the Nevada side of town, and you’ve got yourself a playground!

So, we arrived in the area... and just like moving to a new town, it takes a bit of time to figure out the lay of the land. We spend the first few days kinda’ doing recon. Where are the cliffs and crags, where are the best beaches for dogs, and where is the nearest free camping. Not to mention, where can we go to get semi-free wi-fi (we will buy a cup of coffee for this convenience).

So after three days on the scene, here is how we spent our Wednesday.

Up before dawn, because we usually go to bed early (dark at ~8:15). I make a pot of turkish coffee (fine grounds in the water, strained through your teeth), Elizabeth makes a breakie of frosted mini-wheats with sliced banana and powdered milk. Once we are fueled up, we commute into town (7 miles, no traffic) and park at the beach.

We gear up for a run on the extensive bike path network that rings the lake. Mo, is going to sit this one out. He got stung on the paw in the Trinity Alps, and his left paw is still tender (he really hates bees now). We run for two hours, nice and easy considering the elevation. Then we walk with Mo and a pair of water bottles, hydrating and cooling down. It doesn’t take long to cool down, the wind is picking up, and the air temperature is in the low 70’s.

After the run, we roll across the road to Safeway, which has a wi-fi cafe at the front of the store. Endless internet, no purchase necessary. We email, blog, and surf the news. Nothing new.

Once we’ve had our fill of that, we roll back to the car, pack a beach bag, get Mo, and head to the beach. Elizabeth, Mo, and I swim in the startlingly clear water of the lake. The water is still warm, as the night time temperatures have only recently started to fall into the high 30’s. So, we swim and wash away the salt that accumulated on our skin while we ran. And Mo chases stick and fetches the tennis ball we found yesterday. Then we lie in the sun and dry and warm our skin/fur. We read our books, Mo curls in a ball and shivers himself warm. He always stays in the water too long.

At about 4:30ish, we pack up and head to the rock climbing crag we’ve been haunting, called The Pie Shop. A 200’ granite cliff that has a nice mix of routes. But today, the cliff is off the radar. Today, we are going to work on some boulder problems. Short, steep, tremendously difficult problems on, well, boulders. The idea is to crank really hard moves low to the ground (with a spotter), so that when you are climbing, you can crank through similar moves with confidence and ease. We find a few problems that seem reasonable, and we work on them for about 2 hours. We each top out on a couple of easier ones, and struggle on a more difficult problem. Next time. We’ll be sore tomorrow.

Back to camp, I start dinner, Elizabeth does yoga in the forest. I look over at her, and see moby taking a dump just beyond her. I guess he doesn’t get the subtle energies necessary to E’s focus. He is, however, ready for dinner. In a short while, we will share a bowl of rice and vegetables, seasoned with our new favorite spice, Goya Adobo.

After dark, a cup of tea while we read by headlamp. The moon has risen and Jupiter is bright. Soon, the three of us will crawl in and sleep well...