South Lake Tahoe - 17th Nov 2007

Nov 17th 2007

South Lake Tahoe…


That’s life. A journey of perpetual neglect towards what you have and unending pursuit of what you don’t have…….
That was a line from my own article…

In this case it was not neglect…but you may call it that…..

For three months, I stayed in Folsom, California. South Lake Tahoe was the nearest and most obvious destination from where I lived. 90 minutes drive. It was the first place I was told about only a few hours after my landing in San Francisco. I visited so many places; some nearby, some far off, but almost missed visiting this place which was “right in my backyard”.

17th of November was my last day in the US. I had so much packing to do, so much shopping…last minute chores.. but I decided that I would not return to India without visiting South Lake Tahoe.

A dear friend had a car and we set out early in the morning……

The drive to this place was very scenic..winding roads, pine trees with their glistening tops, mountains and hillocks, first appearances of snow of the season here and there….like sprinkled powder…

We made a short stop at a casino which was right at the border separating California and Nevada. Gambling is legal in Nevada but not in California. And this casino was right at the border, a mockery of sorts at the lawmakers. Me and my friend played at one of the coin booths and lost 20 dollars each. :-) That was my first gamble in life (only literally, of course :-))

After some more driving, we reached South Lake Tahoe.
Blue, very very blue, powder blue, sometimes, azure, some places ink blue, and some, navy blue...some aquamarine...some sea blue..blue beneath blue, blue watres beneath blue skies....tranquil, vast, surrounded by mountains on all sides, I could not even get a perspective of it’s spread. Simply beautiful!


Some interesting facts about the lake

-Lake Tahoe is the highest lake of its size in the United States and the largest alpine lake in North America.
-Lake Tahoe's water is 99.9% pure. The water is so clear that a 10 inch white dinner plate would be visible at 75 feet below the surface.
-There are 63 tributaries draining into Lake Tahoe with only one outlet at the Truckee River.
-Maximum diameter: 22 miles
-Minimum diameter: 12 miles
-Maximum Depth: 1,645 feet
-Maximum Elevation: 6,229 feet

Let the pictures tell what statistics cannot……



South lake Tahoe - 17th Nov

The best photos were yet to be taken….... from a high vista point and the camera slipped from my grip and did not work again… :-(