Lake Tahoe

Tahoe 2022 – Week 7

We had a great weekend with Glennis & Kyle. Friday night Paula made Cornish hens with green beans and sweet potatoes. We reminisced about the week prior and talked about happily about Glennis and Kyle’s newly engaged status. On Saturday, all four of us took a walk to the park where Kyle had proposed to Glennis and took a picture of the now-historic “engagement bench”. There were lots of adults, kids, and dogs about as the day was warm and sunny. Later we shopped and walked around Heavenly Village and had a sushi dinner at Kalani’s restaurant.

Week7-16
This is now forever known as the “engagement bench”.
Week7-18
This was a typical weekend scene at the same small park.

Bright and early next year morning Glennis, Tom, and Paula drove to Incline Village where we were registered in the Xterra Big Blue Adventure Trail Run. Glennis and Paula ran the 5k and Tom ran the 10k. There was an associated Triathlon also taking place, and we arrived early enough to see the swimmers in the water below the cliff road coming in to Incline Village. The trail was beautiful. The fastest 5k and 10k runners got off course due to a mismarking on the trail and had to back-track about a quarter mile. That included Glenny and Tom!  Paula made a friend who was at her same slower pace, and they stayed together much of the race. Glenny and Tom finished 2nd in their age groups, and Paula finished 3rd out of 4 in her age group. We were all pleased with our races. After, we got to see a number of the triathletes dismount their bikes and put on their running gear to begin the running (and final) leg of their race. We saw several finishers. They were absolute machines.

Week7-22
Glennis, Tom, and Paula ran a very successful race in Incline Village.

Tom and Paula got to hike twice this week. We did about 5 miles on a portion the Tahoe Rim trail, which is over 70 miles in it’s total length. Our section gained us a bit of altitude, once again about 1000 feet over the first two miles, but was a nice downhill just before we finished. We stopped at a vista peak to drink and eat snacks. Tommy saw what he thought were vultures circling, but they were really ravens, which are common here. Wonder which bird is more concerning?

Week7-2
The Tahoe Rim Trail was beautiful in this stretch.
Week7-1
The path had rocks but was not too technical. The surrounding vegetation was lush and green despite the general lack of rain this time of year.
Week7-3
The first part of our hike today was another 1,000-foot climb in the first 2+ miles.
Week7-12
A really good look at the snowless ski slopes.
Week7-6
The lake was ever present through the trees.
Week7-7
There were several gorgeous vistas on this hike.
Week7-9
Some time away from the cliff edge for a rest.
Week7-11
Paula using a phone app to identify species of trees and plants.
Week7-13
Lots of interesting rock formations near the top of the mountains.
Week7-14
The uphill climbs were gradual, but did get us anerobic a few times.
Week7-15
Tom wondering why a bunch of vultures were circling overhead.
Week7-23x
A selfie from one of the peaks at 8,000+ feet.
Week7-17
A couple times we were able to get a view of the other side of the mountains (opposite the lake) where there was farmland in the valley below.

Our second hike was to Cave Rock. In the very base of the rock is a carved-out tunnel which allows vehicular traffic to travel to and from the northern areas of the lake and to Carson City. Our goal was to get to the very top. It was regular trail about three quarters of the way to the dome base, but a rocky scramble thereafter. Tommy went about halfway up the rock dome to take pictures. Paula decided that the scramble was a next year’s project for her!

Week7-39
This is what Cave Rock looks like from the water. We took this pick a few weeks ago when we rented the pontoon boat. If you look closely just to the right of the center of the picture, you can see one of the two tunnels that cars take to go “through” the rock.
Week7-28
The path up to Cave rock was straight, wide, and easy.
Week7-26
About halfway up. In the near shore in the bottom of the picture you can see all the variations in the color of the shallower water.
Week7-30
This is looking west over the lake near the top of the trail.
Week7-32
The dome of Cave Rock behind Tom.
Week7-33
When the trail ended at the base of the dome, you had to scramble if you want to go the way to the very top. The arrow points to a climber near the top. Paula said – “next year”.
Week7-35
This is the view looking north from the base of the dome. At the foot of the distant mountain above Paula’s head is Incline Village where we ran the race a few days ago.
Week7-36
The view looking south from about halfway up the rocky dome (Tom did a partial climb to the very top).
Week7-37
Nice place to rest along the way.

The weather remained beautiful, and we took advantage of this to cook out several nights. Once we had steaks and roasted veggies on the grill and once chicken, asparagus, and corn on the flat-top.

Week7-40
Yum!!

One Response

  1. THE SCENERY IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. YOU ARE SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE . HAVING FAMILY TO SHARE IT WITH YOU IS THE ICING ON THE CAKE. DAD

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