Paddling Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe

We were determined to kayak on Lake Tahoe, and today we got our chance.  The weather was perfect as we embarked from Baldwin Beach on the south shore of Lake Tahoe.  That's Dusty, our Jeep, in the parking lot behind Kathy:

As we set out, we got a view of one of the many peaks surrounding Lake Tahoe.  They still have most of their winter snow, although with the forecast warm weather, much of it will melt away in the next week or two:

Lake Tahoe is huge, as can be seen in the photo below.  Contrary to popular belief, Lake Tahoe does not occupy a caldera, but lies in a valley formed by land sinking between two uplifting ranges:  the Sierra to the west and the Carson Range to the east.  About 2 million years ago, the lake was formed when the valley was plugged by the eruption of ancient Mount Pluto on the north side of the present lake, which dammed its outlet.  Kathy doesn't seem to mind howr the lake was formed:

As we paddled northwest from Baldwin Beach over toward Emerald Bay, we passed some private lake houses and piers.  One wooden boathouse caught our eye:

The clear, green water enthralled us.  The waters of Lake Tahoe are said to be so clear that you can see up to 65 feet in depth.  We don't know about that, but the green water was exquisitely clear and beautiful:

As we approached Eagle Point, the entrance to Emerald Bay, we enjoyed the vistas and anticipated the beauty of Emerald Bay:

Turning the corner of Eagle Point, we encountered dramatic views of snowy mountains ringing the lake:

Paddling deeper into Emerald Bay, we approached Fannette Island, which has a peculiar stone structure at its summit. Fannette Island is the only island in Lake Tahoe.  Over a long period of time, it was called many different names, including Coquette, Fanette, Baranoff, Dead Man's, Hermit's, and Emerald Isle. The ruins of a small stone building, the "Tea House", constructed by Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight, the owner of Vikingsholm (see below), stand on the granite islet.

Eventually, we beached the canoes at Vikingsholm, a 38-room mansion built by Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight.  Mrs. Knight and her architect traveled to Scandinavia to gather ideas for the construction of the house. Some parts of the structure contain no nails or spikes, as a result of old-fashioned construction methods. Most of the building was made from materials found at Lake Tahoe.

Some of the roofs of Vikingsholm are thached, in the Scandinavian tradition, and still withstand the weather: 

While David rested and enjoyed views of the lake and Vikingsholm, Kathy hiked up and snapped a photo of the falls at the base of Eagle Creek where it flows into Lake Tahoe.  Loyal readers of this blog will remember that we hiked past Eagle Falls, up to Eagle Lake, which is all above this location on Eagle Creek.

After eating lunch, and digesting the food and the views, as well as enjoying observations of tourists poking about the place, we set back out on Emerald Bay in the kayaks, and headed back to Baldwin Beach.  We passed Fannette Island and got a clear view of the ruins of the "Teahouse": 

As we paddled out to the inlet of Emerald Bay, we encountered a sternwheeler carrying tourists on a visit to Emerald Bay and Vikingsholm:

 Wait!  Who's photobombing my picture of the tour boat???

We retraced our kayak route back along the southwest shore of Lake Tahoe.  As we did, we encountered the outlet of Cascade Creek.  Kathy decided to attempt to paddle up the creek.  She didn't get so far.

Eight miles and 5 hours after starting our paddle we returned to Baldwin Beach.  A little sore, but very satisfied, we piled the kayaks on the Jeep and drove back over Kingsbury Grade from South Lake Tahoe to our campground in Minden.  We had just enough time to sip a beer at home and think back on this epic paddle.  We hope we get more like this on our trip up to the Okanagan!