We visited Lake Tahoe about 2 weeks earlier in 2019 because last year it became warmer than we cared for and there was so much smoke from all the California wildfires. This year there was an abnormal amount of snow and it stayed cooler longer. This resulted in some areas still under snow at the end of July. We did get to see some of the early wildflowers we had been missing and tried some new hikes at lower elevation where the snow had melted. I had hoped to complete the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) this year but unfortunately was able to complete only 10 miles of the 40 miles I have left The rest was still under snow. (I have completed 140 miles out of the 170 miles of the loop)
The heavy snow helped fill the lake so there were minimal beaches along the shoreline this year. You can see the large amount of snow on the mountain range across the lake. Lake Tahoe is 12 miles across east to west and 22 miles long and a maximum of 1,645 ft deep (2nd deepest in the USA after Crater Lake and 16th deepest in the world). The state line between California and Nevada runs through the lake. Lake Tahoe has many small streams from snow melt draining into the lake and one river leaving the lake, the Truckee River (elevation 6, 225 ft). The Truckee River flows down out of the basin past Truckee, CA then Reno, NV and then into Pyramid Lake which has no outlet – Most of the water is lost to evaporation (but some is used by the people in the area).
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Secret Cove is on the east shore of Lake Tahoe and is a favorite spot for swimmers and sunbathers. It is a clothing optional beach. The water in the lake on the surface warms to mid 60’s F during the summer but only a few feet down the temperature is mid 50’s and deeper it stays in the mid 40’s F. Not much swimming takes place…
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These side by side photos of the same area illustrates how late the growing season was this year. On the left in late June the meadow has just melted out and a few lilies are popping out. Even in late July, the California Corn Lilies (Veratrum californicum) are no where near blooming (but the snow is gone).
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We visited Incline Lake early this year and found it full with a nice reflection of the mountain. In our past visits this lake was only about 1/3 – 1/2 full.
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The dirt forest road down to Incline Lake had stretches of snow banks. Glad we had our hiking poles.
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We had been seeing this low growing, green “holly like leaf” ground cover all over the place in Tahoe for years but never knew it bloomed. The Mahala Mat (Ceanothus prostratus) is actually an evergreen shrub and has the small purple cluster of blooms, sometimes so thick, it looks like purple carpet. This year we were early enough to see the blooms.