Zoe had the day off today, so we planned a more ambitious excursion. We’re trying to find some fun activities she hasn’t tried yet, since her time here is nearing an end. Today’s plan was biking, and Zoe knew of the perfect spot.
The day didn’t start quite as early as expected, since Zoe wanted to treat us to bagels at one of her favorite spots, the Tahoe Bagel Company. Unfortunately it is the favorite spot of many, many other people as well, so it took us a lot longer than we expected — but the bagels were delicious.
Next we headed back up the east side of the lake to Incline Village, up the street from Sand Harbor State Park where we saw the play on our first night. It was so beautiful there that we’d resolved to return during the day when we would have more time to look around — but accessing the park is an issue due to limited parking and its extreme popularity. Renting bikes in Incline Village, and following the lakeside bike path back to the park, was the perfect solution.
The path itself was breathtaking. It started by climbing up a steep hill (which was challenging to our low-altitude lungs — we’d expected flat). But from the top we could see the lake stretching out before us, sparkling in vivid shades of blue and aqua, with dark green pines rising sharply from the edges and an impossibly blue sky above. Development around the lake is pretty limited, so it’s mostly just water and trees and sky everywhere you look. We all agreed that this is one of the more beautiful places we’ve ever been — and that’s saying something.
The path had frequent turnoffs to beaches and rocky promontories, inaccessible by cars — so we mostly had them all to ourselves. We made a few stops to climb around on rocks and take endless photos of the scenery on our way to the park. We eventually arrived, and when we saw the extremely long line of cars waiting to turn into the park, we were very happy to be speeding along on our bikes.
Sand Harbor definitely lived up to expectations. It’s a rocky peninsula jutting out into the lake, so there’s coastline everywhere you look. There’s plenty of beach here too — the ground around the lake is very sandy so there are natural beaches everywhere. We strolled around enjoying the scenery and took a quick dip in the lake — it’s a bit chilly, but you get used to it. The water is incredibly clear. We read that early explorers measured the clarity of the lake by lowering a white plate into the water — they made it 100 feet down and could still see the plate! It started to get slightly murkier starting in the seventies, but since then efforts have been underway to reverse the damage.
At 1pm Zoe had to take a quick break to do an job interview over the phone — she’s looking for her next position, since she’ll be done here at the end of August. It was possibly the most scenic job interview ever, sitting on some rocks overlooking the lake. Nadia took the opportunity to get a drink at the snack bar, and the rest of us headed to a quiet cove just outside the park. Since the park was pretty crowded, we’d decided to go for a quieter swim. Lanie and I were the only ones to actually get into the water, and it was lovely. And we made it back to our bike rental place within the allotted time frame, despite Nadia’s doubts and having to surmount a large hill.
In the evening we walked to a locally famous wine bar up the street. Apparently it’s won awards for best place to bring out of town visitors and best place to watch a sunset, since it has a deck that hangs out over the lake. We weren’t able to get outside seating, but the kind staff led us to a fancy couch where we could still see out the window. In addition to a large wine selection, they had a nice fondue snack for us. We enjoyed a relaxing drink (mocktail for Lanie) and snack while watching the sun set over the lake. It was a great way to cap off the day.
