May
26, 2013
Washoe
Lake State Park
Carson
City, NV
(Lake
Tahoe)
We
went to sleep at around 10:30 so I didn’t bother setting the alarm because I
was sure we would wake up early. We
planned on driving around Lake Tahoe (72miles) and wanted to leave by 9am.
When
I woke up and saw it was already 9:30 I was really surprised. We didn’t end up leaving until 11:30.
Our
route took us on U.S. 50 to the Spooner Summit where it branches off to go
either north or south. We chose to go
south passing Cave Rock, Zephyr Cove, and Nevada Beach.
I
really needed to find a rest room at this point so we turned into the entrance
for Nevada Beach. Before the pay booth
the road splits off with a choice of going to the beach or the campground. We went towards the beach. The day use fee is $7. Monte showed his senior pass and was informed
that it would still cost half. We
explained that we weren’t staying and just wanted to use the rest room and the
attendant kindly let us in without paying.
When I came out of the rest room I saw that Monte was walking towards the beach.
There were quite a few families
having BBQs and despite the cold wind blowing there were people swimming.
BRRRR.
As
we exited the beach we saw the entrance to the campground and decided to check
it out. The camp host told us that they
were booked up for the summer but do get cancelations occasionally and we
should check back every day if we wanted to camp there. We got permission to drive the loop. There were a few sites that could accommodate
our size but only a couple of those were in direct sunlight. With solar sunlight is very important.
Continuing
south we drove through Stateline (the boundary between California and Nevada)
where most of the Tahoe action is with first class hotel-casino resorts.
The campground is run by the
United States Forest Service and the sites run between $35-$45/night.
Just past Camp Richardson we turned off at
the Tallac Historic Site.
We parked,
grabbed our lunch cooler and set off on the trail leading to the Taylor Creek Visitor
Center. The trail through tall pine
trees was approximately ¼ miles.
At
the visitor center, I stamped my passport
The Center is the hub for four self-guided trials.
We chose to walk the
Rainbow Trail that included
the Stream Profile Chamber
that through a panel of aquarium-like windows allows views of the stream environment.
At
the end of the Rainbow Trail, we retraced our steps leading back to the parking
lot at the Tallac Historic Site.
Over
a hundred years ago, what is now the Tallac Historic Site held the “Grandest
Resort in the World” and the summer retreats for three of San Francisco Bay
Area’s socially elite families.
Our
tour of the Tallac Historic Site began with the Baldwin Museum, a 4,000 square
foot “log cabin” that houses exhibits on the significance of the families who
build huge estates along the shore and the Native American Washoe Tribe who
inhabited the area.
I
stamped by passport
and signed the guest book before touring the museum.
The
back door of the cabin led to the beach.
We
followed the trail to the Pope Estate, the oldest and largest estate in the
Tallac Historic Site.
After
walking out on the pier,
we crossed over the road leading to the Valhalla Grand
Hall, a popular venue for weddings.
We
just happened to arrive as a bride and groom were taking pictures on the
lawn. Built in 1924, the beautifully
detailed wood and stone hall includes a wrap-around porch.
We
were getting kind of hungry so when we came across a coffee shop in the town of
Kings Beach, we stopped.
I enjoyed a cup
of coffee while Monte ordered a hot cocoa to go along with the apple pie I had
packed in our cooler.
When
we reached Incline Village we had the option of taking highway 431 back to
Washoe Lake or continue on around the lake.
We decided to continue on because my goal when we set out earlier was to
make the entire trip around the lake.
We
stopped at one more overlook that as a bonus for me had a rest room.
We
had spent a wonderful day in one of the most beautiful places I have ever
seen. How lucky are we!
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