We've been home more than a month from our fabulous almost-four-week summertime trip. Once home, you can bet we had plenty of catching up to do, house-wise and yard-wise. Complicating things was both heat and smoke from the Mosquito Fire which ignited Sept 6th. While this fire was not near us (20 miles south), it belched enough smoke to fill the universe, and we had days of hazardous or horribly unhealthy air. No going outside. Around the same time, an "unprecedented" heat wave hit with a solid week of over 100 degree temps, followed by lower (haha) temps in the high 90's. The air was like an oven, so we hibernated inside. (The Mosquito Fire has burned for 20 days, is 85% contained and has consumed 76,781 acres, or 120 square miles. Imagine! The cause has not yet been determined.) September's pretty much been unpleasant. Still, many mornings we managed to get some stuff done.
Like canning/freezing tomatoes.
One batch out of several.
Yesterday, Monday the 26th, we loaded the bikes on the car and headed for the high country. It was time to break out! Lake Tahoe was our destination. We knew it would be cooler and the lake is always worth seeing. As usual, we left the car at Olympic Valley Park and hopped on the paved, multi-use Truckee River Trail. Gosh, we were appalled at the low level of water in the river! See for yourself, below --
You could hop across it!
This is what drought does.
Nevertheless, the river and environs are a sight to behold.
At Tahoe City, we merged onto the North Lake Tahoe Multi-use Trail (headed south), not sure how far we'd go or even how long this trail was. We passed by the Chapel of the Transfiguration, aka Saint Nicholas Episcopal Church Outdoor Chapel, which was built of stone in 1909 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. Front and back, above. We've never been inside, but admire it as we pedal by.
Now paralleling the lake, we saw some of the most elegant homes ever! We kept saying we'd take this one, or that one, if somebody gave it to us. Otherwise, these McMansion's are way out of our league! We weaved from water views into neighborhoods, criss-crossing Hwy 89 a couple of times, and back again to the glorious lake.
True Blue Tahoe!
Next we came to Homewood,
a town with a fairly good-sized ski area. Quiet now.
Continuing on, we passed through a town called Tahoma, and kept going. We wondered if the trail circumnavigated the lake. Hah! Not today! Before long, we entered Sugar Pine Point St Park, which we'd driven through several years ago. Interested, we rode into the campground where we found a ranger. She gave us enough info to pique our interest -- hopefully we can bring Tergel up here before the temps fall to freezing.
She also said the trail ends at Meeks Bay, a mere mile or so down to the water.
And here we are! What a grand ride this has been, 17+ miles to this point. Those mountains on the opposite side of the lake are in the State of Nevada.
Meeks Bay boasts a sandy beach. Not surprisingly, I suppose, a number of people were in the water, tho the water temp is something like 62 degrees. Oooh, baby, not for me!
At Meeks Bay, we lucked up on Wa She Shu, the People's Place, where we enjoyed sandwiches sitting on the patio beneath yellow umbrellas. Jimmy is waving. Good sandwiches, too. Mine came with a small cup of fresh blueberries! After piling in some protein and carbs, we knew we could tackle the switchbacks up to the highway (where the trail commences). These E-bikes, they're wonderful! No way could we have ridden up the steep zigzag without pedal assist.
Back on the trail, yours truly paused for a photo op at a bridge over a tiny creek. I was glad I was wearing two (lightweight) shirts, 'cause I felt chilly while in shady areas or when the sun hid behind a cloud, even if the temp was in the low 70's. Remember, this area is over 6,000'! Our trail was anything but straight -- it curved like a snake.
By gollies, we did the whole thing! Neither of our recording devices worked the entire distance we covered, but we pedaled roughly 35 miles r/t. We began at the red x, top left, and finished at the red x, lower right. Returning to the car the same way seemed to take half the time!
Sulfur flowers Truckee River trailside, lots of 'em.
And so, we got our outdoor/exercise/bike fix today, riding along on such a pleasant day. We felt elated that we could ride 35 miles without ill effects, or keeling over, but the next day (today) we felt sorta tired. Unfortunately we got stuck in construction traffic on Hwy 20 to Nevada City, as highway crews dismantle a mountain or two, moving the dirt to the other side of the road to fill in a valley or two. This will go on till next year at least, but it's a pain in the tush to sit and wait in a looong line for the pilot car. So be it.
Now that it's officially autumn (and hot-hot-hot summer is OVER/GONE), we're eyeing a longer Tergel trip. Where to? Maybe north. Or east. Or ....
