Finally, the last leg of our September Birthday Road Trip, see parts I, II, III and the Drive.
We drove into the south part of Lake Tahoe, NV, early on a Wednesday morning. Since we had made no plans other than to get the directions from SF to LH, we stopped at the first coffee shop that advertised free wifi. The place was a cute A-frame log building called Alpina Cafe that we ended up using as a home-base. In fact, I picked up some organic mexican medium/dark roast coffee beans that we are drinking now.
The unplanned plan: Kayak the southeastern bays for 2-3 days, specifically Secret Harbor and other places not reachable via a roadway. I wanted to practice my new kayaking skills from the class we took over the summer.
The obstacles: (1) We were in the off-season and most kayak rental places were not open. The nice folks at High Sierra Adventure Sports rented us a canoe and gave us some good tips on where to launch etc. (2) High-winds caused some very rough waters. I'm talking battling 4 foot waves in a CANOE. We were wet, not moving very far or very fast so made the decision to head back to shore. Turns out there was a high-wind advisory for small watercraft and we should not have been out on the lake anyways but it was disappointing.
High Sierra Adventure Sports
We drove into the south part of Lake Tahoe, NV, early on a Wednesday morning. Since we had made no plans other than to get the directions from SF to LH, we stopped at the first coffee shop that advertised free wifi. The place was a cute A-frame log building called Alpina Cafe that we ended up using as a home-base. In fact, I picked up some organic mexican medium/dark roast coffee beans that we are drinking now.
The unplanned plan: Kayak the southeastern bays for 2-3 days, specifically Secret Harbor and other places not reachable via a roadway. I wanted to practice my new kayaking skills from the class we took over the summer.
The obstacles: (1) We were in the off-season and most kayak rental places were not open. The nice folks at High Sierra Adventure Sports rented us a canoe and gave us some good tips on where to launch etc. (2) High-winds caused some very rough waters. I'm talking battling 4 foot waves in a CANOE. We were wet, not moving very far or very fast so made the decision to head back to shore. Turns out there was a high-wind advisory for small watercraft and we should not have been out on the lake anyways but it was disappointing.
High Sierra Adventure Sports
2291 Lake Tahoe Blvd
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
This trip was definitely a learning experience and one that I will have to try again. I would recommend that if you want to go kayaking for a few days around Lake Tahoe that you go during the summer or at least bring your own kayak, if you have one. There is not much you can do about bad weather but be prepared for it. The drive from Lake Tahoe to San Diego is a long one. It took 14+ hours. The first half is through some beautiful mountains but then you have to drive that terribly, long and boring drive from Bishop to SD. We were entertained by the audiobook Life of Pi.
photo credit: Eastern Lake Tahoe by Steve W
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