Lake Tahoe, Oct 30, 2017, Ray M

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Day Trip to Lake Tahoe

Inbound from Toronto Canada, Day 6 of 8, October 30, 2017
By:  Ray M

Today was the biggest driving day of the Sacramento journey -- up to the top of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and along Lake Tahoe - over 5 hours drive time, per Google.

On the way, a few stopped at Foothill Bridge. At 730 feet, it is the highest bridge in California

Bonnie, Elaine, Diane, PJ, Judy at Foothill Bridge

Meeting point at Gold Run Rest Stop on Hwy 80

Chris S gave an overview of the day's plans and some history of the area.  A monument nearby commemorating the 5000 Chinese workers that made the trans-continental railway a reality. (Our concentration was distracted due to unexpected closure of the rest-stop public toilets!)

Chris gives us an overview of the day's schedule

Derek and Elaine by the Chinese Railroad Workers monument

Chinese Railroad Workers monument: "About 1000 feet from this location is the track of the transcontinental railroad.  in 1865 thousands of Chinese in Kwantung Provice China were recruited to work on this great connection between the East and West Coast.  This monument is dedicated to the memory of those Chinese laborers who worked for Charles Crocker of the Central Pacific Railroad."

Donner Pass & Donner Lake view spot

View of Donner Lake from Donner Pass viewpoint

A cold crowd...

While there, we walked over to the petroglyphs just a short distance away.  Ancestors of the local Washoe People made these markings on glacier-scoured granite; no one knows how to interpret them (link).

Just above the petroglyphs is the China Wall, built for the railway by the Chinese workers from talus generated by the tunnel they drilled through solid granite, and with no mortar.

For more information on the history of Donner Pass, here's an interesting (link).  Here is more on the local Washoe Indians (link).

Donner Museum

Just down the hill at the other end of Donner Lake is the Donner Museum.  This is a California State Park dedicated to the commemoration of the importance of Donner Pass and the memory of the ill-fated Donner Party, a wagon train that tried to cross the pass in late October 1846, too late in the season, and got snowed in for the winter.  Luckily, even though we are there at the same time of year, we saw no snow.

Near the museum, there is a large statue dedicated to those in the Donner Party that endured the winter.  It was dedicated in 1918, over 70 years after that infamous winter.  The top cement pedestal that the statues are standing on marks the height of the snowpack during that winter.

1918 Donner Memorial Statue 

Lasagna and salad lunch at Pat and Bob’s home

We stopped for a very nice lasagna and salad lunch at Pat and Bob's 'mountain cabin' - actually, a very nice home right on the golf course right in the pine forest.

Bob and Pat's deck, partially winterized

The golf course

After lunch, we drove south along the Truckee River and toward Lake Tahoe. We made a quick photo stop at the Olympic Rings at Squaw Valley (commemorating 1960 Winter Olympics). 

Olympic Rings at Squaw Valley

Our next stop was at Lake Tahoe where it feeds the Truckee River. This is the only river draining Lake Tahoe.  It's up to 1600 feet deep.  On the average, water sits in the lake for 700 years, so the water leaving the lake today could have entered the lake when Marco Polo returned from his trip to China.

Stop at “Fanny Bridge” in Tahoe City.

A good place to see the Tahoe dam and see the fish in Truckee River is from 'Fanny Bridge':

From the plaque:
"Fanny Bridge has its name in folklore. 
According to a story told by columnist David J. Stollery Jr., in 1928 the road crew foreman gave the name "Fanny McGillicuddy Wilkerson" to the bridge in honor of his maiden aunt.  The name was abbreviated over the years to simply "Fanny" Bridge.
However, folklore has it the name derives from more obvious circumstances.  Fanny Bridge is built across the Truckee River at the lake's edge.  Rainbow trout feeding at the outlet attract rows of people lined up along the bridge and bent over the side for a better look at the trout!"

We also saw ---  Canada Geese!!

Driving along the eastern side of Lake Tahoe, we eventually came to . . . .

Emerald Bay Overlook

This spectacular bay is thought to be a result of glacial scouring.

At the Emerald Bay overlook

At the head of the bay is Vikingsholm, a 38-room mansion that is considered one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the United States. Laura Knight bought 250 acres in Emerald Bay in 1928 for $250,000. It took 200 men 1 year to build, then she furnished the interior from her travels to Scandinavia.  She even had a tea house for high-tea on the little island in Emerald Bay.

Kathy D and Gloria T, and the Emerald Bay island with the tea-house on top

The photographer for the group photo, and somebody's ear

Tallac Historic site

Our last stop along Lake Tahoe was the Tallac Historic site, where the elite relaxed and enjoyed the lake in the 1880's - 1920's.  This is all a California State Historic Park now.  The historic log 'cabins' were all boarded and winterized so we could just see the exterior.  And since it is Fall, the gardens did not hint of their spring beauty.

The sun was getting low, so we left Lake Tahoe to return to Sacramento via US-50 over Echo Summit.

In Friendship and Peace