Camping at Lake Tahoe
This post is going through quite a few different topics. Feel free to just scroll through the pictures, but it would be even better if you read even just the sections you care about.
For my short “funemployment” period between jobs, I decided to do a small camping trip! So I booked a campsite for 2 nights in beautiful Emerald Bay State Park on Lake Tahoe. My first choice for this trip was Big Sur, a stunning region along the coast of central California nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Lucia Mountains. Lake Tahoe by no means is a compromise in location. Lake Tahoe is one of my favorite summer destinations in California. The beauty of the region is incredible as hopefully the pictures impart. The lake in addition to its beautiful panoramas offers many different water sports from swimming to tubing. On land there are miles of alpine trails offering incredible vistas of the lake and El Dorado National Forest. All of this is nestled high up in the Sierra mountains.
At last the lake burst upon us — a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft three thousand feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole world affords. — Mark Twain
Emerald Bay is the most beautiful section of Lake Tahoe that I have seen. Seeing the traffic in the area it is obvious many agree. I first saw the bay by boat when I visited Tahoe in 2012. I visited from the land for the first time exactly one year ago. The bay as its name implies has a slightly greener color than the rest of the lake. It is also the location of the only island in Lake Tahoe, Fannette Island. The bay is incredibly picturesque whether arriving by boat or by car or even from Fannette Island.
The Campground
I was incredibly surprised to find availability for Emerald Bay State Park only a week before the trip! After returning, I realized part of this may be due to the park just recently reopening after being closed for renovations. The campground is modern and well maintained with a single road leading you past each of the 97 sites. In addition there are another 22 sites accessible only by boat. When I reserved the site, I ensured we were in a relatively sparse section of the campground with easy access to water and restrooms. In addition I chose an 8 person campsite since the cost was the same and extra space is nice. Part of these choices come from being burned a little by a previous camping trip to Mt. Madonna (sorry for never writing that post…), where the campsites were crowded and the restroom access was a bit farther.
Lake Tahoe is bear country! Failure to keep your food and other scented items in the locker when away from the site would result in a fine.
The site was massive for just two people with a fire pit, picnic area and two cleared areas for tents. The stone steps from the parking as well the stone on the “path” from the table to the fire pit made the site feel more like it was designed to entertain guests then to serve as a campsite. Lake Tahoe is bear country! So we had a bear locker that fit our cooler along with a few tote bags of food. Failure to keep your food and other scented items in the locker when away from the site would result in a fine.
Next to our campsite was parking for the Rubicon trailhead on one side. Despite this most of the traffic inside the campground was fellow campers arriving at their sites. So this just gave us easy access to the Rubicon trail and with no downsides. On the other side was the 4 person campsite that I could have booked, which was empty for most of our stay. The only distractions we had were the occasional vehicles (even at night) traveling to their campsite. No loud groups. No bears.
Rubicon Trail
On the first night we took a small trip down Rubicon trail. The trail is very gentle with only 200 ft of elevation change perfect for an evening walk. The trail snakes around Emerald Bay from the campground into DL Bliss State Park. This trail also passes Vikingsholm, a Scandinavian mansion built in 1929 as a summer home for Lora Knight. It now serves as a tourist attraction as one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the US, as well the beach being used for swimming and non-motorized boating. We did not walk that far but still got to see some great views on this quiet trail.
The other pictures were taken on the following days from the top of the trailhead as well as atop a small hill both only a minutes walk from my campsite!! Simply breathtaking.
Mt. Tallac
Mt. Tallac is the highest point in Lake Tahoe and rewards those who complete the 6 hour roundtrip hike with incredible views and even in the summer, snow. Unfortunately we were only able to go about an hour into the Mt. Tallac hike, regardless we still got amazing pictures!! I will return soon to complete this hike up to the highest point in Tahoe. Make sure to start this hike early due to its length in addition to lack of shade on much of the trail.
Food
One of the biggest questions that my friends ask me about camping is, “What will we eat?” The short answer is almost anything you want! The fire pit comes with a grill grate to go over the fire to allow you to BBQ. You can bring a camp stove to cook using pots and pans. For this trip, we had steaks and potatoes from the fire for the first night, burgers and corn for the second night. For breakfast both mornings we had bacon and eggs cooked on the camp stove. I had my morning coffee made with a portable drip coffee maker. Of course feel free to bring beer, wine and liquor if you enjoy those in the outdoors. A cold beer tastes just a bit more satisfying after a hot day outdoors.
Other activities
While in Tahoe went to Camp Richardson to rent kayaks. Once away from the lake you have an enormous amount of area to navigate in without the worry of motor boats. Highly recommend renting a boat whether it be a kayak or a motor boat. It is a beautiful way to enjoy the lake and to see the mountains that are normally behind you. Unfortunately no pictures from me since my camera is not waterproof.
Equipment
Just a quick few reviews for people looking to get equipment. Yes I spend too much time and money at REI but its worth it, I think:
- REI Camp Dome 2 Plus National Park Edition: Well built tent for 2 people with plenty of space to throw bag and belongs either in front or behind you. The vestibule (when fly is fully closed, area between tent and fly) gives a nice place to keep dirtier items, like shoes, out of the tent but still protected.
- Snowpeak Personal Cooker 3 Cookset: Set of small nesting aluminum pans. No frills but collapsing handles stay cool to the touch.
- GSI Outdoors Cascadian 1-Person Table Set: Nothing fancy. Durable heat resistant plastic, perfect if you want to avoid the waste of disposable tableware while keeping your nicer tableware at home
- REI Revelcloud Jacket: Nice insulated jacket that packs away into its own pocket. Perfect to throw in the bag for the cold Tahoe mornings.
- GSI Outdoors Collapsible JavaDrip Slim Drip Coffee Maker: Make coffee while camping…I like coffee.
- REI Flash Insulated Air Sleeping Pad: Comfortable pad that when packed is smaller than a 2L bottle. Designed for a mummy bag but works OK with a non-mummy bag
- Black Diamond Storm Headlight: Redesigned since I purchased it on clearance. Very nice headlight with many modes of operations, may be overkill but the product is incredibly well built and all the modes of operations, once you understand them, are useful.
- Etekcity Ultralight Backpacking Stove: Incredibly affordable and decently built. Unfortunately when skimping on size they made the supports incredibly small, making it hard to balance even the small pot from my cookset. If you are not backpacking or as concerned with ultra light this model may be a better option. I will be trying other stoves
- Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow: Nice pillow even if you aren’t trying to shave ounces or save space. When packed its about the size of a fist. The pillow can be “warm” on hot nights.
Bonus Trip
On the way back I realized we will be passing through Walnut Creek, the home of newly opened Dunkin Donuts. Normally I wouldn’t drive out 1 hour to relive the nostalgia of convenient East Coast coffee. The coffee isn’t amazing but it is convenient and always on way when traveling in the Northeast. Apparently the coffee franchise traveling across the United States lost some quality. The coffee was simultaneously watery and bitter. In addition the service was slow one… I guess there is a reason Dunkin Donuts doesn’t make it out to California.