Kingsbury Grade North

Kingsbury Grade North

This photo was taken on September, 20th, 2008, from Kingsbury Grade North, Nevada.

I took this picture from the Tahoe Rim Trail, directly above Zephyr Cove, late afternoon. It’s a great view of the Lake from the East Shore, you can see South Lake Tahoe City in the distance to the left.

What I really like about this photo is the mood it captures, with the clouds over the West Shore mountains, and the Lake reflecting the sun shining through ….

This is probably my last photo of the Summer as Autumn is officially with us in a few days!

Martis Creek Lake And Martis Peak

Martis Creek Lake

This photo was taken on September, 13th, 2008 from Martis Creek Lake, about 3 miles south of Truckee on HW267.

Of course, the lake is behind me in this photo, and the view is of the backside of North Star Ski Resort, as you can clearly see from the visible, but snow free, ski runs.

It was a very peaceful spot from where I took the photo, and I just like how the the whole framing and perspective came out.

Martis Peak (South)

This photo was taken on the same day from Martis Peak. Martis Peak is only a few miles further south of Martis Creek Lake on HW267, and rising to 8,742ft, the views are amazing.

In my opinion, this photo doesn’t really capture the awesome views you can get from looking across Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, there was some smoke to the south of Lake Tahoe and that makes the photo a little ‘hazy’, an excuse to revisit and take more photos.

From Matris Peak you also get some amazing views to the north where you can see Boca Lake, Prosser Creek Reservoir, Donner Lake, Truckee and most of the mountains around for miles.

Martis Peak (North)

Again, this photo is a little ‘hazy’ but you can get an very good idea of the views available.

At the top of Martis Peak there is a small fire look-out station (basically a wooden hut), which is currently inundated with wasps. However, nothing could ever spoil the views, they are spectacular!

Tahoe Rim Trail

Tahoe Rim Trail

This photo was taken on September, 11th, 2008, from the Tahoe Rim Trail somewhere above Kings Beach, looking towards Incline Village, during the early evening.

The Tahoe Rim Trail is one of the world’s premier trails. It passes through two states (California and Nevada), six counties, one state park, three National Forests, and three Wilderness areas.

This spectacular trail is 165 miles of single-track multi-use trail, winding peak to peak around Lake Tahoe.

The trail rises from the lakeshore and climbs gently through forests and meadows to ridges that tower over 8,000 ft. It’s open to bikers, hikers and equestrians but closed to motorized vehicles.

I only had a little while to hike up a small part of the Tahoe Rim Trail on this occasion, and I wanted to capture the moon rising, as the sunset.

Balloon Landing

Balloon Landing

This photo was taken on the morning of September, 7th, 2008, just off HW89, south of D.L. Bliss State Park and north of Emerald Bay on the West shore.

While driving down to South Tahoe City, I spotted a balloon gracefully floating over the lake. I stopped and climb up to a slightly high elevation to get a better view.

To my amazement the balloon descended and kept descending. At first I did not know if it was just getting a closer look at the lake and it would then ascend, or if it was in trouble!

Well to my amazement, the balloon kept descending and eventually landed, yes landed, on the pontoon you can see to the left. The pontoon, if that’s what it’s called, was obviously designed for just this operation.

And if you’re wondering, yes, the balloon landed safely.

It’s the first time I have seen a balloon land on a pontoon on water and it was an amazing feat to watch, from my vantage point it almost looked easy!

 

Balloon Pontoon

 

Lake Tahoe Dam

Lake Tahoe Dam

This photo was taken on September 3rd, 2008, from Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City.

The Dam controls the water flow from the Lake to the Truckee River and controls the top six feet of Lake Tahoe.  Completed in 1913, the Lake Tahoe Dam is a concrete slab and buttress structure with 17-vertical gates.  It is 18-feet high and 109 feet long.  Flows are controlled by 17-gates, each 5-ft by 4-ft.

Reclamation modified Lake Tahoe Dam in 1987 under the Safety of Dams program.  Reclamation constructed reinforced concrete stabilizing walls in the existing embankments, concrete embankment caps over both embankments, and reinforced embankment and slope protection.  Each stabilizing wall is 44-feet long and extends about 20-feet down into the embankment.  A cut-off wall was added to provide increased stability to the dam and embankment in a severe earthquake.

How do I know so much? Well I visited the Bureau of Reclamation for more information!