Day 17--Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA to South Lake Tahoe, CA

Today, I traveled from Lassen Volcanic National Park to the Lake Tahoe area, staying in a motel in South Lake Tahoe. I woke up shortly before 7:00am and proceeded to clean up my campsite. After I cleaned up my campsite (around 7:30am), I hit the road towards Lake Tahoe, which was about a 200 mile (4 hour) drive from Lassen. The route was quite pretty. After a quick stop in Susanville and a longer stop to get gas and an early lunch at Costco in Carson City, NV (although my destinations were in CA, my route took me into NV), I arrived at the Tahoe Hacienda Inn in South Lake Tahoe shortly after noon. Since my room was not ready, I proceeded to do a loop drive around South Lake Tahoe.

The whole Lake Tahoe area is quite beautiful. I stopped in two places. My first stop was at Emerald Bay, on the western side of the lake. My stop was just at a scenic overlook. There was no available parking at the beach area (where kayak rentals were also available).

My next stop was at Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park. Where I stopped was probably directly across the lake from Emerald Bay. I first went to the free scenic overlook and then continued into the park (which costs $12 to enter). There, I was able to rent a kayak ($25 + tax for an hour, which is a bit pricey and makes me regret not packing my inflatable one) to take out on the lake. Taking a kayak out on the lake was a wonderful experience, allowing me to fully experience the clear blue water and pristine scenery. While the California side has many of the nicer towns (Incline Village seemed nice but many of the towns on the NV side seemed centered around second-rate casinos), I think the views from the Nevada side are better, After my hour kayaking was up, I stuck my feet in the water at a beach at the park. The water is still quite cold (63 degrees) but is apparently more swimable in the late summer. I'd think that spending time kayaking and at the lake beach would be a very nice trip...

I then returned to my motel in South Lake Tahoe before heading out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I'm back at my motel waiting to watch John Oliver in a little over an hour. Tomorrow, I'm off to Yosemite National Park.

Next Stop: Groveland, CA (near Yosemite)