By Priscilla Lister
"At last the lake burst upon us — a noble sheet of blue water lifted 6,300 feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft full 3,000 feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords."
So wrote Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, in 1872 in "Roughing It" about the first time he saw Lake Tahoe in 1861.
The same elation happens to virtually every visitor who drives up Highway 80 and first sees the extraordinarily big, blue lake that has captured the attention of travelers since its first European explorers, Kit Carson and John C. Fremont, recorded their sighting of Lake Tahoe in 1844.
By the late 19th century, Lake Tahoe had become a popular vacation spot for wealthy San Franciscans, and Bay Area residents continue to make the four-hour drive today. Two friends and I drove just two hours from Sacramento in mid-September to explore Big Blue and all its natural — and manmade — wonders.
We drove straight to Tahoe City on the lake's northwest shore, which makes an excellent base for touring Lake Tahoe's North Shore. We stayed in Pineywood, a two-bedroom plus loft, two-bath cabin just three miles east of Tahoe City's main center and two blocks from national forest trails through towering pines and cedars.
We had come to go hiking and boating and ogling, and along the way we enjoyed fabulous meals, crisp and creamy California wines, and the kind of special shopping that beckons in a gorgeous place where artists live.
We headed north to Squaw Valley for our first foray onto mountain trails that took us through a forest of California red firs, lodgepole pines, ponderosa pines and mountain hemlock punctuated by bright blue Steller's jays that flitted among the branches.
Squaw Valley is better known for skiing than hiking, but its 270 ski trails turn into hiking and biking trails in spring, summer and fall. With seven world-class ski resorts — including Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood — and 300 days of sunshine each year, Lake Tahoe is one of the greatest ski destinations anywhere. And Squaw Valley is the granddaddy of them all.
The 1960 Winter Olympics were held at Squaw Valley — the first games held in the Western United States. These were also the first Olympic Games to be televised and the first ones to use computers to tabulate results.
Our first fun meal was at the River Ranch Lodge, where a curving wall of windows looks out onto the Truckee River while a river-rock fireplace anchors this warm restaurant and bar. The menu features "New Tahoe Lodge Cuisine," with emphasis on local, sustainable and organic ingredients.
The next day we headed to the past through a handful of fascinating museums. In Tahoe City right next to the Truckee River — the lake's only exit point though it is fed by 63 streams and two hot springs — sits the Gatekeeper's Museum as well as the Steinbach Indian Basket Collection, both giving glimpses into Lake Tahoe's illustrious history.
The gatekeeper controlled the water flow out of Lake Tahoe into the Truckee River. Inside the Gatekeeper's Museum is a splendid collection of artifacts and documents held by the North Lake Tahoe Historical Society that spans life in Lake Tahoe from the pre-European days of its native Washoe people to the original turn-of-the-century resorts and their heydays to the steamers and boats that remain integral to the lake.
Also not to be missed is the engaging exhibit upstairs about the American black bear in the Tahoe Basin. Videos of these local celebrities as well as a real black bear detail habits and haunts, which may come in handy during hiking excursions.
In Homewood on the West Shore we loved the Tahoe Maritime Museum with its restored runabouts and salvaged steamers. The annual Concours d'Elegance Wooden Boat Show is more than 40 years old now and takes over the lake every August. A beautifully restored 1935 Chris-Craft Custom Runabout and the Tahoe Queen, an elegant and authentic Mississippi paddlewheeler, offer daily scenic cruises from the South Shore to Emerald Bay.
Up the road in Truckee, a historic mountain town that still looks like a slice of the Old West, we found breakfast nirvana and shops filled with handmade treasures, all within just a few blocks on the main drag, Donner Pass Road. Serving "the best omelets on the planet since 1974," the Squeeze In is a legend in downtown Truckee. This tiny restaurant chock-full of memorabilia packs in patrons for omelets made with four eggs and served with three sauces: house-made creamy mushroom, tomato pesto or cheddar cheese. The most popular omelet on the huge menu is the Racy Tracy, stuffed with sauteed mushrooms, jack cheese and bacon, and served with avocado slices on top. Note to the wise: Split an omelet for $1.99 charge and the second plate still comes with homestyle fried "spudz," toast and sauces.
