And on to day 2 of our weekend trip. After a good night’s rest and a delicious continental breakfast from South Lake Tahoe’s Holiday Inn Express, we ventured off to explore the Lake Tahoe community.
First on our to-do list was to find a place to go kayaking. There are, of course, tons of companies that do kayaking and other water-sport activity rentals surrounding the lake, but our hotel’s front-desk lady suggested we go to this particular one. I forget the name, but it was close to the hotel.
Anyway, we get there. Joseph asks where on the lake are we allowed to kayak to. The guy attending to us immediately loses interest in helping us and apathetically explains that there really is no place to kayak to. Basically, it would be a snoozefest as all you would see is just the trees and the shore. He then points to a map and suggests we go to another kayak place, unaffiliated to his company, that is located near Emerald Bay. We drove off once more with only a circled undisclosed location on a tourist map to guide us.
Wow. Just wow. The overlook of Emerald Bay was breathtaking and I couldn’t wait to go kayaking in that water. The only problem became .. how do we get there? There didn’t seem to be any road leading out to the shore itself and the main road was miles away from where that kayak guy had circled. It was then that Google helped us with a quick search for ‘Kayak Emerald Bay’ that led me to Kayak Tahoe, the only kayaking company on the Bay.
Speaking to them on the phone, they told us that the way to get to the bottom of Emerald Bay was to head to the Vikingsholm parking lot. There, you will see a 1 mile steep trail to the bottom.
Parking in that area was a disaster. Yet, not for us đ We got pretty lucky in this department as we pulled into a parking lot just as someone was pulling out of their parking spot. Can’t say the same for the four cars that stopped near our parked car to whether we were leaving or not, even though I had my backpack and sunhat on.
Anyway, one mile trek downwards and we were greeted with warm sand beneath our toes, a nice breeze flowing through our bodies, and a couple of people ready to rent us a kayak.
I have never been on a kayak. In fact, I’m rather afraid of lakes. They are just so ominously dark, with the great unknown just below the surface. Seriously guys, the Lochness Monster could really be in this lake. You never know! If I happen to tip over, what will become of me? Will I be Lochness-Chow? Will I be gasping for air, trying to grasp the edge of the kayak, only to be dragged down by a new, unknown monster with slivery tentacles? These thoughts, they’re never-ending.
But the beautifully deep green water. It called to me. And so I answered.
I tried getting both of us in the shot. But any sort of shift in our body movement would have resulted in my unwanted meeting with the Monster Beneath the Lake (the kayak would have tipped) so instead, you just get to see my beautiful face, heh ;D
Apparently, we can go to the island!
The island is definitely full of harshly rigid rocks so shoes are a must. The trail to the top of the island seemed neverending but in the end, it was kind of worth it. On the top is a tea house made of stones. Again my memory fails me so I dare not give you false information. The only thing that I remember is that a lady used to have afternoon tea and tea parties on this island, and in this little tea house. How cool is that?! Not really a convenient place for a spontaneous cup of tea, but with this kind of view, anything goes, haha.
Okay, I confess. I was not the main kayaker in this here duo. Eagle Scout Joseph really did all the work -_-“. I tried to help. Really, I did. But he did a lot more, haha, and I’m SO glad that we decided to do a 2-person kayak instead of singles or else I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere! Haha.
I am so happy that we were able to do this little activity. It was an adventure to get to the shores of Emerald Bay and another great adventure to be in it. My fear of lakes have not diminished but now I can proudly say that I at least got splashed in some lake water. Does that count?
After yesterday’s long hike and today’s steep hike to and from Emerald Bay, plus the fun kayaking activity, I was pretty much too tired to do anything but relax on the shores of Tahoe and read a book. So we drove around the Lake Tahoe loop looking for a place to lounge, and oddly enough, we didn’t find.. any? Most of the northern part of the lake seemed to have been covered by residential homes and private docks. Most of the southern part was covered with the tourism.
So what is a girl and a boy to do about lounging and reading? In hindsight, we should have just brought our books to Emerald Bay and hung out there. Ah well, until next time.
Overall, it was great day for fun activities. We left the Lake pretty early in the day as our next hotel was in a Hyatt near Sacramento. Rancho Cordova, I believe.