On Donner Pass Road we tucked into Riverside Studios, which are filled with jewelry, leather goods, pottery, clothing and art, all handmade by the five artists who operate the shop: Bluestone Jewelers, where designers create jewelry, art photography and glass works inspired by Lake Tahoe; JoAnne's Stained Glass Gallery filled with glass stars, snowflakes, lamps and jewelry; and the White Buffalo that specializes in Native American jewelry, art and pottery.
We had dinner twice at Christy Hill restaurant in Tahoe City because it was unbeatable. Celebrating 25 years as one of Lake Tahoe's most popular and romantic dining destinations, Christy Hill is a lakeside bistro that sits just 100 feet above Lake Tahoe's shoreline, where sunsets are a spectacular nightly special.
Its menu is centered on the freshest and finest ingredients of seasonal California cuisine with French-influenced sauces. The Fazzoletti Pasta featured artichokes, fennel, spring onions, cremini mushrooms, sorrel, herbed pistachio pesto, house-made ricotta and breadcrumbs.
At midpoint in our holiday we moved from the North Shore to the South Shore, where we ensconced ourselves in historic Camp Richardson, a collection of cabins and a hotel, restaurant, gas station and marina. It dates from the 1920s and has a fabled history of players. But its most important custodians were its last private owners, "Sis" and Ray Knisley, the daughter and son-in-law of its original builder, Captain Alonzo Richardson. The Knisleys resisted great pressure in the late 1960s to sell to developers, instead convincing the U.S. Forest Service to take over the entire South Tahoe lakefront from Baldwin Beach to Pope Beach.
The South Shore of Lake Tahoe features its most alluring natural and manmade wonders, such as picture-perfect Emerald Bay State Park and Vikingsholm Castle, an eccentric lakefront mansion built in 1929 that's considered one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture existing today in the United States. Tallac Historic Site is another glimpse into Lake Tahoe's gilded past. A hundred years ago three summer retreats were built by wealthy San Franciscans — the Baldwin Estate, Pope Estate and the Heller family's Valhalla — where tours unveil this bygone era.
The trails of Sugar Pine Point State Park and D.L. Bliss State Park are both just minutes from Camp Richardson and are two of the most beautiful remaining natural areas under protection on Lake Tahoe. Sugar Pine Point State Park trails wind through dense forests of pine, fir, aspen and juniper and frequentlyoffer views toward the lake. It is also home to the Hellman-Ehrman Mansion, a 1903 summer home that offers another view into the former lifestyles of the wealthy on Lake Tahoe. Bliss State Park has gorgeous trails through boulder-strewn forests. From the Rubicon Trail, it's possible to see over 100 feet into the depths of Big Blue itself.
Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States (Oregon's Crater Lake is No. 1) with a depth of 1,645 feet, which is one of the reasons its water is cobalt blue and so clear that in some places you can see to depths of more than 70 feet. The water in Lake Tahoe could cover a flat area the size of California to a depth of 14 inches — enough to supply everyone in the country with 50 gallons of water every day for five years.
No statistics, however, are as thrilling as looking at Big Blue.
"The view was always fascinating, bewitching, entrancing," wrote Clemens. "The eye was never tired of gazing, night or day, in calm or storm; it suffered but one grief, and that was that it could not look always but must close sometimes in sleep."
WHEN YOU GO
North Lake Tahoe: www.gotahoenorth.com
South Lake Tahoe: www.tahoesouth.com
We found Pineywood through Tahoe Luxury Properties: www.tluxp.com/bre/properties.
Camp Richardson: www.camprichardson.com
Priscilla Lister is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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